This Week's Guest Author: Katie K.
This week, our class completed a second transfer task, where we compared and contrasted 2 different pieces of text based on current world issues. I decided that my world issue would be the "No Child Left Behind" act. This bill was proposed to Congress, and signed by Former President George W. Bush by January of 2002. The bill requires every state to set achievement standards and reachable goals for all public school students. Then, each year, students are assessed on their goal achievement with standardized testing. For Missouri, the test is the MAP, taken each year by public school students in grades 3-8. This helps the government focus on narrowing the achievement between the proficient students, and the minority students that are falling behind. This also is showing the government the accountability of the education coming from teachers. It also gives students that are falling behind the option of school choice if they are attending a consistently low-performing school. This bill encourages teachers to "teach to the test" so students are learning and correctly preparing for the state test. Last year, the Obama Administration proposed a deal to congress to overhaul the law, due to the fact that many believe that NCLB has failed to improve schools in the United States. I agree that every child counts and that every student deserves great education for a successful future.
I related this issue to "The Lighthing Thief", which I recently finished. Percy was both dyslexic and diagnosed with ADHD, and was consistently performing poorly in his school. I inferred that Percy had already been "left behind" by his school, and should have been taught in a way that he could understand better, which I believe should be required for every student in America.
What do you think? Do you think NCLB has raised education quality in the U.S. What are some pros and cons?
What world issue did read about? How did the authors' viewpoints of your two pieces of text compare and contrast?
-Katie
