...have shaped America and contribute to all that is quintessentially “American” can also be seen in the evolution of our country’s education system. There are many key contributors and events in history that have led up to the education system and the challenges and triumphs that we see today in schools all across America. The most significant theme that runs throughout the evolution of our modern education system is the evolvement of attitudes and philosophies that were at times controversial, but without which, the school system we know today would cease to exist. There are four notable shapers to this evolution of attitudes: John Calvin (1509), John Dewey (1916), Brown vs. the Board of Education (1954), and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) of 2002. These four shapers mark clear delineations in the purposes and attitudes that have shaped our education system at distinct fork in the roads along the path to today’s school experience in America. John Calvin John Calvin was the leading face and voice of the protestant reformation movement. He, along with Martin Luther of the Lutheran reformation, believed that states should sponsor schools and that the general public deserves to have access to schools. His purpose behind this idea was that every citizen should be able to read the Bible for themselves and have the knowledge to become a productive member of society (Webb et al, 2010). In order to be a great citizen, a person should be able to realize their purpose as defined...
Words: 1212 - Pages: 5
...the stay-put provision. The stay-put provision requires that a student remains in their current least restrictive environment placement setting while a dispute is being resolved. This ensures that a school district cannot move a student from placement to placement without the consent of the student’s parents and provides the student with a stable education throughout the due process hearing. A piece of legislation that has greatly influenced both special education and general education is the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA). As you probably know, this act was signed into law by President Bush as a way to close the achievement gap between the highest and lowest performing students. School districts are now responsible for using scientifically based researched to create and establish curriculums that will ensure that students will be making adequate academic progress year after year to reach the pre-established academic goals for each grade. The reason why the NCLBA has received so much attention is due to the rigorous amount of testing that is required by schools to provide data to the state and federal governments that their students are achieving academic success. As you probably already know, this testing environment is often counter productive for the students, as they are often only being taught the material that they need to know to pass the tests and they do not have an understanding of how to apply this material to real world situations. Additionally, the academic goals...
Words: 1169 - Pages: 5
...Standardized testing was widely adopted during the 1920`s as a way to measure and classify students based on their analytical intelligence, shifting the way students learned. By measuring a student’s intelligence based on memorized concepts, the North American education system has conditioned students to retain factual information for short periods of time in preparation for tests. Not only does this hinder the learning process, but it also affects what content students learn. The “No Child Left Behind Act” (NCLBA) was signed on January 8th, 2002 as an effort to close the achievement gap between poor and minority students and their more advantaged white peers, however instead of approaching intelligence in a holistic manner, the NCLBA placed great emphasis towards math and reading comprehension based intelligence, thus narrowing the educational curriculum and devoting less time towards subjects like social studies, foreign language, and the creative arts. Not only does the NCLBA ignore subjects that promote critical thinking and creative expression, but it also stigmatized incorrect answers, conditioning students to solve problems in a single method manner. By forcing students to solve problems in one specific way, we are subconsciously forcing them to view the world in one specific way, misleading them to believe that their future success is solely determined by their ability to retain and regurgitate information. Intelligence is more than just a measurement of an individual’s retention...
Words: 1130 - Pages: 5
...the same time maintaining the high quality of much suburban education. Americans are asking themselves, “What is the government doing to change our schooling system to make it better?” The response is a long and complex one, though there is still no answer, as our schools are constantly changing and growing in many different ways. First, there was President Bush’s “No Child Left Behind Act” and now President Obama’s “Race To The Top.” Both of these government reforms have had a large impact on education and American society as a whole. To have a good understanding of the current legislation regarding education reform, one must first understand the legislation before it: The No Child Left Behind Act. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) was instituted during the presidency of George W. Bush, of which he stated that his focus would be on “making sure every child is educated” and that “no child will be left behind – not one single child” (Ravitch). This policy had four main principles that were outlined in the legislation. The first principle was that every child would be tested every year, grades three through eight, via state tests. The...
Words: 1841 - Pages: 8
...Should public schools continue standardized testing? The United States government implemented the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA), signed into law on January 8, 2002 by President George W. Bush (US Government Printing Office, 2002). This Act requires states to develop assessments in basic skills. In order to receive federal school funding, states must give these assessments to all students at select grade levels. The Act does not assert a national achievement standard. Each state develops its own standards (US Government Printing Office, 2002). Since the creation of this act, various debates challenge the practical use of the standardized tests. The debate presented for this paper is an argument, “Should public schools continue standardized testing?” The favorable arguments are that the standardized tests are fair, backed by parents, improves the quality of the curriculum, and the usage of standardized tests outside of the public education system. The arguments against standardized testing are stereotyping poor performing students, testing anxiety, low morale with teachers, and basing teacher evaluations on student performance. Additionally, ethical, moral and legal issues are identified in relation to standardized testing and their effects on high-stakes testing. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the given arguments, both for and against standardized testing from different sources and to conclude with a consensus of the arguments with the authors of this...
Words: 2251 - Pages: 10
...today, have become big business supported by the judiciary system in its sentencing and are evident by the increase sentencing of young offenders. This paper describes the connection between prison construction and the criminalization of students. In conclusion, this report will look at some policies and initiatives that have formed the school-to-prison pipeline initiative. In researching this topic, I will show the measure from the fact sheet of how North Carolina fair from School-to-Prison Pipeline. I totally find the school-to-prison pipeline to be an injustice to our youth and our society. Introduction In the nine years since congress reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA), an alarming, 95,000 youth under the age of 21 are in custody in publicly and privately operated facilities in the U.S. (Livsey, Sickmund, and Sladky, (2009). More and more, youth are finding themselves involved in the juvenile justice system...
Words: 502 - Pages: 3
...------------------------------------------------- Why Teach? Why do teachers teach? It is a rather simple question, however the question, what is a teacher, must be addressed first. Merriam-Webster’s definition of a teacher is “one whose occupation is to instruct" (Merriam-Webster, 2008, para. 1). That is a rather one dimensional definition of a teacher, as teachers these days, offer so much more to the class than just the information. They offer themselves. A collective definition of a teacher, is someone who “yearns to help children learn, watch them grow, and make a meaningful difference in the world” (Teacher Support Network, 2007, para. 2). This definition must be the main reason as to why individuals pursue teaching as a career. Generally the pay is low to fair, but the overall rewards are much greater, for as a teacher one can touch the hearts of the young and open their minds in order to tap their thirst for knowledge. ------------------------------------------------- [edit]The Long Road Becoming a teacher is a lengthy process obtained by numerous routes, such as night school or attending a four year college. Regardless of the process it is important to obtain at least a Bachelors degree in the desired teaching area, as well as a teacher certification which should include clinical experience (Lewis, L., Parsad, B., Carey, N., Bartfai, N., Farris, E. & Smerdon, B., 1999, para. 3). The average starting salaries were about $31,704 in the year 2003-04, whereas the...
Words: 21735 - Pages: 87
