Final Research Paper Outline
Jennifer Hopes
ENG 122 English Composition II
Dr. Candy Henry
May 11, 2014

Introduction- The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA) legislation, passed in 2001, has left many states reeling as they scramble to meet the many mandates required. By imposing standards on students’ minds we are, in effect, depriving them of their fundamental intellectual freedom by applying one standard set of knowledge, all students are held to the same achievement standard regardless of their ability level, socioeconomic status and native language, and there is too much federal involvement in local schools.

Body Paragraph # 1
Topic Sentence: The No Child Left Behind Act is a federal law that mandates a number of programs aimed at improving U.S. education in schools by increasing accountability standards.
Supporting Evidence: The NCLB strives to “level the playing field” for all students regardless of their socioeconomic background by striving for a universal progression in reading, language arts and mathematics proficiency (Schmidt, T).

Body Paragraph #2
Topic Sentence: The NCLB tends to ignore the gifted students, because teachers are only concerned with passing benchmarks and achieving standards.
Supporting Evidence: Some of the students are incapable of taking a test because they are not at their “grade level”. Instead of getting individualized attention to help those students, they are made to take tests they cannot pass. (McLaughlin M.; Embler, S.; Hernandez, G.; Caron, E.)

Body Paragraph #3
Topic Sentence: Waivers are needed because No Child Left Behind is broken in significant ways.
Supporting Evidence: In order to address the deficiencies in No Child Left Behind, the Department of Education is granting waivers for two years, after which states may reapply for an additional two-year waiver. (Wind, A)

Body Paragraph #4
Topic Sentence: No Child Left Behind requires states to measure "adequate yearly progress" (AYP) for schools receiving federal funds with the goal of all students reaching the proficient level on reading/language arts and mathematics tests.
Supporting Evidence: When a school fails to meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals for two or more consecutive years, parents of children in that school have the choice to transfer their children to schools which are (1) not identified as "in need of improvement" and (2) not identified by the state as persistently dangerous schools. (Dietz, S)

Body Paragraph #5
Topic Sentence: Unfortunately, almost no profit has been generated by the huge federal investment in education.
Supporting Evidence: The federal government spent nearly $25 billion, adjusted for inflation, on education. By 2002 that total had more than quadrupled, reaching over $108 billion. Federal elementary and secondary education spending grew even faster, leaping from about $9 billion to over $53 billion — a 492-percent increase. Finally, just between 2000 and 2004, funding for the U.S. Department of Education increased almost 65 percent, from $38.4 billion to $63.3 billion. (Sunderman, G.)
Conclusion- Thesis statement: NCLB not only fails to live up to its promises, but also diverts our attention from creating schools capable of educating students who do not come from a middle-class background. Our children are our future. Their education now plays a vital role in who they can become later on in their lives. The government believes if a child's expectations are set high, then they will achieve more. No Child Left Behind states that all students are exposed to the regular curriculum and must take the state wide standardized tests required for each