How+are+qualifications+for+students+going+to+change?

//**"A Better Way to Fix No Child Left Behind"**//
This article explains how the American work force is similar to the public school systems here in the United States: each one effects the other, but they fail at being successful. Lamar Alexander, a Senator from Tennessee, has been developing a bill to propose to congress regarding the unsuccessful No Child Left Behind law with his colleagues. Since eighty percent of all American schools will not be "proficient" in 2014, this bill will provide a back-up plan to help turn things around. Alexander says that the states should be granted power over the school systems within their area. Each state should figure out what is best for their students to excel into a higher education or career afterward grade school. This bill will also change the ways that students and teachers are evaluated. A teacher isn't a good one just because of his and/or qualifications. It reflects how their student's progress throughout the school year. Though the states would be in charge of the school systems, a student achievement report will still be required. "[They] would also make it easier for state governments and local school districts to expand the number of charter schools, which have been shown to improve student achievement in under-performing districts. " This is not only for the Government, but for the parents who want to be aware of their student's success. The final change that this bill will be making is that the schools will receive all of their needed resources, and enough money to turn around the bottom five percent of their schools.

I am thoroughly impressed with the content of this article. While I do not involve myself heavily in politics, I have been following the details and results of "No Child" extensively. My opinion regarding it is not very promising, but this bill sounds like it will definitely lead us into the right direction for our future generations. By putting the states in charge of the education department, it will provide a huge weight lifted off of the federal Government's shoulders, thus letting it focus on other issues like the deficit for an example. Since the No Child Left Behind law has been in place for the past decade KL, the states have gained information about how their students are being educated and what they do with it. Now that they would be in control, they can quickly fix the problems in their own way. The student qualifications will only be slightly altered through the ways that they are evaluated. The bill may require a few different standards than No Child Left Behind does, but over all, it looks like it will excel many schools toward greatness.

Lamar Alexander. (2011, September 26). A better Way to Fix No Child Left Behind. //New York Times//. The Opinion Pages,. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/opinion/a-better-way-to-fix-no-child-left-behind.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=No%20child%20left%20behind,%20student%20qualifications&st=cse

//**"The Importance of the Ninth Grade on High School Graduation Rates and Student and Student Success in High School."**//
A student's ninth grade year reflects greatly on whether or not he or she will graduate. Though there are many factors that may lead to dropping out, it all revolves around that freshman year of high school. In a school's success, the graduation rate is a great concern. A person's education portrays what type of career they will receive in the future. Most jobs prefer a college degree, while others only expect a high school diploma. If a person does not have either, they will be working at a low income place for the rest of their life. Researchers say that a student's ninth grade year is the "make it or break it" time for receiving graduating. "States that have felt the pressure to compete globally have raised their graduation requirements," thus the pressure is handed straight to the upcoming classes at their school. The transition from middle to high school is what kills most of the students. Eighth grade does not provide enough preparation for the new world of high school. It is said that ninth graders are bombarded with a work overload. As a result, they skip class, slack off, and misbehave. So far, there have been some suggestions on how to ease this immense transition between schools: giving maps and bell schedules, meeting the teacher night, orientation, having student mentors, and to continue the use of these resources throughout their ninth grade year. One suggestion that has been experimented on many schools is having a "Freshman Academy." This program will be in the same building as the rest of the high school, but in a separate wing of the building. The teachers will be completely focused on benefiting the freshman students during their time there. Some have noticed that with this plan, it will provide the students with" two freshman years, one in the academy and one when they start the tenth through twelfth-grade school." Though the pros outweigh the cons in this situation, a lot of schools are dropping the program to figure out another way to accelerate towards greatness due to problems that they have found within it. Some say that the students then experience a "second freshman year" as they are brougth into tenth grade the following year. So. is the Freshman Academy really worth it?

I remember my transition from middle school to high school; the confusing hallways and odd schedules, but my sister was always by my side. That was my benefit during that first year of high school, I already knew the building because of her. Plus our lockers were right next to each other, which definitely helped throughout the school day. This article says that it is basically the middle school's fault that so many students are dropping out of high school so early. It states that a majority of the middle and high school teachers have very little contact between each other, which is definitely something that they should work on. It is not one individual teacher who should help a student progress throughout grade school, it is all of them. Another factor that impacts a school's freshman dropout rate is how much the student actually cares in life. All you hear in middle school is how hard the following years will be and how tough the teachers are, but in reality, (for me at least) the teachers were exactly the same (for the average class). Certainly, they expected more from you, but that happens every grade transition in school. Students should not be isolated from the entire school either. An exceptional plan would be to continue with the homeroom classes, and make them more as a transition class as well. It will still keep the freshman involved with the upper classmen, but then they also have their own special area for help.

//**"Obama to Seek Sweeping Change in 'No Child' Law"**//
The Government has recognized the impact the " No Child Left Behind Law" has had on each of the schools in the United States. Since there is no way they will close the achievement gap by 2014, the Obama Administration is proposing another idea for the problem. "The White House wants to change federal financing formulas so that a portion of the money is awarded based on academic progress, rather than by formulas that apportion money to districts according to their numbers of students, especially poor students." Though the Department of Education has many solutions to the problems in the No Child Left Behind Law, passing the new laws would be difficult due to congress' stipulations. Right now, all 98,000 public schools in America are required to pass the Adequate Year Progress report in order to stay functional in the school systems. If the students continually fail to pass their standard tests, teachers can be fired and, or even worse, schools can be closed. Members of the United States Department of Education have suggested to eliminate the 2014 goal multiple times. They want to judge the schools in a more reasonable way than taking the same test cross country. "... under the administration’s proposals, a new accountability system would divide schools into more categories, offering recognition to those that are succeeding and providing large new amounts of money to help improve or close failing schools." The main goal is to prepare high school students for the real world, whether it is college or a career. Setting the students up for this type of success must be started at earlier grades. "The education law has been praised for focusing attention on achievement gaps, but it has also generated tremendous opposition, especially from educators, who contend that it sets impossible goals for students and schools and humiliates students and educators when they fall short." Now that we are getting closer to the expiration date of this law's goal, problems are being sprung up, and something must be done. Hopefully, congress will recognize these issues and allow this new bill to pass.

Congress can be a pain in the butt. It would be nice if we could experiment with all of these different suggestions to see what works best for American public schools. After working with the No Child Left Behind Law for the past few years, we have realized what we need to do to fix this achievement gap. As the article stated, if these laws pass congress, the graduation requirements will change, effecting grades all the way back to kindergarten. It must start that early in life, because the "real world" is a challenge that, right now, graduates are not prepared for. I can vouch for that statement. My high school did not prepare me at all for college, and I feel as if it is getting worse and worse as each year goes by. By experimenting with different options, it will let us find the perfect solution for schools to accelerate towards greatness.

Dillon, S. (2010, February 1). Obama to Seek Sweeping Change in “No Child” Law. //The New York Times//. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/01/education/01child.html?sq=no%20child%20left%20behind%20student%20qualifications%20changing&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=6&adxnnlx=1322498391-v3BYoANJ1T9uP+EWpwRmXQ

//**"Using Alternate Assessment to Improve Educational Outcomes"**//
By creating an alternate assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities, it allows the schools to have an accurate adequate yearly progress score at the end of the year. The No Child Left Behind Act has pushed standardized tests onto the schools, but it is not fair to let the special education children take the same test as the average student. This article describes different ways an alternate assessment can be given: portfolio or body of evidence, checkless, analyzing EIPs, and a performance assessment. At least one of the fifty states is using one of these methods to try to reach their adequate yearly progress. Many issues have come up regarding the use of the alternate way of standardized testing. "Perhaps the most critical is negotiating a balance between standardization and individualization. The more standardized the test is, the more interpretable the scores will be to those who are not directly involved in its administration. However, given the diverse nature of the population that participates in the assessment, a test that does not accommodate an extremely wide range of performance levels and rates of learning cannot yield useful scores." So now, the school systems must try to find a balance between the two types of tests. Though it is very difficult to make up the actual exam, they must remember to make sure they meet all of the federal regulations regarding the alternate assessment and promote future progress and effective classroom activities. These issues are difficult, but possible to overcome.

Alternate assessments are created to the best of the school's ability, but is it really equal to the actual standardized tests that all of the other students are given? Children that have significant cognitive disabilities are all different. Not one is the same, which is also very similar to the required standardized tests given to all of the other students. Is there really a balance? What if they threw in an alternative assessment for those students. Giving the special education student a one-on-one assessment given by the teacher, who knows his or her issues well may help the student understand the entire concept.. There is only a certain level that is accurate for all students, even in the regular classes.

Karen D. Hager, & Timonthy a. Slocum. (2005, Spring). Using Alternate Assessment to Improve Educational Outcomes. Classic RSEQ Article.

__Overall Reaction to Your Research__
A lot of my research revolved around one specific thing: the No Child Left Behind Law President Bush passed at the beginning of the century. That is the hot topic going around the U.S. Department of Education these days. Especially sense the deadline is coming to an end, and we are not even close. //If //our Government passes new regulations for our school systems across the country, the students will face major changes. Standardized tests probably won't be used to evaluate students anymore;it will be at a more personal level to fully understand the child's position as a student. One thing I did not put into perspective at the start of this project is how the distribution of the money will change as the schools accelerate towards greatness. One of my articles says that if the No Child Left Behind Law is expired, the government will "... divide schools into more categories, offering recognition to those that are succeeding and providing large new amounts of money to help improve or close failing schools." This will change the lives of so many students and provide them with much more opportunities to succeed in their future. Hopefully within these next few years, someone will come up with the right proposal to give to congress to help the schools accelerate towards greatness, because after all, they are our future.

__Relevance in Rhode Island Schools__
Through my research I have found out that a lot of the obstacles for the accelerating towards greatness goal are not issues that the state itself can deal with. The government limits what the states can do with their public school systems, making it hard for them to work on accelerating. By knowing the Adequate Yearly Progress scores in the Rhode Island schools, it proves the point that No Child Left Behind is not being successful, even in the smallest state in America.