Former President Bush passed a bill through legislation called the No Child Left Behind Law. It was intended to make sure all children were learning what they needed to learn in Reading and Math.
The Obama administration admits the law did help show improvement in academic performance for minority children, English language learners, and children with disabilities through higher scores in testing. However, they feel there are several gaps in the law and it could use major improvement. For instance, a third of American schools failed to meet yearly progress goals last year. The new goal is to push schools to improve test scores each year, so that every student can read and do math at least at grade level by the year 2014.
On the surface this really sounds like a great idea. But one thing I've noticed is that "grade level" changes every year, it gets tougher and tougher. And a concern I have is that Music and Art are being squeezed out of the classroom and the funds that are promised to the schools in these areas are not being received as often. The government is putting all other classes on the back burner so to speak. Another concern for me is that children are not being spent time with on a personal level anymore to make sure they completely understand each thing they're learning. Too much time is spent making sure these tests are passed at a level that allows the school to get more funding.
Testing does show some positive results, but the kids might start to feel like robots in a sense; like they don't care about the child personally, or whether they're self esteem is high or low. The kids just HAVE to pass the tests with good scores! In other words, it becomes all about the school and less about the child.
Also, there are many children who are just simply better at say, Art than Reading and so on. So what does that say to the child? I'm not good enough if I can't make an above-average score on the Math test even though I have an amazing art ability? Kid's emotions and self esteem can play a huge part in where they go in life. If they feel good about themselves, no matter what subject they are good in, they can succeed.
When these kids graduate high school and maybe even college and they're out in the real world, how much of what are on these tests are they actually going to deal with. I mean, don't get me wrong, I think it is a very good idea to make sure these children learn and retain at least the basics in EVERY subject, but to expect the children to be masters in Math and Reading seems a little unfair. Making everything focused on test scores alone and only in Math and Reading is completely getting away from bringing out the best in each child personally.
When you think about it, how on earth did these baby boomers or for that matter, the people who graduated in the last ten years that have had successful careers ever make it? There are a lot of smart, successful Americans and they survived on regular old fashioned achievement tests. When we were learning the subjects without so many rules and regulations, kids could enjoy life a little bit. Also, this could be one reason why so many kids don't like to go to school anymore.
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