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More handpicked essays just for you.
advantages and disadvantages of our culture's reliance on standardized testing
pros and cons of standardized tests in the us
effects of no child left behind act
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America is the country of progress and innovation, in order to achieve this in America prioritizes strict memorization and standardized nationwide test scores over creativity. No Child Left Behind was signed into law in 2002 by President George W. Bush as a re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (Cite?). The law demands that public schools nationwide improve educational standards, specifically among disadvantaged students. To achieve this goal, federal initiated testing started in 2005 to determine student’s proficiency in math and reading. If state determined proficiency is failed to be reached three times in a row a school would be subject to outside corrective measures, including possible governance changes (“No Child Left Behind”-Education Week). Due to legislation such as this, and general state and country wide budget cuts, art and creativity in finding less and less of a place in schools around the country. After the laws 2002 signing, 71 percent of the nation's 15,000 schools had cut down on music, art and even history to devote even more class time to math and science(Dillons). In America arts education has been slipping for more than three decades, the result of tight budgets, an ever-growing list of state mandates that have crammed the classroom curriculum, and a public sense that the arts are lovely but not essential. Now with the addition of No Child Left Behind, students bombarded with class after class of math and English are suffering from a lack of creativity in their learning and the rigor of the core classes does not seem to be improving test scores (Cite).
Enid Zimmerman an editor for Art Educator magazine attended a state art education organization meeting and she “found my place at...
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Riddett-Moore, Karinna. "Encouraging Empathy through Aesthetic Engagement: An Art Lesson in Living Compositions." International Journal of Education & the Arts 12 Oct. 2009. Web. Feb. 2011. .
Rubenstein, Grace. "Real World, San Diego: Hands-On Learning at High Tech High | Edutopia." Editorial. K-12 Education & Learning Innovations with Proven Strategies That Work | Edutopia. Edutopia, Dec. 2008. Web. 23 Feb. 2011. .
"Why Arts Education Is Crucial, and Who's Doing It Best | Edutopia." Edutopia. Feb 2009 Web. Feb. 2011. .
Though standardized testing has played a part in America's education system it took several tries before it played such a large role in education like it does today. The No child left Behind Act of 2002 was the foot hold standardized testing needed in order to be implemented into schools at a national level with such force. During the 1990’s the U.S felt as though it was falling behind on the Programme for International Assessment. “After No Child Left Behind (NCLB) passed in 2002, the US slipped from 18th in the world in math on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to 31st place in 2009, with a similar drop in science and no change in reading”(walker 1).
Education is the foundation of American society. It empowers the youth of America to become the successful leaders this country needs for the future. Education has been one of America’s top priorities since 1965, when the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was passed. Now, education is controlled by the No Child Left Behind Act, which was launched in January 8, 2002. This act was passed with intentions from the government to provide Americans with a more superior education system. However, The No Child Left Behind Act carried many flaws which were left unseen to a vast majority of the public. This act limited American students by not allowing them to demonstrate their full academic potentials while proceeding in school. While the act was still fairly fresh, there was already evidence to prove that it had already gotten off to a bad beginning. For the crucial math and science courses, statistics showed minimal improvements which had begun around the time period in which the No Child Left Behind Act was passed. The act was also supported by a number of educators who voiced themselves by testifying against having the right to teach at their own free will. Teachers across America claimed that because of this new act, they felt a constant heaviness upon their shoulders from the state government to “Teach the test.”
Since 2008, approximately 80% of school districts in America have experienced cuts within their arts budget (Metla, 2015). Legislation at the federal and state levels have enabled these drastic and controversial cuts. No Child Left Behind enforced Common Core standards ensured t...
Peter, S., 1996. The History of American Art Education. 7th ed. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group.
...ent of art education in America. Especially because the United States is comparatively a young nation, it is crucial that we examine our practices and what influenced the development of these practices. Through the work of scholars such as Efland and Smith, it becomes increasingly clear, that the path of art education through America’s past is complex and evolving. Most importantly, it is through their research that we come to understand that the current state of art education, including its strengths and its flaws, can be traced to the events of the past that shaped it.
In the beginning, art was never seen as a therapeutic form of expression. Art is now looked at as a good was to relieve stress and express emotions. Rather, art had a more practica...
“Necessary Edges: Arts, Empathy, and Education” is an article written by world famous cellist, Yo-Yo Ma. In this article, Yo-Yo Ma identifies and discusses the role of arts in the world, stressing the point that these arts are a necessary element in the education system. Ma believes that the skills learned from these arts, are in fact, “essential” to the kind of balanced thinking that is needed in today’s world. Throughout this article, Yo-Yo Ma brilliantly portrays his thoughts, and gains the support of his audience through the use of ethos, logos, and pathos, while also maintaining a clear and concise stance.
According to the National Art Education Association’s goals for schools, “all elementary schools shall require students to complete a sequential program of art instruction that integrates the study of art production, aesthetics, art criticism, and art history,” (Clark, 1987). Elementary schools are having difficulty because they are cutting back on the fine arts programming and many non-specialist classroom teachers are expected to integrate the fine arts into their daily curriculum. Most of these teachers feel inadequate and uncomfortable when teaching these subjects. The children are receiving inadequate lessons in art education. All elementary schools should expand their curriculum to include the fine arts as subjects, and licensed specialists should teach these subjects.
Art can be used to raise scores in every subject, “Students who took four years of art classes scored 91 points higher on their SAT exams than those who took half a year or less. Multiple studies also confirmed that there is a correlation between art engagement and students’ other achievements.” (Valeriya Metla) Even with the research linking art and better grades some educators think that it is more worth while to only focus on the core classes because it is more important to fund what is being tested than to help raise children who are creative.
Winner, Ellen, and Lois Hetland. "Art for Our Sake School Arts Classes Matter More than Ever-
Staff Writers. "10 Salient Studies on the Arts in Education." Online Colleges. 6 Sept. 2011. Web. 25 Feb. 2015. .
For an effective education creativity needs to be present within all aspects of a primary classroom. So what does it mean to be ‘creative’? According to Sir Ken Robinson “creativity is the process of having original ideas which have value”. Creativity can be demonstrated through the use of technology, problem solving experiments and allowing children the freedom to explore and express new ideas. It is very important to ensure a child can get the best creative education; this is because creativity will give the necessary skills needed for our future. Children must become creative problem solvers if they are in leadership positions as this will help them within society, even though all children may not be in a leadership position it is beneficial for them to have a creative mind-set. Because the world we live in is constantly developing new ideas, concepts and technology, creativity is definitely the most important quality a child can have. Sir Ken Robinson’s, (an international advisor on education) views on creativity in education will be discussed along with New Labour views which includes the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education (NACCCE). The 1977 white paper, the open plan for schools, and the 2003 excellence and enjoyment strategy concepts will also be drawn on.
Art and its education are crucial in the development of young children. Therefore, it is of the upmost importance to ensure that our young children are being taught about art and its education in order for them to be successful contributing members of society. June Vail, a professor of dance at Bowdoin College explains, “The arts bring energy and creativity, a kind of learning that can only enhance every other kind of learning. (Vail).” She continues by saying that, “The enterprise of a liberal arts education is integrative, to educate students to be creative and flexible, to harness their energy in a different way (Vail).” Art begins to lay the foundation of success early for young children by developing their motor skills through paining with a paintbrush and drawing with crayons. Furthermore, it also helps promote language development by learning new shapes, colors, and allows them to describe their artistic creation. Lastly, it also helps children improve academically. A report that was done by the Americans for the Arts demonstrates that young people who participated regularly in the arts are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, participate in a math or science fair, or win an award for writing an essay as opposed to students who do not participate in the arts (PBS). As a result of this, it is imperative to ensure that adolescent children of today begin
We learn to follow the steps, use the formula, and get the right answer, but because of these classes, we forget about the arts. If the arts are forgotten, then the student’s way of expressing what they feel is taken away. Which brings more pressure to students in classes like math, physics, geography, etc. That is why schools should make arts classes mandatory because arts classes help students build their artistic and creative skills, make them better learners, and encourages them to find other ways of expressing their thoughts. The chair of the UK Government had a test made to see the ability to think in “divergent or non-linear ways” between the ages 3- 25.
In schools, art educators need to instill the desire to pursue the arts (visual arts and performing arts) through a continued inspiration and encouragement where each student needs to be assessed individually. It is essential to instill passion and love for artistic activities among the students so that we can generate more creative adults in this country. The arst certainly helps students to have develop various creative ideas. The arts education in this country has undergone an immense transformation in the school system, be it elementary, secondary or tertiary level, it has become less popular these days, unlike the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM EDUCATION). Over the past several years, I have seen the trend of schools not giving importance to the arts—visual arts and performing arts, gone for so many. Hence, The Ministry of Education need to create a scope to make the arts education more important, diverse and dynamic, provided it is implemented with a true spirit within the school curriculum. Schools should have aesthetically pleasing art and music studios for the students to have access to art materials or music instruments for them to experiment and explore. The stress, on the other hand, must be on nurturing creativity and innovation (thinking skills or cognition), and not