Tuesday, November 5, 2013

No Child Left Behind



I have currently re-evaluated my research topic and have now come to the conclusion that I will be writing about the No child left behind act and how it isn't working properly. Not all children are the same, so not all children will learn the same. Some children carry disabilities, some children cannot learn without hands on activities, there are so many different variables the government did not think about during the conversation and passing of this act. Some people think this act is the greatest thing to happen, the current generation of children will be proficient in math and reading but the structure of the act is working against the children instead of with the children, something needs to be changed in order for the children to receive the best education and individually be able to understand the concepts they will need in order to be successful in life. The government has failed to look into the children with disabilities and even the children with undiscovered disabilities.
When talking about this topic I think I can relate this to Plato’s dialogical approach. In the book it states that Plato believed that as humans we do not see absolute truth directly, but only glean indirect images, glimpses, or shadows of the truth. I believe that when this act was being talked about it sounded like a good idea and something that should be passed and taken seriously in the education system but I believe that it was not thoroughly thought through enough and is now creating more problems for us as a society than it should have ever made.
Another approach that stuck out to me in the book was the Fisher’s narrative approach. The book states humans are as much valuing as they are reasoning animals. In other words we make decisions based on arguments and evidence. The act has passed because the arguments and evidence that backed it up but now if we took it to court and re-evaluated it would it pass the same questions asked years ago when this was being talked about. The government obviously thought this would have taken a good impact on society but instead has hurt some of us and has made education unequal. Education discriminates against certain groups of people and it has become unfair.