No Child-Left Behind DBQ

No Child Left Behind was passed by congress and was signed by President George Bush. The federal role was holding schools accountable for the students academic success due to No Child Left Behind law. Standard testing were given to ensuring that states and schools were performing and were achieving at a certain level. If states did not comply with the new requirements of No Child Left Behind then they were at risk of losing federal funding. The No Child Left Behind was ultimately created to change the fact that American education system was considered internationally competitive­­.

In 2009, governors and state commissioners alike came together to formulate the development and implementation of the Common Core State Standards. Through membership organizations such as the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) (http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/frequently-asked-questions/), they were able to create a system that represented a clear-cut caliber of expectations meant for students in kindergarten to grade 12. Over the past several years, new amendments have been added to keep up with the standard that 48 states have adopted into their school systems, although the adoption of the policy was voluntary (http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/frequently-asked-questions/). Despite majority of the states in the U.S. having decided on the policy already, there has been conflict amongst the parents of the children who are subject to the rigorous and exhausting amount of tests they must take to keep up with what is fixed into their school systems. The argument against test-taking is a controversy in itself as many believe

Bush passed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), an reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) under Lyndon B. Johnson administration’s War of Poverty. The No Child Left Behind Act requires states to administer an annual assessment, and ensure that schools are making Adequate Yearly Progress, a set of measuring tool to determine if schools are successful. One of the primary goals of the No Child Left Behind Act is to close the students’ achievement gaps by 2014 through the four main pillars: stronger accountability for results, more flexibility for states, more choices for parents, and proven education methods. (U.S Department of Education, 2004) However, the NCLB is exacerbating the gaps with its strong emphasis on the use of standardized testing as a measurement.

Her excerpt was published in 2014. During the 2000s, up until today, there has been many debates and issues regarding the education system. Years before her excerpt was released, an act called No Child Left Behind No Child Left Behind was passed in 2001. This act provided poor children educational assistance and ensured that every child would have an access to education. However, schools would be held accountable for students who are not achieving the expected level of academic success.

Education Reforms Education reform is legislation to improve the quality of education in the United States. Once, grades were the most important achievement for students. However, politicians and the public were concerned that our standardized test scores were not as good as those of other countries. Therefore, state and national governments started making laws to make school more challenging and to test kids more. One of those laws was “No Child Left Behind”.

The No Child Left Behind Act states that non-english speakers must take the test before they have mstered the language. Its also requires children in special education to pass tests designed for children without disabilities. Imagine you've taken a beginning spanish class and then you have to take an end-of-semester test in spanish. Sounds hard, right?

Education is defined in the Benokraitis’ Soc 3, Third Ed. textbook as, “A social institution that transmits attitudes, knowledge, beliefs, values, norms, and skills to its members through formal systematic training.” Yet despite the many essential benefits that education offers, “only 34% of Americans have a lot of confidence in our public schools.” The Common Core State Standards Initiative was announced on June 1, 2009 and was intended to offer a consistent and clear understanding of what students needed to learn in order for them to be successful in attaining either a 2 year or 4 year degree, and regardless of whether it’s at a University or a Community College, and thus placing students in a position where they can be competitive

Schools in America take a test each year called the standardized test, which is a tool used to measure the effectiveness of the school, the teacher, and the performance of the student. However, “standardized tests have been a part of American education since the mid- 1800s. Their use sky rocketed after 2002’s No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) mandated annual testing in all 50 states” (Standardized Tests - ProCon.org.).

With the scandal starting in 2008, America realized that this indignity thrived under George W. Bush’s presidency. The administration which provided the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) within schools. NCLB was President George W. Bush 's reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1964 (Kahlenburg, 2008, p. 1). Those investigating the effectiveness of it have suggested that the Act encouraged the removal and expulsion of "challenging" students through strict performance standards (Kim et al. 2012, p. 25). This criticism suggests the involvement of NCLB as a force perpetuating the "School to Prison Pipeline" connection.

Common Core was pushed unto states through a grant for states that signed quickly; this grant which was made popular through President Obama, Democratic and some Republicans offered millions of dollars to states that changed policy to accept the standards. By accepting the standards (exactly as the standards were suggested), states were essentially agreeing to constant tests to analyze how teachers were preforming and the tests view which students need to have learning plans or special help. The tests such as the newly created PARCC test-an acronym for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers- is a multi-state standardized test that (unless a parent opts their child out of the test) requires students to test in language arts and math. These types of standardized tests take hours to complete and are centered on basic skills. The tests have received lots of negative views and in many states boycotts and protests have occurred, resulting in fewer truthful test scores (fairtest.org).

In 2009, during Obama’s presidency, Common Core was introduced to the public. According to the Common Core State Standards Initiative, Common Core is “a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA)” created “to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life, regardless of where they live.” However, the controversy on Common Core arose as many opponents such as Diane Ravitch found faults in the Common Core standards in the design of the standard and its inability to perform what it is designed to do and the purpose of ststandardized testing. Will the students benefit from these standards or will these standards

High school education is stuck within the constraints of “common core standards”. These

Introduction States love to have has much control over every aspect of government. Many states like Missouri were happy to join the ranks of states implementing the Common Core State Standards because it makes sense in terms of unifying standards for all states so all students will have the necessary skills needed to become successful in college career and life. States like Missouri are beginning to have second thoughts about the standards because they argue that the standards restrict the state’s control over educating children, but they seem to forget the rationale for original implantation which is to have all of the involved states working under the same set of standards in an effort to prepare all students for life after high school. The Rigor the Common Core State Standards Should be Embraced

Introduction Standardized tests may be used for a wide variety of educational purposes. For example, they may be used to determine a young child’s readiness for kindergarten, identify students who need special-education services or specialized academic support, place students in different academic programs or course levels, or award diplomas and other educational certificates. Thesis Statement Standardized tests should not be eliminated completely, but should rather be evaluated in addition to other factors such as grades, extracurricular activities, and volunteer hours. This would take pressure off of students during standardized tests, allow colleges to see how well-rounded the students are, and give students who are better in other areas

In some schools spending per student exceeds $10000 per year but the graduation rate is below 50 percent for example in Detroit. Detroit spends about 11100 per year on each student but only 25 percent of their student’s graduate high school. Policymakers should focus on reforming policies and resource allocations to improve student achievement. According to the National Center for Education Statistics 52 percent of public Education expenditures are spent on instruct and this percentage keeps decreasing overtime. Children who benefit from the school choice program usually have higher test scores than their peers.