Essay On Anti Intellectualism

America, land of the free and home of the brave, a country helping to make the world a better place. A world power with our impressive military, our freedoms, and our resources. Yet, how can such a powerful country be ranked 25th in math performance and 21st in science out of 30 countries? Twenty-seven percent of the seniors in the United States scored below the basic reading level. America is in need of a change, and No Child Left Behind is not the answer.

"Instead of encouraging teachers to be creative in engaging their students in the classroom, NCLB’s testing requirements have forced teachers to 'teach to the test.' Many states have actually lowered their standards in order to maintain their federal funding. NCLB hasn’t encouraged creativity or competition. Instead, it set standards to a lowest common denominator and established a race to the bottom."

This is a quote from George W. Bush eight years after he signed the act, and it perfectly describes what NCLB has done to the education in America. Teachers are forced to teach the tests rather than what children should be learning. Supporters argue that how can you determine what level a child is if you do not test them. I do not argue against testing children as I feel some form of standard should be met, but I argue the way the government is going about education and how NCLB has influenced the anti-intellectualism in America.

The act is not all bad and has achieved several goals, for one the amount of data collected on education is higher and more accurate than ever, disadvantaged students have become the focus of many education policies, and parents are more aware of how their students and schools compare to the rest of the state and nation. The data collected during t...

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... to account for all the different learning levels into certain tests and let the states decide where their own students are and how they should go about improving. Also the way we test students should be looked at.

Countries across the world are passing America in education. Have you ever thought about growing up in another country? When I think about it I feel there is no way it could have been better than growing up in the United States. However, what will happen if our education is continually made mediocre, what will it be like when there is no longer motivation in the youth to achieve more than their parents’ generation? I don’t know about you but that does not sound like America. We need to unite for our youth and our future as a country. We cannot be left in the dust by countries who are pushing their youth while we tell our children it’s ok to be average.