Argumentative Essay On No Child Left Behind

610 Words3 Pages

Just one year after Ravitch's book was published, the very famous (or infamous) act, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was established by President George W. Bush. NCLB is still in school systems today and it mandates that according to congress, schools are held accountable for their students' achievement levels. This is popularly measured by standardized, statewide tests. If a school is performing below the average, the teachers are often penalized or even fired. I find this to be extremely excessive. I don’t like this act because it is not always the teacher's fault that a student performed poorly on a standardized test. Speaking from personal experience, I remember hating to take those tests, they didn’t affect myself academically like the ACT did, so I did not put forth my best effort. …show more content…

Now looking back, and knowing that teachers were penalized for this, I would have tried harder because I am soon going to be standing in their shoes. Teachers should not be disciplined for a child's lack of motivation. Other things could also be taken into account like a child having a poor home life and not having the opportunity to get a full night of sleep or a proper, healthy breakfast. A child could not have encouraging parents, or they could just be sick which distracts them from performing well on exams. Many things can be taken into account for a child not performing as well as possible on an exam. I find it so unfair that teachers, who give children all they have to help them, still have to suffer the negative consequences, or that they get certain incentives. This brings me into my next