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The failing school system in america
The failing school system in america
The failing school system in america
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The controversy with No Child Left (NCLB) Act of 2011 can be debated in different ways. Debate rages over whether the act is effective at improving America’s education system or has it flawed. The former advocate in favor of NCLB, Diane Ravitch has turned into a major critic against the law. Ravitch has even written a book pointing why the NCLB has failed. In The Death and Life of the American School System Ravitch criticized how the movement to reform education standards has turned into the movement of test taking. She has also advocated her concerns toward NCLB and how it has done more harm to America’s education system than improvement through television and radio interviews.
Throughout her book The Death and Life of the American School System and her interview on the Daily Show with John Stewart Ravitch took a strong stance on the failure of the NCLB. For this paper I am going to be analyzing the different rhetorical strategies used in each source to make Ravitch’s argument on NCLB more persuasive to the audience. The book and interview both used different yet similar techniques to make the argument strong; however the reasons and evidence in each case can help to build a sturdier foundation for the other source. I am going mainly focus the different aspects of the two sources that create trust and credibility and how through this reliability build up enhance the logical argument. These two methods work together to make the audience convinced of Ravitch’s claim.
The interview done on Diane Ravitch by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show, focused on the book The Death and Life of the Great American School System. Stewart questioned Ravitch the reasons why she believe that “standardized testing and choice are undermining education”. I found this source through Google search engine using “No Child Left Behind” and Diane Ravitch” as my search terms. In addition, I did not have to search very far for the second source since I already had the book at home. Since my primary source was an interview done on Diane Ravitch and her book, I thought it was a good idea to incorporate it in support of her argument in the interview. Given Ravitch’s historical background as an Assistant Secretary of Education and an award-winning author of several books, it is safe to say that these sources are credible.
When attempting to convince other to view an issue from a different standpoint, there are multiple different rhetorical strategies that can be utilized in order to effectively do so. In the article “Not by Math Alone,” by Sandra Day O’Connor and Roy Romer, the authors argue that school systems today lack the education needed to prepare students to take part in their government. O’Connor and Romer use a variety of persuasive techniques, including establishing credibility and presenting facts and evidence, to get the audience to see how rare civic learning is and why it is important for students to learn about these things. The authors instill trust in the audience as they provide information from credible sources that supports their purpose.
Palmer, William. "Rhetorical Analysis." Discovering Arguments: An Introduction to Critical Thinking, Writing, and Style. Boston: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2012. 268-69. Print.
When analyzing the arguments of both Michael Moore’s “Idiot Nation” and John Taylor Gatto’s “Against School”, their most distinct aspect is the tone in which their arguments are presented. Moore’s informal writing invokes a reaction within the reader. He capitalizes entire sentences to make them appear louder and draw attention. How can referring to a president as an “Idiot-in-Chief” not elicit a certain emotion within the reader? Moore is a well-known activist who is quite aware of popularity and infamy. His words are not an attempt to persuade dissenters to his side, but rather to appeal to the emotions of his supporters and drive them to action. Whereas Gatto writes in a formal but understandable language that appeals to the intelligence of parents and children alike regardless of their view of public education. It is notably free of exclamation marks as well as the jargon associated with educators. The voice used plays a key role in the techniques and tools each arguer uses to convince their intended audience to take action.
Ramage, John D., John C. Bean, and June Johnson. Writing Arguments: A Rhetoric with Readings. 9th ed. Boston: Pearson Education, 2012. Print.
The implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act applied a market approach to school reform as a way of improving the school system. This new law promised an era of high standards, testing, and accountability in
Lincoln's style in this speech was inevitably persuasive. His rhetorical strategy appeals to not only the readers senses, but to their intellectual knowledge as w...
Neill, Monty. "The No Child Left Behind Act Is Not Improving Education." Education: Opposing Viewpoints. New York: Greenhaven, 2005. 162-68. Print.
Standardized tests have been used to see how much a child has learned over a certain period of time. These tests have been a highly debated issue with many parents and just people in general. In the article “Opting out of standardized tests? Wrong answer,” the author Michelle Rhee argues that people should not be trying to opt out of standardized tests because it allows the country to see how much a child has learned and the things they need to improve. On the other hand, in the article “Everything You’ve Heard About Failing Schools Is Wrong,” the author Kristina Rizga argues that standardized tests are not an efficient way to measure a student’s intelligence. Rizga better proves her thesis through the use of solid argumentation. Rizga is more
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.”
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is currently the educational policy in the United States. Prior to NCLB the educational policies in effect were “A Nation at Risk, in 1987 America 2000, and a few years later with Goals 2000” (Eisner, 2001, p.21). No Child Left Behind is a test based accountability system used in schools to measure their performance holding the districts, administrators and teachers liable and accountable for the outcomes. Supovitz (2009) States that No Child Left Behind was a major reform initiative intended to bring about widespread improvements in student performance and reduce inequities between ethnic groups and other traditionally under-served populations like economically disadvantaged students, students from major racial
The current debates surrounding the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 are both positive and negative. Many politicians and people that previously supported the Act are now standing against it. In the beginning many supported the new Act because everyone was aware that a change needed to happen in the education system and the proposal of No Child Left Behind seemed like the answer we were looking for. As the No Child Left Behind requirements began to be felt in the school systems across America and the assessments results started coming in, everyone took a step back and really began to look at the new law. The results were not what everyone expected, what was once considered an answer was now becoming the problem.
The ability for all children from varying walks of life to receive a well-rounded education in America has become nothing more than a myth. In excerpt “The Essentials of a Good Education”, Diane Ravitch argues the government’s fanatical obsession with data based on test scores has ruined the education system across the country (107). In their eyes, students have faded from their eyes as individual hopefully, creative and full of spirit, and have become statistics on a data sheet, percentages on a pie chart, and numbers calculated to show the intelligence they have from filling out bubbles in a booklet. In order for schools to be able to provide a liberal education, they need the proper funding, which comes from the testing.
...hanges made to improves the quality of education children will continue to suffer. The NCLB act was created with good intentions, but I questions the commitment to ensure all students receive an opportunity to achieve. Once those who have the authority to make the necessary changes to the program commit to improving the education system, the test scores of students who are in schools who support the program should begin to see improvement. This should not be an option, whether or not to fix a system that has the ability to provide children across America the chance to succeed. The most important task at hand, is to make sure that we are moving forward in education so that we are able to compete with those who are thriving education wise, such as children from abroad. Children deserve a fair chance at a bright future and education is the key to that success.
“Making the Grade,” which was published in the Salt Lake Tribune in September of this year, is an article arguing the negative sides of the No Child Left Behind Act. Through this article, a majority of the discussion regarded the budgeting involved with NCLB. This article calls No Child Left Behind a “one-size-fits-all formula for improving education in America” (Making the Grade). According to President Bush, the NCLB Act is “’the cornerstone’ of his administration” (Salt Lake Tribune). Like with any legislation, however, come both positive and negative sides.
Argument Against Standardized Testing President Bush is promoting annual standardized testing for all students in grades three through eight. This bill is currently being considered in Congress, and has garnered much support. As of right now, 15 states test students in those grades, and more than 20 have high school exit exams, which look only at the test score of a student, not at his or her academic achievements. Standardized testing is an unfair and inaccurate form of judging a person’s intellect. In many cases, people are either over- or underrepresented by their test scores, partly because America does not currently have the capabilities to fairly score the increasing number of tests.