Education Reform DBQ

Educational achievements has always been a major goal for the United States of America. From the beginning of educational era through the sputnik crisis, US has always prioritized educational standards over most things. During these past few years, US had tried to improve the current educational standards through education reform laws such as the “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) act. Education reform laws are basically some sets of acts or laws implemented in order to raise the current quality of education a state is in. It is evident that the education reform laws enacted this century have raised the quality of education in the United States of America because, the current student academic achievement levels have increased, and the chronically-failing …show more content…
For example, during the past few decades, the percentage of US fourth-grade public schools students who are at a basic, proficient, and advanced reading levels has increased to 66% which is almost twice as the students of US fourth-grade who are at below basic in reading levels (Source A). This shows that the education reform laws enacted by the government have motivated the students to study hard so that they will pass the standardized tests given by the government in order to advance to the next grade level. This also expresses the efforts made by the government to improve the education system because it shows that previously struggling fourth-grade students have now been cut in half in number which shows that the laws that the government is enacting upon the students have drastically improved the lives of many students, thus making it evident that the education reform laws enacted this century have raised the quality of education in the United States of …show more content…
The major exception to this statement is the idea that the education reform laws enacted by the government are not as concrete, clear, or do they let students enjoy their lives in school. The reason that this is an exception is because the education reform laws tend to be a lot more hectic in student education that the typical enjoyment the student feels from learning new information is taken away from him/her. For example, the NCLB is an act that basically states that every child should achieve a certain standard and if they don’t then they can’t move forward to the next level in his/her education and that no child should get left behind in his/her education. This would make a student’s life more like a machine because they would be working and learning solely for the purpose of passing the exam and not because they want to learn it with an interest or passion, making the knowledge they gain on the subject temporary. This makes the NCLB law a “sprawling and unworkable mess” as stated by AEI education experts Max Eden and Mike McShane (Source C), thus proving that there are some exceptions to the concept that the education reform laws enacted this century did not raise the quality of