Friday, April 11, 2008
Abstract...final (unless my info changes)
This proposal will take an in-depth look at No Child Left Behind and its effects on the American education system. I will conduct research in order to understand every aspect of No Child Left Behind, while focusing on its goals, consequences, and [use of tax dollars—figure out] in order to later show that the government should repeal this national regulation. The goal of this proposal is to not only provide me with enough information to create an alternative for No Child Left Behind, but to also prove to the audience that my alternative is better than No Child Left Behind and should replace it. The introduction will consist of three areas: Background, Review of Literature, and Statement of the Project Problem. The background will include the most information, as the other sections of the proposal will be used for describing the parameters of the alternative and will serve as the persuasion portions that will ultimately sway the reader into seeing No Child Left Behind as it really is. The Review of Literature is where my resources will be dissected to see their true value, using the guidelines set fourth in OPVL (origin, purpose, value, and limitation) process. The Statement of the Project Problem will further define No Child Left Behind, how it is ineffective in our education system, and provide my hypothesis for removal and replacement of No Child Left Behind.
Initial Introduction to my proposal
No Child Left Behind is an educational act placed into law by George W. Bush in 2001 to ensure consistent growth and improvement in American primary and secondary schools. The act was created on the theory of standards-based education reform, which is an idea of creating clearly defined rigorous standards for students in school to guarantee their success after high school. The idea behind No Child Left Behind is to apply this idea in a more uniformed way; holding all schools in America to the same set of standards. The theoretical outcome is for all students to perform at the same level and be equivalent to each other when they exit high school.
The goals, as defined on the No Child Left Behind website, are similar to that of the standards-based education reform. No Child Left Behind based its goals on the following four “pillars”.
Stronger Accountability for Results
Under No Child Left Behind, states are working to close the achievement gap and make sure all students, including those who are disadvantaged, achieve academic proficiency... Schools that do not make progress must provide supplemental services, such as free tutoring or after-school assistance; take corrective actions; and, if still not making adequate yearly progress after five years, make dramatic changes to the way the school is run.
More Freedom for States and Communities
Under No Child Left Behind, states and school districts have unprecedented flexibility in how they use federal education funds. For example, it is possible for most school districts to transfer up to 50 percent of the federal formula grant funds they receive under the Improving Teacher Quality State Grants, Educational Technology, Innovative Programs, and Safe and Drug-Free Schools programs to any one of these programs, or to their Title I program, without separate approval. This allows districts to use funds for their particular needs, such as hiring new teachers, increasing teacher pay, and improving teacher training and professional development.
Proven Education Methods
No Child Left Behind puts emphasis on determining which educational programs and practices have been proven effective through rigorous scientific research. Federal funding is targeted to support these programs and teaching methods that work to improve student learning and achievement. In reading, for example, No Child Left Behind supports scientifically based instruction programs in the early grades under the Reading First program and in preschool under the Early Reading First program.
More Choices for Parents
Parents of children in low-performing schools have new options under No Child Left Behind. In schools that do not meet state standards for at least two consecutive years, parents may transfer their children to a better-performing public school, including a public charter school, within their district. The district must provide transportation, using Title I funds if necessary. Students from low-income families in schools that fail to meet state standards for at least three years are eligible to receive supplemental educational services, including tutoring, after-school services, and summer school. Also, students who attend a persistently dangerous school or are the victim of a violent crime while in their school have the option to attend a safe school within their district.
--Direct from the NCLB website—find citation method or correct way--
Under these guidelines, No Child Left Behind has declared its presence in all schools in America. The previous “pillars” will also serve as the foundation on which this proposal will base the majority of its initial analyses.
Why do we or should we care? Find tax info for adults and why this program is wasting their tax dollars. For students, why it isn’t helping them get to college and wasting their time.
One of the primary disparagement Standardized test for the un-standardized. Starting to teach the test just to meet the requirements and not really learning.
Based on proven educational methods, but not working. Similar to a utopia: it seems good on paper and in theory, because it doesn’t take into account the human element
The goals, as defined on the No Child Left Behind website, are similar to that of the standards-based education reform. No Child Left Behind based its goals on the following four “pillars”.
Stronger Accountability for Results
Under No Child Left Behind, states are working to close the achievement gap and make sure all students, including those who are disadvantaged, achieve academic proficiency... Schools that do not make progress must provide supplemental services, such as free tutoring or after-school assistance; take corrective actions; and, if still not making adequate yearly progress after five years, make dramatic changes to the way the school is run.
More Freedom for States and Communities
Under No Child Left Behind, states and school districts have unprecedented flexibility in how they use federal education funds. For example, it is possible for most school districts to transfer up to 50 percent of the federal formula grant funds they receive under the Improving Teacher Quality State Grants, Educational Technology, Innovative Programs, and Safe and Drug-Free Schools programs to any one of these programs, or to their Title I program, without separate approval. This allows districts to use funds for their particular needs, such as hiring new teachers, increasing teacher pay, and improving teacher training and professional development.
Proven Education Methods
No Child Left Behind puts emphasis on determining which educational programs and practices have been proven effective through rigorous scientific research. Federal funding is targeted to support these programs and teaching methods that work to improve student learning and achievement. In reading, for example, No Child Left Behind supports scientifically based instruction programs in the early grades under the Reading First program and in preschool under the Early Reading First program.
More Choices for Parents
Parents of children in low-performing schools have new options under No Child Left Behind. In schools that do not meet state standards for at least two consecutive years, parents may transfer their children to a better-performing public school, including a public charter school, within their district. The district must provide transportation, using Title I funds if necessary. Students from low-income families in schools that fail to meet state standards for at least three years are eligible to receive supplemental educational services, including tutoring, after-school services, and summer school. Also, students who attend a persistently dangerous school or are the victim of a violent crime while in their school have the option to attend a safe school within their district.
--Direct from the NCLB website—find citation method or correct way--
Under these guidelines, No Child Left Behind has declared its presence in all schools in America. The previous “pillars” will also serve as the foundation on which this proposal will base the majority of its initial analyses.
Why do we or should we care? Find tax info for adults and why this program is wasting their tax dollars. For students, why it isn’t helping them get to college and wasting their time.
One of the primary disparagement Standardized test for the un-standardized. Starting to teach the test just to meet the requirements and not really learning.
Based on proven educational methods, but not working. Similar to a utopia: it seems good on paper and in theory, because it doesn’t take into account the human element
Sunday, March 30, 2008
If you know anything about NCLB....
...then you will find these funny...
Comment back to let me know how funny you thought they were!
Newest (almost final) Draft for NCLB speech
Senate Speech:
There is a discrimination occurring in America today. A select group of citizens are expected to perform at a certain level and when that level isn’t met; everyone is placed at fault. No Child Left Behind, commonly known as NCLB, holds all schools in America to the same set of standardized criteria when all of the schools and students aren’t standardized. NCLB has the right idea in mind to hold students to a certain criteria, to provide a value to a high school diploma, and most agree with its concept. However, their method off setting these standards has not been as effective as possible. If people took the time to look at the program, we would see that this can’t deliver accurate results and is an unfair treatment and hindrance to students.
George W. Bush started this program in 2001 to create consistent results from schools through proven educational methods. NCLB has three goals that it was supposed to accomplish: Stronger Accountability for Results, More Freedom for States and Communities, and More Choices for Parents.
The first states that NCLB is to “make sure all students, including those who are disadvantaged, achieve academic proficiency.”
Two things we should notice…“Make sure” and “disadvantaged”. The phrase “make sure” implies NCLB will keep schools accountable and give support when needed. However, it later states that schools which don’t make the necessary progress must provide their own supplemental services to improve their status, yet never says the government will help in the improvement process. NCLB is essentially saying that if a school fails to meet this “standard”, they, being the school, has to fix it ASAP or be subjected to government takeover. NCLB created massive consequences for failure, including removing faculty and replacing with those seen as “fit” to teach the standards.
Then there is the word “Disadvantaged”. This means a lacking of the normal necessities and comforts of life i.e. food, shelter, social culture, or educational opportunities. The United Nations published the book Child Poverty in Rich Countries, which proved the fact that “…there is a close correlation between poverty and educational underachievement.” The assumption made by NCLB is that an inner-city school in New York has the same issues as one in rural Arkansas as does a private school in Napa Valley. This program assumes that all students can perform on the same level and does not take in to consideration any outside factors that could bolster or hinder a school’s score. Therefore the student who has both parents, with a PhD, stressing the importance of school at home, with a tutor available anytime the student lags has the same testing abilities and knowledge as the student who has to catch the bus home, pick up their younger sister from school, cook dinner because their single mom is at her third job, then do the homework and studying necessary to pass the test with all these other chores on their plate. This is the assumption of NCLB.
The second goal establishes the possibility “for most school districts to transfer up to 50 percent of the federal formula grant funds they receive for programs such as “Safe and Drug-Free Schools” …without separate approval.”
We hear the same story as before. The school must perform any changes on their own if they didn’t meet the government’s standards. But, to make it seem like the government is helping, they allow schools to freely move federal funds for other programs to create new ones in order help improve those test scores. That doesn’t sound like helping out a school to better their students, but more so a simple exchange to seem like a solution has been provided. This is partially related to why there has been a sharp decline in the arts: the free movement of funds from those insignificant areas to the important ones.
The third goal gives “parents of children in low-performing schools the option to transfer their children to a better-performing public school if their current school does not meet state standards.”
This is not solving the problem. This is forcing sectionalism. The following is a generalization, but by moving the “smart-rich” students to a better-performing school create an entire school of smart, rich kids that make the top scores. As established earlier, the low-performing schools are left with the students who are “disadvantaged” and receiving below average test scores. The catch here is that the better a school does, the more funding it receives. So the majority of money goes to those “smart, rich” kids, and the “disadvantaged” stay “disadvantaged”.
Very few people are objecting to NCLB because all we hear about is how some schools are succeeding while on the program. Very few realize that those few schools are the ones that are receiving the most funding from the district and state to continue the growth. As most teachers agree, “If the government had a magic wand to fix this crisis, they would have used it a long time ago”. Teachers have started “teaching the test” just to meet the standards and to keep the school from experiencing the dire consequences. This is why NCLB appears successful, but the students aren’t learning. How does a test like this [hold up comic of the test] show the improvement of a school other than they were better at choosing between A, B, C, and D?
There is a discrimination occurring in America today. A select group of citizens are expected to perform at a certain level and when that level isn’t met; everyone is placed at fault. No Child Left Behind, commonly known as NCLB, holds all schools in America to the same set of standardized criteria when all of the schools and students aren’t standardized. NCLB has the right idea in mind to hold students to a certain criteria, to provide a value to a high school diploma, and most agree with its concept. However, their method off setting these standards has not been as effective as possible. If people took the time to look at the program, we would see that this can’t deliver accurate results and is an unfair treatment and hindrance to students.
George W. Bush started this program in 2001 to create consistent results from schools through proven educational methods. NCLB has three goals that it was supposed to accomplish: Stronger Accountability for Results, More Freedom for States and Communities, and More Choices for Parents.
The first states that NCLB is to “make sure all students, including those who are disadvantaged, achieve academic proficiency.”
Two things we should notice…“Make sure” and “disadvantaged”. The phrase “make sure” implies NCLB will keep schools accountable and give support when needed. However, it later states that schools which don’t make the necessary progress must provide their own supplemental services to improve their status, yet never says the government will help in the improvement process. NCLB is essentially saying that if a school fails to meet this “standard”, they, being the school, has to fix it ASAP or be subjected to government takeover. NCLB created massive consequences for failure, including removing faculty and replacing with those seen as “fit” to teach the standards.
Then there is the word “Disadvantaged”. This means a lacking of the normal necessities and comforts of life i.e. food, shelter, social culture, or educational opportunities. The United Nations published the book Child Poverty in Rich Countries, which proved the fact that “…there is a close correlation between poverty and educational underachievement.” The assumption made by NCLB is that an inner-city school in New York has the same issues as one in rural Arkansas as does a private school in Napa Valley. This program assumes that all students can perform on the same level and does not take in to consideration any outside factors that could bolster or hinder a school’s score. Therefore the student who has both parents, with a PhD, stressing the importance of school at home, with a tutor available anytime the student lags has the same testing abilities and knowledge as the student who has to catch the bus home, pick up their younger sister from school, cook dinner because their single mom is at her third job, then do the homework and studying necessary to pass the test with all these other chores on their plate. This is the assumption of NCLB.
The second goal establishes the possibility “for most school districts to transfer up to 50 percent of the federal formula grant funds they receive for programs such as “Safe and Drug-Free Schools” …without separate approval.”
We hear the same story as before. The school must perform any changes on their own if they didn’t meet the government’s standards. But, to make it seem like the government is helping, they allow schools to freely move federal funds for other programs to create new ones in order help improve those test scores. That doesn’t sound like helping out a school to better their students, but more so a simple exchange to seem like a solution has been provided. This is partially related to why there has been a sharp decline in the arts: the free movement of funds from those insignificant areas to the important ones.
The third goal gives “parents of children in low-performing schools the option to transfer their children to a better-performing public school if their current school does not meet state standards.”
This is not solving the problem. This is forcing sectionalism. The following is a generalization, but by moving the “smart-rich” students to a better-performing school create an entire school of smart, rich kids that make the top scores. As established earlier, the low-performing schools are left with the students who are “disadvantaged” and receiving below average test scores. The catch here is that the better a school does, the more funding it receives. So the majority of money goes to those “smart, rich” kids, and the “disadvantaged” stay “disadvantaged”.
Very few people are objecting to NCLB because all we hear about is how some schools are succeeding while on the program. Very few realize that those few schools are the ones that are receiving the most funding from the district and state to continue the growth. As most teachers agree, “If the government had a magic wand to fix this crisis, they would have used it a long time ago”. Teachers have started “teaching the test” just to meet the standards and to keep the school from experiencing the dire consequences. This is why NCLB appears successful, but the students aren’t learning. How does a test like this [hold up comic of the test] show the improvement of a school other than they were better at choosing between A, B, C, and D?
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Start of a Speech for this Topic.....
Voila!
In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson was on trial for a crime that was impossible for him to commit. He had no use of his right hand, the victim (Mayella Ewell) was beat primarily with a right hand, yet Tom was still convicted. One would say this is unfair or that this was discrimination, which arouses activist feelings in the reader.
There is a similar instance occurring in America today. A select group of citizens are assumed to be able perform at a certain level and when that level isn’t met, everyone is placed as the fault.
No Child Left behind holds all schools in America to the same set of standardized criteria when all schools and students aren’t standardized.
Similar to To Kill a Mockingbird, No Child Left Behind states that all students must meet the guidelines that have been set forth in order to prove our education system is successful. However, any logical thought process would show that this wouldn’t deliver accurate results and is an unfair treatment and hindrance to students. Why aren’t people expressing those same feelings as felt while reading about the trial in To Kill a Mockingbird.
No Child Left Behind was started in 2001 by George W. Bush to create consistent through proven education methods. As seen on the No Child left Behind, their goal/purpose (add incriminating info)……From this program, STAR testing was created
In To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Tom Robinson was on trial for a crime that was impossible for him to commit. He had no use of his right hand, the victim (Mayella Ewell) was beat primarily with a right hand, yet Tom was still convicted. One would say this is unfair or that this was discrimination, which arouses activist feelings in the reader.
There is a similar instance occurring in America today. A select group of citizens are assumed to be able perform at a certain level and when that level isn’t met, everyone is placed as the fault.
No Child Left behind holds all schools in America to the same set of standardized criteria when all schools and students aren’t standardized.
Similar to To Kill a Mockingbird, No Child Left Behind states that all students must meet the guidelines that have been set forth in order to prove our education system is successful. However, any logical thought process would show that this wouldn’t deliver accurate results and is an unfair treatment and hindrance to students. Why aren’t people expressing those same feelings as felt while reading about the trial in To Kill a Mockingbird.
No Child Left Behind was started in 2001 by George W. Bush to create consistent through proven education methods. As seen on the No Child left Behind, their goal/purpose (add incriminating info)……From this program, STAR testing was created
My Second Start
Woohoo!!!
I have finally figured out how to create a new blog for my thing for Academic Decathlon!!
----Victory----
--Kyle
I have finally figured out how to create a new blog for my thing for Academic Decathlon!!
----Victory----
--Kyle
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