Schools
Will No Child Left Behind Still Rule the Education System
One thing is for sure: educators are very much hoping that President-Elect Obama’s administration will overhaul the No Child Left Behind act. This is largely because the legislation that was so popular when it was first proposed has proved to be a large…we’ll go with “mess” since this is a family site.
When it comes to education, the No Child Left Behind act had noble goals: make sure that students were really learning and that school districts were not getting paid to merely baby-sit kids but to actually teach them. The problem stems from how learning is judged under the act. Under No Child Left Behind, a child’s education is judged solely upon his or her performance on a standardized test.
The standardized test has been used for decades to determine how well students were learning basic skill sets in individual states. Because schools are publicly funded, tax payers wanted to make sure that their teachers (who have the hardest job in the world) were earning their (tiny) salaries. Before the No Child Left Behind act, however, teachers weren’t forced to teach “to the test” and were able to cover a wider variety of materials that taught students how to think. Now, after the passing of this act, students are taught how to test well.
Another criticism of the No Child Left Behind act is that it provides incentives for teachers and school districts to lower education standards to both keep their federal funding and to keep from having to push the students who do not perform well from the district altogether.
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Why Your Child Needs a Classical Education
Those who think that educational methods created thousands of years ago can be abandoned within one generation obviously disregard that time is the best testing ground, especially when trying to determine human behavior. It has only taken 50 years for lawmakers and educators to disband an educational system that took over 2,000 years to purify and institute. This was first developed in ancient Greece and Rome. By the 16th century, it was used through the Western world.
This educational system produced some of the finest thinkers and leaders between the 10th and 19th centuries. Most of the Founding Fathers of America were educated with this system. Can you think of any other time period where there was more progress in science, philosophy, art, and literature? For real meaning in learning to occur, more than just fact needs to be taught. True education occurs when a learner is able to develop thinking and articulate their ideas through clear argument and persuasion.
Classical education is one of the greatest means to develop children’s minds. It is no wonder that classical education schools are popping up all over the nation. It offers many things are becoming lost in other forms of education, such as rigorous academic standards, order and discipline, and the arts.
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The Education Triangle: Why Parental Involvement is Pivotal
We are all concerned about the state of education. From declining test scores and underfunding, to high school dropout and illiteracy rates, it can sometimes seem as if the nation is on the brink of an educational crisis. If our children do poorly, we often lay blame on teachers, educators, and leaders. If our children do well, we often complaisantly breath a sigh of relief that at least our school, our community, and our teacher, has somehow escaped the quagmire of incompetence.
Whether our child’s academic performance is poor or exceptional, as parents we must turn to ourselves to shoulder both some of the blame or the credit. While we are often powerless to afford any immediate changes to the funding or facilities, we do control our homes and our hearts. With a mind towards active parental involvement in our child’s education, we can make a difference. A review of over sixty studies (Henderson (1:23-152) examining parent involvement and student achievement concluded that when parents are involved in their child’s education at home they do better in school. When parents are involved at school, their children attend school longer, and the schools they go to are better.
Involvement in your child’s education can mean:
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