Public School Education the Public Essay

In fact, the No Child Left Behind Act, and other standardized test-based programs are "increasing incentives for school administrators to allow [poorly performing] students to quietly exit the school system ("Negative Implications," 2008). Being a high school drop out in today's society is not easy for these students, many of whom may already be disadvantaged in a variety of means. When they are simply allowed and encouraged to drop out of school because of a teacher or administrator's desire to look better, the students enter a perpetual cycle of hopelessness where their lack of preparation during the crucial public school years will most likely keep them from succeeding as they continue to move through life.

In addition to the consequences of the No Child Left Behind Act's use of high-stakes-based tests, teachers and school culture play a large role in leaving some students abandoned by the public education system. While many teachers undertake the profession because they want to help others, the education process by which teachers receive credentials and licenses requires that they spend more time learning about classroom management a psychology than what they are teaching. This translates into the fact that teachers are not always authorities on the subjects they teach; some do not even have degrees in the areas that they teach! Students may not, then, be getting first-rate education. Further, in the recent past, the news has erupted with stories about teachers who have taken advantage of their students sexually and otherwise. While this is a rather extreme situation, it does suggest that teachers are not necessarily in the field because they want to help students -- some teachers are not even the kind of people that parents and other concerned individuals would want around students.Other teachers may even participate in a cultural, gender, religious, or other bias toward students. In fact, students from cultures other than the American culture may fare poorly in the public education system because of its cultural assumptions. Not only are students who are different often teased by their peers, an action that could have social and psychological damage, but students also have to accept the American culture in classroom management, homework, and other school situations. Some standardized tests are even difficult for students from different cultures because they make cultural assumptions in the test questions.

Thus, while standardized tests, such as those mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act, are major reasons that some students are not served by the public education system, teachers and cultural assumptions also play roles in some students' abandonment by public education. For students who perform well, have good teachers, and are familiar with American culture, the public education system may be able to perform its two roles -- academic and social. Students who do not fit into this group, however, are often abandoned, with dire consequences.

References

"Negative Implications Of No Child Left Behind: As Graduation Rates Go Down, School

Ratings Go Up. (2008, Feb. 16). Retrieved April 16, 2009, from Science Daily.….....