... The Controversy over Standardized Testing and it’s Effects on Young Children Cynthia M. Kirchner Western Governors University Sherry Lawler HJT1 Task 1 #54425 Nature of the Controversy: No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Accountability and Standardized/High-Stakes Testing No Child Left Behind (NCLB): is the newest iteration of a decades-old education law, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The original law provided funding to school districts to help low-income students. Today, NCLB holds Title I schools that receive this federal money accountable by requiring them to meet proficiency targets on annual assessments. Standardized or High-Stakes Testing: These are the tests that are administered by the individual states and consist of multiple choice and true/false questions. The tests are designed to evaluate students in the subject areas of mathematics and reading. These tests have been given to students in grades three through eight. The goal of the No Child Left Behind Act is that students will receive 100% proficiency level on these tests by 2014 Accountability: Accountability is the concept that each state set standards for the type and amount of information students know and learn. Children are tested yearly and the scores are reported to the government. Schools that need improvement are identified and they work over the next school year to raise the students’ test scores (Robertson, 2009) Nature of the Controversy: Accountability vs. High-Stakes Testing...
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...High Stakes Testing Stephanie Gelman-O'Connor COM112 February 20, 2013 Catherine Bramkamp Even though high stakes testing creates incentive in students to do well on tests, this kind of aggressive testing puts undue pressure on learning disabled or handicapped students because high stakes testing does not test for potential, only current skills, and it does not alien itself with the “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) act of 2001. Students outside main stream learning abilities will need help outside the assigned curriculum to successfully “test-out.” The “No Child Left Behind” act of 2001, in section 2001, specifically states that “The purpose of this title is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high quality education and reach, at a minimum proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessments (United States Department of Education, 2001) .” This government document relates 12 physical acts that will ensure the success of every student. Among other things, it includes” meeting the educational needs of low-achieving children,” whatever the reason, and “…closing the achievement gap between high- and low- preforming children (United States Department of Education, 2001) .” High stakes testing is contrary to the NCLB act because it enforces only one kind of learning style. ...
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...Standardized Testing: Is it hurting or helping today’s students Since the beginning of the modern education system, children have been tested to determine how well they knew the material that was being taught. Testing has always been the fail-proof way to see how the teaching strategy was working. Recently, standardized testing has been put into place as a way for federal government to see how the schools are performing. There has been a lot of controversy on this topic, whether or not standardized testing is correct way to determine how a school is performing. This testing is called high-stakes testing; both educators and parents are fed up with this system. High-stakes testing should be removed from the schools systems. In 2001, the Bush...
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...The Writing Process 5/2/14 Standardized Testing These days, if a school's standardized test scores are high, people think the school's staff is effective. If a school's standardized test scores are low, they see the school's staff as ineffective. In either case, because educational quality is being measured by the wrong scale, those evaluations are apt to be in error. One of the main reasons that students' standardized test scores continue to be the most important factor in evaluating a school is deceptively simple. Most educators do not really understand why a standardized test provides a misleading estimate of a school staff's effectiveness, as well as education quality for students. Standardized test are not effective measurements of a student’s knowledge, they create negative impacts on curriculum, and they are racially, socially, and economically biased. A standardized test is any examination that's administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner. There are two major kinds of standardized tests: aptitude tests and achievement tests. “Standardized aptitude tests predict how well students are likely to perform in some subsequent educational setting (SAT-I /ACT), both of which attempt to forecast how well high school students will perform in college. But standardized achievement-test scores are what citizens and school board members rely on when they evaluate a school's effectiveness.” (Popham) One of the most important reasons that students’ performances...
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...Heubert, R. (2004, August 03). Assessment. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/assessment/ This article discusses various assessments that are being utilized differently throughout the United States. There are some states that assesses on state standards and others assess on national standards. All fifty states have some type of statewide test in place that students should take at the end of the school year. Over the past years, school testing has been created several controversies around the nation. Most testing supporters look at assessments as a way to raise the expectation of a school and help guarantee that students are held to higher standards. Some believe that assessments often focus on what is measure and not the students critical thinking ability. Some testing experts believe that schools should implement assessments that are designed to produce critical thinking and problem solving skills. These type of test are more open-ended tests, where the students are judge on their essays on the strategies they use to solve a problem. Most states are concern with the cost of performance-based assessments, the consistency of the judges, may be the reason why most states have not adopted this type of assessment. The article also discusses how some states not only using assessments fto hold schools accountable, but also determine whether students should advance to the next grade level or graduate. Critics are concern that states that holding students accountable...
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...Introduction A. Social Problem Education plays an important role in the way a particular country progresses. The US has always strived for high education standards; however, recent statistics point out that the country has competitively fallen behind when compared to other developed countries. For this reason, education has played an important role in the US agenda for many years. In January 8th, 2002, the US Congress passed a law called “No Child Left Behind Act” (NCLB), which expanded the role of federal government in education. This law strongly emphasizes the implementation of standardized tests in public schools to measure the progress of students as well as to hold teachers and schools accountable for students’ progress. A social problem that the NCLB is trying to fix is the fact that the quality of education in US’ public schools has decreased during the last years. Alarming statistics have shown that the country’s education system is not as internationally competitive as it used to be. For example, according to a report issued by the Council on Foreign Relations, the United States has slipped ten spots in high school and college graduation rates in the past three decades (CFR). Poor education affects the entire country because of the close relation that progress has with having a skillful workforce. Furthermore, other social problems, such as poverty and crime, are indirectly related to inferior education. An extensive body of research has found that people with...
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...An Economical Examination of Welfare Reform This section details the concept of drug testing as an eligibility requirement for welfare recipients who receive cash under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. The economical ramifications that pertain to this situation include the wants and needs of individuals versus the limited resources of the funds by taxpayers. Sources, data, and popular opinion will show that this requirement will be extremely beneficial for the American taxpayers by saving money and refusing to subsidize the drug habits of individuals who receive government assistance. Scarcity In 2011, over 4 million people received cash assistance under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program (“ACF”, 2011, para. 8). These numbers do not include Food Stamps, Medicaid, or other forms of government funds; this is simple cash assistance. Ideally, all hungry and unemployed individuals would have the resources to provide for themselves and their families. However, in this economic downturn, more and more individuals are reaching out for assistance and it has become taxing on our government resources. In 1997, the U.S. Government overhauled the welfare programs known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS), and Emergency Assistance (EA) (“ACF”, 2011, para. 4). Under this reform, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program was developed. TANF was designed...
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...The impact of the 7 day Chicago Public School teacher strike is a complex problem for each stakeholder. City officials, principals, teachers, parents and children all voice their frustrations and positions regarding the teacher strike. The strike was positioned as Emanuel vs. Lewis, but Lewis was contending with a union that installed her in order to take a more active stance and Emanuel’s plan, at least from publicly, was similarly aggressive. Inevitably, Emanuel and Lewis would meet. Consensus is that the CTU won, but Lewis admits that the actual contractual gains are unsatisfactory to her and the union. CTU came through over two decades of insufficiently strong (for the membership's desires) leadership, and Lewis took over after a major power shift. The teachers union expect that in the course of a couple of years that the union would change its internal stance and that by electing a competent head achieve all its goals in an anti-union environment during a period of austerity, all while contending with a figure like Rahm Emanuel. CTU positioned itself for future battles, such as school closings, and fighting attempts of the mayor to eliminate unions, close to up 120 and open charter schools with non-unionized teachers. Delegates for the Chicago Teachers Union filed a 10 day strike notice on August 29, 2012 and the strike was official Monday, September 10, 2012. Now, one week after the new school year start the city experienced its first...
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...L'Oréal 1 L'Oréal "Loreal" redirects here. This can also be the adjective related to lore. L'Oréal S.A. Type Industry Founded Founder(s) Headquarters Area served Key people Products Revenue Société Anonyme Personal care 1909 Eugène Schueller Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France Worldwide Jean-Paul Agon (Chairman and CEO), Liliane Bettencourt (Non-executive director and major shareholder) Cosmetics and beauty products €22.46 billion (2012) Operating income €3.697 billion (2012) Profit Total assets Total equity Employees Subsidiaries Website €2.868 billion (2012) €29.53 billion (end 2012) €20.94 billion (end 2012) 72,640 (end 2012) The Body Shop loreal.com [1] The L'Oréal Group is a French cosmetics and beauty company, headquartered in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France. It is the world's largest cosmetics company, and has a registered office in Paris[2] It has developed activities in the field of cosmetics, concentrating on hair colour, skin care, sun protection, make-up, perfumes and hair care, the company is active in the dermatological, tissue engineering and pharmaceutical fields and is the top nanotechnology patent-holder in the United States.[3] History In 1909, Eugène Schueller, a young French chemist, developed a hair dye formula called Auréale. Schueller formulated and manufactured his own products, which he then sold to Parisian hairdressers. On 31 July 1919, Schueller registered his company, the Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux...
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...A Position Against Standardized Testing I am a mother of two elementary school age kids, Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) board member, and actively involved in my children’s education. I have often asked why there is so much emphasis on standardized tests. Growing up, we took standardized tests but there was no real preparation work or stress over the test. We didn’t even know until the week prior that we had testing coming up. Back then teachers taught and engaged their students in learning all subjects because they loved teaching. We learned not only what was minimally acceptable to pass a standardized test, but much more beyond the testing requirements. I am very interested about high stake standardized testing in our public school system because it seems my children’s curriculum is solely based on concepts they need to learn to pass their standardized test. Rather than teaching to our children who are eager to learn how to be higher-level thinkers, we seem to be teaching them to accept a minimal standard and simply learn how to pass a test. Today, I see our children being given pretests and benchmark tests to see how well they will do on the standardized test. I witness teachers under pressure to make sure they get the curriculum in prior to the test and students being drilled repeatedly for the standardized tests. Our children come home stressed and concerned because in some states, these tests can determine if you are from moving to the next grade level,...
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...KRAFT’S BUDGETING AND STRATEGY A case study Presented to CASE STUDY IN PRODUCTION AND OPERATION MANAGEMENT BUDGETING AND STRATEGY A KRAFT FOOD INTRODUCTION The company has its origin as National Dairy Products Corporation (National Dairy), formed on December 10, 1923, by Thomas H. McInnerney. The firm was initially set up to execute on a rollup strategy in the then fragmented United States ice cream industry. Through acquisitions it expanded into a full range of dairy products. By 1930 it was the largest dairy company in the United States and the world, exceeding Borden. McInnerney operated the Hydrox Corporation, an ice cream company located in Chicago, Illinois. In 1923 he went to Wall Street to convince investment bankers there to finance his scheme for consolidating the United States ice cream industry. He initially found "hard sledding" with one banker saying the dairy industry "lacked dignity." He persevered and convinced a consortium including Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers to finance a rollup strategy. As a result of his efforts, National Dairy Products Corporation was formed in 1923 in a merger of McInnerney's Hydrox with Rieck McJunkin Dairy Co of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The resulting firm was then listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the offer of 125,000 shares having been The firm grew quickly through a large number of acquisitions. As it is typical...
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...When Politics, Profits, and Education Collide No Child Left Behind No Child Left Behind What comes to mind when one hears the words “no child left behind?” Perhaps one pictures a family of 12 who left one of the children at the gas station during a restroom break - or a school bus that arrived at the zoo field trip with 35 first-grade students but left with only 34! The thought of leaving a child behind, or of being harmed in any way, is disturbing. The thought of a child being left behind due to the challenges of our education system is also disturbing. Sadly however, when it comes to education children are being left behind, especially in the poorer areas of our country. The stakes are high – the future of the greatest country in the world is at risk, the children being raised today will lead and guide this nation tomorrow. Therefore, lawmakers need to pass legislation to ensure that “no child is left behind.” Education A State and Federal Partnership It may surprise or even shock some to learn that there never has, nor currently is, a federal constitutional right to an education. The United States Constitution does not impose an obligation to either federal or state governments to operate public school systems or to assist parents in paying for a private education. However, it has always been recognized, from the early years of our country’s formation forward, that having an educated constituency is in the best interests of a strong and free nation. Because the...
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...Standardized Testing: An Ineffective Way to Measure Students’ Intelligence High-stakes testing turns many classrooms and schools into prep centers rather than offering rich, engaging, well-rounded instruction. Rote and narrow instruction bores and alienates students, making them tune out and feel they are little more than their scores (FairTest, 2004). High schools exit exams (FairTest, 2008) push many thousands of students out of school. As a result of these factors, urban graduation rates have decreased. Some students see no realistic option other than dropping out; some are deliberately pushed out or fail the tests. Either way, these young people are much more likely to end up in trouble or in prison. ("How Testing Feeds the School-to-Prison Pipeline") According to Peter D. Hart, a research associate for the Association of American Colleges and Universities, standardized tests unfairly measure students’ intelligence and academic performance. Therefore, the tests must be changed drastically or abandoned completely. Educators and parents have vocalized their view on the rising number of standardized tests the government has implemented in efforts to improve education in American schools. In light of the No Child Left Behind legislation under President George W. Bush, the government administers more and more tests to children, predominantly in lower grade levels ("Standardized Testing"). Along with No Child Left Behind, opponents have shown their disapproval of these...
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...Clean Water The Controversy Up until the mid-20th century it was practice for cities to use bays, harbors, and rivers as dumping grounds and sewage run off. In fact major industrial parks built their waste pipes to spill directly into some of the rivers and lakes we use today as recreation (Congressional Digest, 1985). These are some of the Point Sources of water pollution. These are places that can be directly identified as points of pollution like city storm and sewer drains, sewage treatment plants ("Clean water act," 1972). Then there is a non-point source which is a combination of smaller sources that collect into lakes, rivers, and streams. These can come from agriculture farms or even contaminated wash from our freeways and roads. There are almost an infinite amount of water pollutants that run off into our waterways each day. Pathogens such has salmonella, novo virus, and parasitic worms grow and thrive within our waters. Chemicals such as insecticides, herbicides run off from farms and other agriculture areas. Storm water runoff can introduce many types of fuels and oils, and heavy metals. Then there is immense amount of industrial waste like ammonia, sulfur dioxide from power plants, trash from illegal dumping (Pitt, 2001). It’s it important to ensure our fresh water resources are protected and ensured. Although in most industrialized countries access to clean water is at 100 percent; in places such as Uganda and Mozambique where only 52% of the...
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...What role should standardized testing play in Texas' public education system? The methods by which children are educated and academically measured in Texas have evolved over the past few decades, due to federal and state directed education policies. In an effort to establish accountability and improve the nation's competitiveness on a global scale, standardized testing has become a driving component of curricula nationwide. Almost every state, including Texas, governs its public schools under a national policy directive known as the "No Child Left Behind Act" (NCLB). The NCLB requires all states to utilize assessments to determine and report if a school has made adequate yearly progress (AYP) in the proficiency levels of all students. This is a relatively recent shift from local control of schools to centralized governance which is intended to improve education and eliminate harmful disparities in education quality (Ricci 342). Instead of school districts determining education standards, the state and federal governments provide the policy direction. One method to assess education performance and compliance with the centralized policy is the use of accountability measures - i.e., standardized tests. The NCLB, coupled with state policy, is intended to decrease inequality and set an objective measurement in place where school districts, schools, teachers, and even students can be held accountable for their progress or lack thereof. However, there are arguments from opponents...
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