History of American Education

In my service learning I have seen support for English learners. In my class their is a  student who knows a little English, so this has been helpful to the student and the teacher. The teacher is very good in teaching the student English, by repeating the assignment slowly and making sure the student understands. She also has the other students help. The students are very good to include the student in everything they do. I know this child and other students that need help learning English would not be getting the help they need if it wasn't for Lau v. Nichols. There are also many students that are of a different race in the school. All the students, no matter what race or ethnicity, they are treated and respected equally. I know this would not be the case if it were not for Brown v. Board. I also see alot of emphasis on Math and Science. I believe this has come about because of the launch of the first artificial satellite Sputnik. Since this time the American people realized their students were two years behind the Russians. So they determined there should be more concentration on Math and Science. 

I am not very familiar with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), so I did a little research and according to the U.S. Government Publishing Office it is "An Act to close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, and choice, so that no child is left behind". This means that every child should test in math and reading on grade level. There is a blueprint that reforms the re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. According to the U.S. Department of Education, "This blueprint builds on the significant reforms already made in response to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 around four areas: (1) Improving teacher and principal effectiveness to ensure that every classroom has a great teacher and every school has a great leader; (2) Providing information to families to help them evaluate and improve their children's schools, and to educators to help them improve their students' learning; (3) Implementing college- and career-ready standards and developing improved assessments aligned with those standards; and (4) Improving student learning and achievement in America's lowest-performing schools by providing intensive support and effective interventions." Hopefully these reforms will help the NCLB, but I believe more still needs to be improved on the Act. From what I have learned myself from personal experience, from teachers, and parents, the NCLB focuses too much on standardized testing and encourages teachers to teach for the test. 

                                                 Works Cited

"Keeping America Informed". U.S. Government Publishing Office. GPO, 8 Jan. 2002.
     Web. 15 Oct. 2015
"A Blueprint for Reform". U.S. Department of Education. U.S. Government, 27 May 2011. 
     Web. 15 Oct. 2015.