NCLB
...wn into its own section were the author expanded upon each. Mr. Daggett’s first section discussed globalization and how countries are transitioning from industry-based societies to information-based societies. Mr. Daggett highlights the importance of bio and nanotechnologies and the increasingly large role that these technologies will play in the future. He uses this for the basis of his point that we are falling behind in certain fields and if we wish to remain on the forefront of the global stage, we must increase our efforts to produce more highly skilled American workers in these fields. In his second section Mr. Daggett highlights the changing demographics in the American workforce and how this will play into education. Mr. Daggett gives some statistics about the lower age of retirement and how that affects pension plans and Social Security. Daggett states that: It is a mathematical certainty that our nation cannot afford to allow these trends to continue without taking preventative action soon. In Illinois, for example, the state has promised 225,000 current and retired teachers $51 billion in pensions. However, the state has only $31 billion in its accounts to pay those pensions. This quote shows the potential dangers we face in the future of education and really gives the reader a sense of how large of a problem our country is facing. The author implies that the use of the No Child Left Behind legislation could help turn these trends around. The author refers to Senator John Kerry as being a sponsor for the No Child Left Behind legislation and also mentions President Bush as a supporter. However, the author gives no definitive evidence into what the No Child Left Behind legislation could do to immediately fix these problems and seems to throw some of these important names into his article to give his work a sense of credibility. The author’s next section highlights the role that technology will play in future enterprises and how we, the American people, are falling behind in this critical area. Throughout this section the author gives a lot of theory and opinion but does not give a lot of statistical information to back it up. However, the author is successful in making the point that technology will most definitely be the future of the world. With all the new technologies that are springing up every year, the reader can assume that by falling behind in the technological race our nation will be at an extreme disadvantage in the years to come. In his final section, the author details how the changing values and attitudes in America will become a factor in our nation’s success. This is the author’s section to provide some positive reinforcement to his otherwise negative article. “Of all trends discussed to this point, the increasing proficiency of students is by far the most positive.” This serves to reinforce the author’s point of the necessity of the No Child Left Behind legislation while giving the reader a sense of hope. Since this article is targeted toward the American educator, the author doesn’t want to end his article on a negative note. Mr. Daggett presents this article in a clear, concise language and expresses a lot of good ideas and opinion. However, I do believe that some of the article is based much more on opinion than on fact. Where Mr. Daggett did use statistical evidence to reinforce his opinions he made a strong case, but I feel that a lot of what he said lacked any evidence to back it up. Some of what the article says is implied rather than proven which weakens the article. Overall, I think the author did a pretty good job of persuading the reader to see the importance of embracing the No Child Left Behind legislation as well as giving the reader a sense of how America is holding up against the other world powers in the area of education. Sources Cited Daggett, William R. “Preparing Students for Their Future” 2005 Model Schools Conference. Under the laws of “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB), American schools have been working diligently to become more accountable for increasing the academic standards for all children. Willard Daggett, who writes in his article “Preparing Students for Their Futures” states that there has been a great deal of political and economic pressure to improve academic standards in America’s schools. He highlights the lack of engineering and science majors throughout American colleges, pointing out the importance of these jobs in the future. Daggett’s purpose in writing this article was to give the American reader a sense of how important these academic fields of study are to the future success of our nation. He divides his article into four sections called the “mega-trends” of which America is facing today. These trends are globalization, changing demographics, technology, and changing values and attitudes toward education. The author makes a good connection of his material to the audience because he portrays the sense of urgency in which he feels educators must respond to these changing needs in our society. He connects this information by the use of statistics to back up his claims that America is falling behind in all areas of education, especially the fields of science, math, and technology. Mr. Daggett backs up these statements with a section describing how important these fields are to the world’s future and how they must not be ignored if America intends to remain as one of the world’s top superpowers. In his discussion of the “No Child Left Behind” legislation, he explains that this is an educational mandate developed by President Bush which “requires every district, school, superintendent, principal, and teacher in the country to look at new and different ways of educating their students if they are to be successful in raising academic standards and student performances as defined by NCLB.” Working as an instructional assistant in the public schools, I have heard many teachers discuss the pros and cons of the NCLB legislation. Teachers feel that this legislation has increased academic testing rather than bridge the gap between low achieving students Reading this article was somewhat surprising and alarming to see how far behind American schools have become in certain areas of study. This article is broken into four main categories, with an introduction explaining the purpose of the article and a conclusion that gives the article a sense of finality. The introduction to this article is really what caught my attention because it did a great job of giving a basis for what to look for throughout the entire article. The phrase “maintaining the cultural and structural stability of society” immediately grabbed my attention. The author used his introduction to present his problem and get the reader interested before diving into the body of the article. The body of this article was divided into the four sections in which the author explains the problems and gives his solutions. Mr. Daggett uses statistics such as “Nearly one-half of all U.S. enrollments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are students who are non-US citizens” to give emphasis to his opinion and lend strength to his case. Seeing this numerical statistic between the amount of engineers and scientists coming from schools in countries like China and India compared with that of schools in America I was definitely surprised. “In 1975, the United States ranked third in the world in percentage of its students who received degrees in science and engineering. Today we are the 17th in the world.” Quotes and statistical data such as this lend a sense of credibility to the article and make it more believable for the reader. The conclusion doesn’t serve much purpose other than giving a brief overview of what the article has covered. However, I believe the author clearly laid out his points, which eliminated the need to delve into them in great detail in his concluding paragraph. The four points in the article were broken down into its own sect...