Overview of the No Child Left Behind Act

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 (NCLB) was initially legislated for 5 years, and has been since temporarily extended, but not officially reauthorized. Senate Democrats were divided were divided on reauthorization, while most Senate Republicans heartily despise NCLB. In May 2008, Senate reauthorization was put on the back-burner while legislators pondered hundreds of reform ideas. In early 2010 and again on March 14, 2011, President Obama said he will seek to reauthorize NCLB, but modified to be similar to his $4.35 billion Race to the Top initiative, which requires five major education reforms for K-12 public education, and pushes states to compete for education funding, rather than automatically receiving it based on a formula. At Race to the Top, Obamas 2010 Education Grant Initiative, read a summary of Obamas controversial five reforms which are a model for his planned reform of NCLB. NCLB is a federal law that mandates a number of programs aimed at improving U.S. education in elementary, middle and high schools by increasing accountability standards. The approach is based on outcome-based theories education that high expectations goal-setting will result in greater educational achievement for most students. Supporters of NCLB Supporters of NCLB agree with the mandate for accountability to educational standards, and believe emphasis on test results will improve the quality of public education for all students. Proponents also believe that NCLB initiatives will further democratize U.S. education, by setting standards and providing resources to schools, regardless of wealth, ethnicity, disabilities or language spoken. Opponents of NCLB Opponents of NCLB, which includes all major teachers unions, allege that the act hasnt been effective in improving education in public education, especially high schools, as evidenced by mixed results in standardized tests since NCLBs 2002 inception. Opponents also claim that standardized testing, which is the heart of NCLB accountability, is deeply flawed and biased for many reasons, and that stricter teacher qualifications have exacerbated the nationwide teacher shortage, not provided a stronger teaching force. Some critics believe that the federal government has no constitutional authority in the education arena, and that federal involvement erodes state and local control over education of their children. Current Status In January 2007, Education Secretary Margaret Spellings published Building on Results: A Blue print for Strengthening the No Child Left Behind Act, in which the Bush Administration: Asserts that the Act is challenging our students to succeed and our schools to improve.Claims that 90% of teachers have met NCLBs highly qualified teacher requirements... At-risk students are getting help earlier... children with disabilities are receiving more classroom time and attention... Spellings report admitted problems that NCLB has identified and not cured, including:Between 1999 and 2004, reading scores for 17-year-olds fell 3 points, and math scores fell 1 point.U.S. 15-year-olds ranked 24th out of 29 developed nations in math literacy and problem-solving, in 2003.1 million students annually drop out of high school before graduation. Changes Proposed by Bush Administration To strengthen the No Child Left Behind Act, the Bush Administration proposes: * A stronger effort must be made to close the achievement gap through the high school standards and accountability. TRANSLATED: More testing, and tougher tests. * Middle and high schools must offer more rigorous coursework that better prepares students for postsecondary education or the workforce. TRANSLATED: Tougher and more basics-focused courses in middle and high school. Also, clearer differentiation between college bound and non- college bound students. * States much be given the flexibilities and new tools to restructure chronically underperforming schools, and families must be given more options. TRANSLATED: The most controversial new proposal would enable students at failing schools to receive a voucher to transfer to a private school. Thus, the Bush Administration is proposing that public school funds would be used to pay private and religious schools. Until now, students at perennially failing schools had the options to either transfer to another public school or receive extended tutoring at the schools expense. Background The 670-page No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was passed with strong bipartisan backing by the House of Representatives on December 13, 2001 by a vote of 381-41, and by the Senate on December 18, 2001 by a vote of 87-10. President George W. Bush signed it into law on January 8, 2002. The primary sponsors of NCLB were President George W. Bush and Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, a decades-long advocate for raising the quality of public education for all American children. NCLB was partially based on education reform strategies instituted by President Bush during his tenure as Texas governor. Those Texas education reforms were reputed to result in improved standardized test scores. Subsequent inquiry revealed test-rigging by some educators and administrators. Margaret Spellings, Former Secretary of Education One of the principal authors of NCLB was Margaret Spellings, who was nominated to Secretary of Education in late 2004. Spellings, who holds a B.A. in political science from University of Houston, was the political director for Bushs first gubernatorial campaign in 1994, and later served as a senior advisor to Texas Gov. Bush during his term as 1995 to 2000. Before her association with George W. Bush, Spellings worked on an education reform commission under Texas Governor William P. Clements and as associate executive director for the Texas Association of School Boards. Prior to her nomination to be Education Secretary, Margaret Spellings worked for the Bush Administration as Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy. Margaret Spellings has never worked in a school system, and has no formal training in education. She is married to Robert Spellings, former Chief of Staff to the Speaker of the Texas House, now a prominent attorney in Austin, Texas and Washington D.C., who has actively lobbied for the adoption of school vouchers. Pros The primary positives of the  No Child Left Behind Act  include: Accountability standards are set and measured annually by each state to foster educational growth and achievement. All results are also annually reported to parents.Standards are set for teacher qualifications.NCLB links state academic content with student educational outcomes, and requires school improvement be implemented using scientific-based research methods in the classroom, parent programs, and teacher development courses.NCLB emphasizes reading, writing and math.NCLB measures educational status and growth by ethnicity, and helps to close the achievement gap between white and minority students.NCLB requires schools to focus on providing quality education to students who are often underserved, including children with disabilities, from low-income families, non-English speakers, as well as African-Americans and Latinos.Parents are provided annually with a detailed report of student achievement, and explanations are provided of achievement levels. Cons Major drawbacks of the  No Child Left Behind Actinclude: Federal Underfunding The Bush Administration has significantly underfunded NCLB at the state level, and yet, has required states to comply with all provisions of NCLB or risk losing  federal funds. Said Sen. Ted Kennedy, a sponsor of NCLB and Senate Education Committee Chair, The tragedy is that these long overdue reforms are finally in place, but the funds are not. As a result, most states have been forced to make budget cuts in non-tested school subjects such as science,  foreign languages,  social studies  and arts programs, and for books, field trips and school supplies. Teaching to the Test Teachers and parents charge that NCLB encourages, and rewards, teaching children to score well on the test, rather than teaching with a primary goal of learning. As a result, teachers are pressured to teach a narrow set of test-taking skills and a test-limited range of knowledge. NCLB ignores many vital subjects, including science, history and foreign languages. Problems with NCLB Standardized Tests Since states set their own standards and write their own standardized NCLB tests, states can compensate for inadequate student performance by setting very low standards and making tests unusually easy. Many contend that testing requirements for disabled and limited-English proficient students are unfair and unworkable. Critics allege that standardized tests contain cultural biases, and that educational quality cant necessarily be evaluated by  objective testing. Teacher Qualification Standards NCLB sets very high teacher qualifications by requiring new  teachers  to possess one (or often more) college degrees in specific subjects and to pass a battery of proficiency tests. Existing teachers must also pass proficiency tests. These new requirements have caused major problems in obtaining qualified teachers in subjects (special education, science, math) and areas (rural, inner cities) where schools districts already have teacher shortages. Teachers especially object to the Bush 2007 proposal to allow districts to circumvent teacher contracts to transfer teachers to failing and poorly-performing schools. Failure to Address Reasons for Lack of Achievement At its core, NCLB faults schools and curriculum for student failure, but critics claim that other factors are also to blame, including: class size, old and damaged school buildings, hunger and homelessness, and lack of health care. Where It Stands Theres little doubt that the  No Child Left Behind Act  will be reauthorized by Congress in 2007. The open question is: How will Congress change the Act? White House Kicks-Off Reauthorization Discussions A meeting was held on January 8, 2007 at the White House to mark the 5th anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act, and to kick-off Bush Administration discussons with Congress regarding reauthorization of the act. Attendees at the meeting with President Bush and Education Secreatary Margaret Spellings were Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), Chair of the Senate Education Committee; Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), ranking Republican on that committee; Rep. George Miller (D-CA), Chair of the House Education Committee; and Rep. Howard McKeon (R-CA), ranking Republican on that committee. According to Sen. Enzi,  There was agreement we should proceed, and an agreement in principal on what needs to be done. Religious, Civil Liberties Groups Propose NCLB Changes More than 100 religious denominations and  civil rights, education and disability advocacy groups have signed on to the  Joint Organizational Statement on NCLB, calling for changes to NCLB, and stating that: We endorse the use of an accountability system that helps ensure all children, including children of color, from low-income families, with disabilities, and of limited English proficiency, are prepared to be successful, participating members of our democracy... ... we believe the following significant, constructive corrections are among those necessary to make the Act fair and effective. Among these concerns are: * over-emphasizing standardized testing, narrowing curriculum and instruction to focus on test preparation rather than richer academic learning; * over-identifying schools in need of improvement; using  sanctions  that do not help improve schools; * inappropriately excluding low-scoring children in order to boost test results; * and inadequate funding. Overall, the laws emphasis needs to shift from applying sanctions for failing to raise test scores to holding states and localities accountable for making the systemic changes that improve student achievement.

Management And Marketing Models Of Aravind Eye Hospital

Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, India, was founded in 1976 with a goal to offer quality eye care at a reasonable cost. Now as of 1992 there are three locations with a total of 1,224 beds and around 200,000 patients addressed per year. While these numbers are impressive relative to the starting point of the organization, if they continue unchanged it would take approximately 100 years for Aravind to clear the backlog of 20 million blind eyes currently in India, longer with approximately another 2 million blind eyes being added to that number each year. The sheer quantity is clearly is a problem for Aravind to address its mission of eradicating needless blindness in India, and that is not even accounting for any of the outstanding issues existing in the current operational, management and marketing models of the organization. Aravind Eye Hospital has certainly made many achievements since its formation, but further investigation on improvements and innovations must be made in order fo r the organization to stay relevant to its mission moving into the future. Aravind has many critical components that contribute to the success it has had so far in addressing the organization’s mission statement and creating social value. One of the key features is Dr. Venkataswamy (Dr. V.), who is the ophthalmic surgeon that founded and built up Aravind with the mission of eradicating needless blindness in India. Dr. V. is the dynamic driver of the organization, who keeps the staff andShow MoreRelatedAravind Eye Care System Case Analysis8210 Words   |  33 PagesAravind Eye Care System Case Analysis [pic] A VISIONARY’S MISSION To ELIMINATE NEEDLESS BLINDNESS Group 19 Group Members Ahmed Shariq Mamsa PGP-08-095 Barath.K PGP-08-105 Harini.R PGP-08-119 Harshitha.S.Kumar PGP-08-122 Neeraj Jain PGP-08-143 Santhosh Rathnam Palani PGP-08-165 Contents 1. Brief Introduction 3 2. Mission and Vision 5 3. MODEL STRATEGY 7 3.1 AECS Model 7 3.2 AECS Strategy and Positioning 8 4. CATARACTRead MoreThe Problem Of Unnecessary Blindness1938 Words   |  8 PagesThere are specifically some important macro-scale problems that should be addressed initially in order to help Aravind move towards fulfilling the organizational goals. Specifically these issues are looking at how the organization’s operations will be expanded in the future including how the organization needs to plan to grow so it can reach a broader number of the blind population, and also if the organization is truly eradicating needless blindness in India as well as providing the highest qualityRead MoreThe Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: in Service for Sight1284 Words   |  6 PagesThe Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India: In Service for Sight 1) Identify the key factors that led to Aravind’s success. What was Dr. V’s role in all this? What was the support staff’s role in all this? Key success factors: The key success factor was to align a great social benefit with a sustainable business model. The conservative financial management with no debt allows sustainable growth. The vision and mission of the organization is well articulated and the collaborators are wellRead MoreIndia vs Bharat4777 Words   |  20 Pagesto arrange two square meals for themselves and their families. There is an acute shortage of safe drinking water. The Primary Health centres are at such long distances that you cannot expect a serious patient to be alive by the time he reaches the hospital. The villagers prefer not to send their children to schools, because the teachers are mostly absent or even if they are present do not be surprised if you catch them drunk or sleeping on a charpoy. Most of the villagers have very small land holdings

Accounting Theory Free Essays

Accounting Theory Construction The function to study accounting theories is to classify them according to the assumptions they rely on, how they were formulated, and their approaches to explaining and predicting actual events. There are some classification which are pragmatic, syntactic, semantic, normative, positive, and naturalistic approaches. Pragmatic approaches are based on observing the behavior of accountants or those who use the information generated by accountant. We will write a custom essay sample on Accounting Theory or any similar topic only for you Order Now Syntactic approaches rely on logical argument, based on a set of premises. Semantic approaches concern how theories correspond to real-world events. Normative theories rely on both semantic and syntactic approaches. Positive approaches test hypotheses against actual event . Positive approaches test hypotheses against actual and the last is Naturalistic approaches consider individual cases and do not try to generalise. PRAGMATIC THEORIES Descriptive Pragmatic Approach Descriptive pragmatic approach based on continual observation of the behavior of accountants, a theory can be developed from observations of how accountants act in certain situations. The theory can be tested by observing whether accountant do act in the way the theory suggest. This approach is probably the oldest and most universally used method of accounting theory construction. Criticisms of descriptive pragmatic approach: * does not consider the quality of an accountant’s action * does not provide for accounting practices to be challenged * focuses on accountants’ behaviour not on measuring the attributes of the firm Psychological Pragmatic Approach Differetnt with Descriptive pragmatic approach, this approach require theorist to observe users responses to the accountants output ( ex:financial report). There are also some problem with this psychological approach that are : * some users may react in an illogical manner * some users might have a preconditioned response * some users may not react when they should SYNTATIC AND SEMANTIC THEORIES Semantic inputs of the system are the transactions and exchanges recorded in the vouchers, journals, and ledgers of the business. These are then manipulated on basis of the premises and assumptions of historical cost accounting. Some accounting theorists are critical, they argue that the theory has semantic content only on the basis of its inputs. There is no independent empirical operation to verify the calculated outputs for examples, ‘profit’ or ‘total asset’. Historical cost accounting has also been criticised on the basis of its syntactic element, for example with respect to the practice of summing several different money amounts assigned to specific assets In defence of the historical cost system, accountants argue that there is no requirement that accounting outputs should have any semantic content or be subject to falsification rules. NORMATIVE THEORIES The 1950s and 1960s saw what has been described as the ‘golden age’ of normative accounting research. Accounting researches become more concerned with policy recommendation and with what should be done, rather than with analysing and explaining the currently accepted practice. Normative theories concentrated either on deriving the ‘true income’ for an accounting period. True income : true income theorists concentrated on deriving a single measure for assets and a unique profit figure. Decision usefulness ; the decision usefulness approach assumes that the basic objective of accounting is to aid the decision making process of certain ‘users’ of accounting reports by providing useful, or relevant, accounting data. The normative theories of the 1950s and 1960s began with a statement of the domain (scope) and objectives of accounting, the assumptions underlying the system and definitions of all the key concepts. POSITIVE THEORIES During the 1970s, accounting theory saw a move back to empirical methodology, which is often referred to as positive methodology. Positivism or empiricism means testing or relating accounting hypotheses or theories back to experiences or facts of the real world. The main different between normative and positive theories is that normative theories are prescriptive, whereas positive theories are descriptive, explanatory or predictive. DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES Focused on what may be considered to be a highly structured approach to theory formulation – the scientific approach. This approach has an inherent assumption that the world to be researched is an objectives reality capable of examination in terms of large scale or average statistics. This type of research is carried out by incremental hypotheses which are then combined to provide greater understanding, or better predictions of accounting. The implied assumption is that a good theory holds under circumstances that are constant across firms, industries and time. The criticism of the scientific method are the large-scale statistical research tends to lump everything together and it is conducted in environments that are often remote from the world of or the concerns of accountants. SCIENTIFIC APPROACH APPLIED TO ACCOUNTING A great deal of misunderstanding exists about the attempt to apply a scientific approach to accounting. The attempt is to make scientists out of accounting practitioners. Accountants who believe in a scientific approach want empirical evidence and logical explanation to support accounting practices so that practitioners can recommend the most appropriate methods for given situation based on this evidence. Another common misunderstanding about the application of the scientific view in accounting is that ‘absolute truth’ is desired, which of course is not possible. ISSUES FOR AUDITING THEORY CONSTRUCTION Auditing is a verification process that is applied to the accounting inputs and processes. Auditor provide an opinion on whether the financial statements are in accordance with the applicable reporting framework, and also provide on whether the statements present fairly, in all material respects, or give a true and fair view. The normative era of accounting theory and research also coincided with a normative approach to auditing theory. The positive ere of accounting has led to a positive approach to auditing theory How to cite Accounting Theory, Essay examples

Paradise Lost Argumentative Essay Example For Students

Paradise Lost Argumentative Essay Paradise Lost Good vs. Evil Miltons Paradise LostJohn Milton divided the characters in his epic poem Paradise Lost into two sides, one side under God representing good, and the other side under Satan representing evil and sin.Milton first introduced the reader to the character Satan, the representative of all evil, and his allegiance of fallen angels that aided in his revolt against God (Milton 35).Only later did Milton introduce the reader to all powerful God, leader and creator of all mankind (John).This introduction of Satan first led the reader to believe acts of sin were good, just like Eve felt in the Garden of Eden when she was enticed by Satan to eat the fruit off of the Tree of Knowledge (Milton 255).The later introduction of The Almighty had the readers change their feelings towards sin, as the ways of God were introduced to them and these ways were shown to be the way to feel and believe.This levy of good vs. evil carried on throughout the poem with the interaction of Sata n and his fallen angels with God and his son in Heaven. The common representation of sin and evil came from the lead character in the battle against God, Satan.His name means enemy of God.He was a former high angel from Heaven named Lucifer, meaning, light bearer (John).Satan became jealous in Heaven of Gods son and formed an allegiance of angels to battle against God, only for God to cast them out of Heaven into Hell (Milton 35).This did not bother Satan at first since he became the leader in Hell rather than a servant in Heaven.Satan believed that it was, Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven ( I-l. 263).Much of Satans reliance on getting things accomplished came from his ability to lie and deceive.He lied to the fallen angels about the Son and his vice-regency in Heaven in order for them to follow him instead of The Son.He also concealed his true self by hiding in the body of a serpent when presenting himself to Eve in the Garden of Eden (Blessington 32).She would not have been as easily tempted into sin had he not concealed his true form. In addition, Satan showed the reader a large amount of anger and destructiveness when he planned his revenge on God (Milton 62).Satan even found pleasure in the pain and destruction of other people and things, To do aught good never will be our task, / But ever to do ill our soul delight (qtd. in Blessington 32).It is clear the feelings and views of Satan represented evil. With Satan and his battle against God, he formed an allegiance of fallen angels to help him carry out his evil goals.Satan placed his chief supporter named Beelzebub in charge of the fallen angels, and getting them together to form the Demonic Council to serve as an administration for Hell (John).Milton described Beelzebub as being a Majestic, wise statesman (qtd. in Bush 265) in his leadership abilities of this council.Although Satan put Beelzebub in charge, it was not because of Beelzebubs abilities, but due to the fact Satan was able to trick his chief supporter easily into expressing his beliefs instead of Beelzebubs own.With Satans ability to deceive Beelzebub easily, he will easily mislead the Demonic Council into carrying out his evil ideas against God in Heaven. The council held a meeting in the capital of Hell called Pandemonium, where the reader is introduced to all of the fallen angels, and learned their evil ideas of revenge against God and Heaven.The first fallen angel that spoke at the meeting was Moloch, who was the strongest and fiercest spirit that fought in Heaven, now fiercer by despair (Milton, II-l. 44-45).He came forth with a suicidal battle philosophy (Blessington 39), promoting open war in Heaven.He was very aggressive in nature, and did not care if God destroyed the fallen angels in the battle, as long as they fought in revenge (Bush 258).The second fallen angel that spoke at the meeting was the false and hollow angel named Belial.He represented true passivity towards fighting (Blessington 40).He conceded to Gods power, realizing they would easily be defeated (John) APPARTS EssayThe Son brought forth his commitment to his Father, judgment of man, to the reader in book ten of the poem.The Son judged Adam and Eve for breaking the commandment of God to not eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.Adam resigned his manhood, and makes Eve a god to him.This act of making someone else a god, instead of the true God, is a major sin in the eyes of God (Milton 272).The first curse The Son handed down upon man was the pain of childbirth.Next, he declared the ground man walks on would grow thorns and thistles.Finally, The Son announced death to man, bringing about feelings of guilt and shame (273-274).With this announcement, the gates opened to allow the characters Sin and Death into Earth, never to leave, only to prey on man (275-276).The judgement of The Son gave the reader the definition of man today, able to choose sin with a path of redemption by Jesus, or take the easy road to Hell. Throughout John Miltons epic poem Paradise Lost, the reader was able to see a contrast between what is evil and what is good.Milton first introduced the reader to sin and evil in the lead character Satan.Milton showed the reader Satans ways of deceit, jealousy, and destruction through various dreadful acts.With Satans incestuous relationship he carried on with his daughter to create the character Death, Milton exposed the reader to the true perversity brought on by sin.Next, Milton introduced the reader to the fallen angels and their evil ideas during their meeting in the capitol of Hell, Pandemonium.Such characters asMammon with his materialistic greed, Belial with his false and hollow views, the all aggressive Moloch and his suicidal battle philosophies, and finally Beelzebub passing on the views of Satan.The contrast to these characters came from God and The Son.God, with his powers of creation, omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience, was able to look over his creations with s ubtle control and try to guide them toward good decisions.In addition to God, the reader looked upon The Son as a symbol of divine love of God and his creations and his showing of true grace toward man.With the powerful character representation by Milton, the reader is able to see the bad in evil and sin, and the good and justification in the judgements of God and The Son. WORKS CITEDBlessington, Francis C.Paradise Lost:Ideal and Tragic Epic.Boston:Twayne Publishers, 1988. Bush, Douglas, ed.The Portable Milton.New York:Penguin Books, 1977. John Miltons Paradise Lost.Internet.7 October 1998.Available http://www.mindspring.com/~verax/milton.htmMilton, John.Paradise Lost.Paradise Lost and Other Poems.New York:Penguin Books USA Inc., 1981.