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DanielleBushong
ARC
Walroth
16January2015

ChangingtheEducationSystem

Thereisanincreasingamountofstudentsleavinghighschoolunpreparedforwhatwill
beahead.Therearemultiplereasonsforthis:teachingonlyfocusesonafewofthemultiple
intelligencesnoteverystudentlearnsthroughthewayschoolsteachstandardizedtesting
consumesagoodchunkoftimestudentsshouldbelearningandtherearemanydifferent
intelligences.AreasonbehindthisisNoChildLeftBehind,anactpassedbytheBush
Administrationthatwasmeanttoensurethateverychildren,nomattertheincome,wasinsured
anequaleducation.Instead,thesepoorschoolsarerunningbankruptduetoalackofgovernment
fundingtheschoolsoftenclose.Eveniftheycloseonlytemporarily,thereisalreadyabig
disruptioninthestudentseducation.Thewaytheactworksisthatstandardizedtestaregivenout
totestthestudentsandschoolssuccess,butitseasytoseetheholesinthis.Notallstudentstake
testsaswellasothers,andnotallstudentshavethesameintellect:
MultipleIntelligences(MI)theoryrecognizeseightdifferentkindsofhuman
intellect,notjustthosethatleadtohighIQscores.Peoplepossessvaryingand
equallyvalidconfigurationsofintelligence,GardnerclaimedinhisbookFrames

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ofMind:TheTheoryofMultipleIntelligences(BasicBooks,1983).Insodoing,
heposedachallengetostandardizedtestsandtheequationofintelligencewith
traditionalsuccess(Boyles:56)

Gardnerisapsychologistwhofirstintroducedthetheorythattherearedifferentintelligences,
whichiswhyatestthatusesafewdoesnotcorrectlytestallstudentsknowledge.Forallthese
reasons,theeducationsystemthatiscurrentlyusedneedstobequestionsforiftheNoChildLeft
Behindisreallyworking,ifaschoolsystembasedoffofinterestswouldbenefitthestudents
findingcareerswouldbebetter,ifteachingshouldbebasedonmultipleintelligences,and
finally,ifthestandardizedtestsaretakingtoomuchtimeoflearningforinaccurateresults.

Bayliss,Sarah."AMeetingoftheMinds."SchoolLibraryJournal.01Dec.2013:56.
eLibrary.Web.15Jan.2015.

SarahBaylissbringsherreadersintotheworldofasmalllibraryinSt.Louis,Missouri.
Itsthefirstlibrarythatfocusesoffofthetheoryofmultipleintelligences.Thistheorychallenges
thestandardizedtestingmethodthathasbeenusedthroughoutgenerationstotesttheintelligence
ofastudent.Linguistic,logicalmathematical,spatial,musical,bodilykinesthetic,interpersonal,
intrapersonal,andnaturalisticintelligencearetheMultipleIntelligences.Thislibraryhelpsthe
differentintelligencesbywhiteboardsalloverthewalls,nooksandcranniesforreaderstoread,
andevenagiantspiralpaintedonthefloor!Inordertousebringouttheintelligencesfromthe

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studentstheydohandsonactivitiestoacquiretoeach.Thislibraryleadsway,wherechildren
cometowillinglylearninthewaystheyfindinterestthemmost.Theauthor,Sarah,studiedat
theSchoolofPsychology,theUniversityofCollegeLondon,andmanyotherschoolsbeforeshe
finallygainedaPhD,andiscurrentlyworkingattheUniversityofWinchester.Thisinformation
canprovethefactthewayschoolsaresetuprightnowareonlybenefitingsomeofthestudents
thatattendthere,andthataschoolthatfocusesandbringstolightthatthereismoreintelligences
intheworldwouldallowthestudentstodobetterintheirjobsinthefuture.

McNamara,Mary."LuckyUs:TheSAT,Take2."LosAngelesTimes(LosAngeles,CA).
21Jul.2002:n.p.SIRSRenaissance.Web.15Jan.2015.

MaryMcNanaratalksbacktooneofthemoststressfulmomentsofateenagerslife,
standardizedtest.Theessayhadjustbeenaddedtoanalreadyintimidatingtest,andsomeofthe
bravesoulsatthenewspapersheworkedatweregoingtotryandtakethetest.Eventhoughthey
hadspentyearswritingthroughthebusiness,theywerejustasterrifiedasever.Allhadpassed
andmostwithsixes,butitbroughtherbacktothemainpointonhowtheypassed.Experience.
Theyworkedandspecializedinwriting,andforsomeonewhoisnotverygoodatwriting,itsnot
equallytestingtheirabilitiesasiftheywerebeingtestedonletssaymusic,whichtheymight
excel.Shebringsagoodpointout,attheendofit,thathowareallofthesegoingtoberead
withoutitbeingsubjective?Afterreadingahundredthereaderwillbecometiredandnumbto
thetaskathand,whichcouldinterferewiththegradeastudentisgiven.Maryisatelevision
criticfortheLATimes,andhaswonthePulitzerPrizetwiceforherwork.Herpointofneeding

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experiencecanbeusedtoarguethatschoolsbasedonworkinginthefieldsthestudentssucceed
bestincanleadtobetterchancesofbeinghiredinthefuture,aswellthatstandardizedtestingis
notthebestwaytoseeastudentsknowledge.

Siegel,Timothy."TheProblemWith"NoChildLeftBehind""Forbes.ForbesMagazine,
n.d.Web.13Jan.2015.

TimothySiegelbroughttolifetheteacherssideofthestandardizedtesting,andhowit
becomesastresstoteacherstoalsowanttoteachwanttheyareinterestedinbutcannot.The
classroombecomestiredandstiff.Thisisnottheplacefora16yearoldwithsomanyother
thingsontheirmindsshouldlearn,becauseitsalmostguaranteedthatagoodhandfulofthose
studentstuneoutwithboredomandfail.Teachershavetodothisjustsothetestscoresaregood,
andtheschoolgetsthemoney.Itisnolongerabouttheeducation,learningisnotengaging,its
allnumbers.ThisisbecauseoftheNoChildLeftBehindAct,whichmakesitsothatschoolsget
thefundingbasedonhowgoodthescoreson.Weeksarespentonthis,makingtheactual
learningthroughouttheyearsrushedandmoredifficulttounderstandandremember.Students
justdon'tenjoylearninginanenvironmentthatisnotinteresting.Timothyisaportfoliomanager
andpatentattorney,hewritesforForbes.Thisinformationprovesthatthereeventeachers
becomestressedbythewaysschoolareandmanyenjoyteachingwiththethingstheyenjoyjust
asmuchasthestudentswouldenjoylearningit.

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Muldoon,Jessie."HowManySchoolsLeftBehind?"HowManySchoolsLeftBehind?
N.p.,13May2005.Web.15Jan.2015.

JessieMuldoonexplainsfurtherintotheNoChildLeftBehindLaw,butinthepolitical
sense.Sheexplainsthataplantohelpoutpoorerschoolsendedupdiggingadeeperholeintothe
statebudgetsthathadtomakeupforthegovernment'sfailure.Becauseoftestscoresbeingthe
moneymaker,teachersteachtothetest,failingthesubjectsthatarenotcovered,especiallythe
arts,whichfailsstudentswhoplantobecomeartistinanysense.Schoolsareclosingduetothis
orbecomingchartersduetoreconstructingplans.JessieisateacherandmemberoftheOakland
EducationAssociation.Thisarticlefurtherbacksthepointsthatifithadnotbeenforthelaw
schoolswouldbemovingfastertowardsaplacewherestudentscanlearntotheirabilitiesand
notthestandardsabilities.

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https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM9FMM6BHV/

Aboveistwoquestionsaswellasalinkthatgoestoasurveycreatedthataskedstudents
whattheirviewisonthequestionofskillbasedschools,standardizedtestingandtheothertopics
thathavebeencovered.Itprovesthatstudentsagreethatschoolswouldbebetteriftheywere

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basedoffoftheirinterests,wereskillbased,andtheywouldleavethehighschooltheyattended
morepreparedfortheircareer.Thestudentsareunsureaboutthestandardizedtesting,butthisis
becausetheyareunclearonwhatschoolwouldbelike,becausethesetestsarepartofallthey
knowintheeducationsystem.Thestudentsrealizethatthepoortestingscoresareclosing
schoolsbecauseofNoChildLeftBehind,andthattheschoolshavealackoffundingwhichis
leadingthestudentsandteacherswithunfairchances,Someeducatorsareworkingtoreform
thelaw.Buttyingfundingtoscores,punishingteachersandstudentsinthemostdifficult
districtsandprivatizingpubliceducationarenotthingsthatcanbereformednoristheBush
administrationlikelytoletgooftheseprovisionseasily(Muldoon:8).Lawmakersneedtostop
shovingmoneyintothemouthsofbusinessmenwhocamefromwellfundedschoolsandgiveit
tothelawtheycreatedtohelpthebusinessesofthefuturebyteachingthestudentsoftodayin
thebestway,whichmeansfocusingontheinterestsofthestudentsfromthebeginning.
TheNoChildLeftBehindlawshouldberevised,ifnoteliminated.Itisnothelpingthe
poorschools,infactitismakingitworseforthem.Studentsarebeingforcedtoalllearnthe
samethingsthesameways,leavingoutthedifferentintelligencessuchasartistic.Notevery
studentlearnsthesameway,whichiswhymoreschooldistrictsshouldcreatetheoptiontogoto
skillbasedschoolssothatstudentscanfocusonlearningforthecareertheywanttogointofrom
thebeginning,whichwillbetterpreparethemandhelptheeconomy.Standardizedtestingisnot
foreverystudent,andsincethebigtestsdecideastudentsfutureforcollegesandjobs,thiscan
bringdownthestudentschancesforsuccess.Thisisbecausetestingissubjective,thereareso
manyholesinit,differentknowledgethestudentsexcelin,thefactthateachstateusesdifferent
testssotheknowledgeisnotevenbeingcorrectlycompared,andsomuchmore.Theeducation

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isbeginningtochange,likeitalwaysdoes,andhopefullyforthebetter.AsSiegelsaysinhis
articleTheProblemWithNoChildLeftBehind,Sowhydowethinkwewillmakesociety
betterbyselectingsomesubsetofmeasurableskillsandforcingteacherstofocusontheseskills?
Andwhyisitthatwethinkthatwewillmakesocietybetterbyfocusingonthepercentageof
studentswhogetaparticularscoreonatest,ratherthanviewingtheaveragescore.Whyshould
itnothelptheschoolifonechilddoesreallywellonthetest??(1).Thesearequestionsthat
everyparent,teacher,studentandlegislatureshouldtakethetimetoconsidertofindtheanswer
tobettersolvetheproblemthecountryisfacingofitseducationsystem.

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WorksCited.
Bayliss,Sarah."AMeetingoftheMinds."SchoolLibraryJournal.01Dec.2013:
56.eLibrary.Web.15Jan.2015.

McNamara,Mary."LuckyUs:TheSAT,Take2."LosAngelesTimes
(LosAngeles,CA).21Jul.2002:n.p.SIRSRenaissance.Web.15Jan.
2015.

Siegel,Timothy."TheProblemWith"NoChildLeftBehind""Forbes.Forbes
Magazine,n.d.Web.13Jan.2015.

Muldoon,Jessie."HowManySchoolsLeftBehind?"HowManySchoolsLeft
Behind?N.p.,13May2005.Web.15Jan.2015.