Children Left Behind

The longest paper I have ever written was assigned at the end of my senior year. Urban Studies senior year was my absolute favorite class. Four out of the five days of the week we would get to go out of school and take a bus to different service sites in the area. For the final paper we were assigned to pick a problem that we were faced with throughout the course of the year. We were supposed to discuss solutions to the problem, and then include our opinion of the issue. For one of my sites I was placed in a public grade school working with troublesome boys around 10-13 years old. I came to be good friends with these kids, and I learned more than I could ever imagine just spending a year at Montefiore. For my last assignment, I decided to research the No Child Left Behind Act. I wanted to know what kind of progress these children were making, and how bright their futures would be.
Within the first few days of research I found myself engrossed in all of the publications surrounding this act. There were so many different viewpoints related to the act promoting a positive or a negative effect on the students. In a nutshell, the act is a way for the government to check up on public schools via standardized testing and see if the students are making progress or not. I do not believe that this act is effective. Many believe this act is having an alternate effect on students and making them more likely to drop out of school. I have been convinced that we are approaching this problem the wrong way.
I remember having a hard time comprehending why one test would determine if a school would get in trouble or not. I believe that the government should be keeping tabs on these schools in a more frequent manner, not just once a year after the students fill out a Scantron card. The government also needs to realize that there are different types of schools with different types of requirements. Not all institutions can be tested on the same standard.
I know that I am not the only one that feels this way about the public school system. Bush passed the act but I know that he must realize this cannot cure the problem. Public school systems need much more attention and the government should be the one checking up on them; everyone can agree with that. I think the argument at hand is that some believe the NCLB Act is showing long-term progress. The current progress has been documented; however there are multiple side effects occurring while the act is in effect. Multiple authors have suggested alternate plans that seem to make much more sense than what is going on now. From reading their opinions I was swayed to believe that anything would be better than what was occurring with this NCLB Act.
When it comes to debates I can usually be the person found to be on the fence about most topics. I do not get involved in political arguments, mostly because I do not know anything about politics and would not be able to back up my reasoning. I enjoy being easygoing and appreciating everyone else’s opinions. I can make up my mind about certain topics, but when things get heated I like staying out of it. With all of the research I did on this topic though I found myself strongly confident about being opposed to this act and what it was letting happen to the public school system. I obviously know that something has to be done, I just found myself agreeing with Mr. Ricca and different authors who truly believe that the situation is being approached in the wrong way.
I want a system to be created where these kids are given a fair shot. I know the ones that I worked with, and they have their bad days but they can be exceptional workers. My friends and I would talk the entire bus ride back to school about our experiences that day, how our favorite kids were doing and who was acting up again. The class was an all around amazing experience and it taught me so much more about the students in different living communities outside my own. I learned so much about the public school system from being a part of it a few times a week. That is why I know that this act is not working; I saw it every time I walked through the metal detectors and down the hall to room 107.