Education and Future Generations
Diane Hoffman
Composition II ENG1200
Dr John Kay
July 1, 2014

Low scores on SAT’s, ACT’s and National Intelligence tests are becoming increasingly obvious that America’s kids aren’t learning at the rate they should be. Some people think that this is an unfair way to judge progress since they are only given the test once a year. The curriculum guides that teachers are given at the beginning of each year is either not being used or just barely. This makes it difficult to teach what the kids need to be taught for that year of expected learning. Too many schools, instead of working with problem children or special needs children, are being lazy and falling back on the No Child Left Behind law. It’s being abused and not used the correct way. Many schools are complaining that the expectations of NCLB are too hard, that they are unrealistic but children need to be able to read and write at a proper level to succeed in this fast pace technological world. The one of the biggest obstacles is that the Republicans and Democrats in the Senate can’t to get together, implement and revise the education law. In a world full of technology and needing to have a college degree to get anywhere in this world, many teachers are being forced to “dumb it down” or take the chance of losing their job. This is so schools can graduate more kids without a proper education. The majority of schools in the country are federally funded. To receive those funds, there are certain guidelines they must follow. If they don’t follow the federally regulated guidelines, the funds for that school district are terminated. Some schools want to take the lazy way on meeting the guidelines. If this is allowed to continue, society could be doomed to a set back and create more homelessness and higher crime.
It’s becoming increasingly noticeable that children are getting lower than average scores on their SAT, ACT and National Intelligence Testing such as Iowa Basics. These tests measure a child’s development compared to certain grade levels. These tests are only given once a year. They compare the child’s scores with the rest of the children in the country that have taken the test. These test show school districts were their students stand with the rest of the US. There is fewer ways to raise the education level of children graduating without better and proper education. Most schools don’t teach on paper anymore. They let the students use calculators not their brains. No more long hand math. Cursive and proper handwriting is not being taught in a lot of schools anymore. Schools need to concentrate on reading math again. George Miller, D-Cali, wrote to Education Secretary Arne Duncan about being concerned that several states are backsliding on their responsibilities to groups that are low-achieving. (Layton, 2014)
Too many teachers are being found of not using or barely using their teaching curriculum given at the beginning of every year. There is a nationwide demand for testing student and teachers in K-12. These curriculums are the requirements for teachers to teach students what needs to be taught at that grade level and age group. This makes it difficult to teach what the kids need to be taught for that year of expected learning. Some schools send home laptops and don’t give homework anymore. Students are being given the choice of taking tests over and over till they pass or get the grade they want. There is no studying, then pass or fail. The state of Arkansas had a set of curriculum written which teachers and districts were consulted and helped develop and adopt. Then a standardized test was given to several grades. The test monitored the skill of concepts defined as important to a proper education. Eighth graders were allowed to take the test three times. If they failed, they were kept in that grade .Along with the test for the students, a test was given for the teachers. Any teachers that failed, could retake it,