Jorge Vasquez-SalasDr. LangdonWriting 39CJanuary 29. 2016No Child Left Behind: A Failure or Success?

With the introduction of No Child Left Behind the Bush administration was aiming to improve education across the United States and one of the goals included was to increase graduation rates in high schools as well as to create work and college ready students who would be able to compete in the work force of tomorrow (Ravitch). The goal was to make every student ready for their post high school life, whether it was to join the workforce or continue their studies in college, but as time passes it is evident that No Child Left Behind was not successful in doing so, which will be demonstrated throughout this paper.

I have personally witness the key issue discussed in this paper: many high school graduates who continue their students in college are not ready for the work load expected from them in these institutions. Personally, I did not feel completely ready for the work expected at UCI; when I first started my college career I found myself in a bad position. I felt overwhelmed by the amount of work I had to do and what surprised me the most was the fact I had to do studying on my own. Many of my peers were studying at least eight hours a week per class while I was doing about two, and I believed that was more than enough because it is about the same amount of time I studied in high school, but soon I realized that was not the case. I found myself struggling to keep my grades up and being able to organize myself. I concluded that my high school failed to prepare me for college. Even though I was taking Honors and AP classes, the work load was not comparable to that of college, and you could pass classes without doing much studying. I know I am not the only one with this problem as I have seen many go through the same struggles I had. When asked why they were performing poorly they gave me similar answers: their high schools never taught them to deal with the work load at institutions such as University of California, Irvine.

Many students and scholars agree that high schools are doing very little to prepare graduates for the work force and college education, showing that the goals impose by No Child Left Behind were not met. This is a problem because the main goal set by No Child Left Behind was to create a future generation that was more capable to enter the workforce and to attend and graduate college. According to ERIC, this problem should concern everyone because students who fail to graduate high school with enough preparation for a four-year college career are much less likely to gain full access to our countrys economic, political, and social opportunities (ERIC, 3) which hurts the economy as employee competition diminishes.

What it means to be college readyAccording to Eric, To be college ready students must pass three crucial hurdles: they must graduate from high school, they must have taken certain courses in high school that colleges require for the acquisition of necessary skills, and they must demonstrate basic literacy skills. (ERIC, 3).The National Assessment Governing Board, an independent, bipartisan organization that oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), considers various factors that contributes to students readiness for college, including content knowledge, cognitive strategies, learning skills, and transitioning skills.4 As a measure of students knowledge in core subject areas, the potential use of NAEP results as an indicator of students academic preparedness for postsecondary education and training is being explored by the Governing Board (Nations Report Card).Statistics

college readiness, only 39% of students scored above 163 or higher in the mathematics assessment while 38% of students scored 302 or above in the English assessment (NAEP). Scoring these two figures indicate that students have the knowledge to succeed in math and English disciplines in college, thus, it is surprising to find that less than half of graduates are ready to continue their education at college level.These two reports are not the only to show the low percentage of students who are not ready for college. A data report by the ACT found that in South Carolina, only one out of 14 students were prepared for college level math (ACT). ACT scores are used by various universities to determine student acceptance, and having this many students receive such low scores shows that universities are accepting students even though they are not ready for the mathematical classes at their institutions. This creates a problem because it leaves these students vulnerable to failing math classes at universities, which in fact happens often. A study by The Western Front found that mathematics is the most failed class among college students. Steven VanderStaay, vice provost for undergraduate education, said incoming freshmen and transfer students are often shocked by the pace of classes and the amount of work required of them (The Western Front). These failures may reflect students difficulties in adjusting to college life, but as the ACT report showed, most students are not prepared for college level math, thus they have difficulty with the subject matter, causing them to fail in these classes.Is it the students fault or are high schools to blame?A multi-year College and Career Readiness survey of 165,000 high school students conducted by YouthTruth, a San Francisco-based nonprofit found that more than 87% of high school graduates want to pursue a college career, which is good news, but many of them believe their schools did little to prepare them for college success (YouthTruth). This data should alarm policy makers because it shows most students have the desire to pursue a college degree which would be favorable for the economy as many job areas would expand, but most of these students never complete their dream as they do not feel ready to excel in college. Many graduates are talented and could do great in college if high schools did a better job to prepare them.

Was No Child Left Behind really a failure?For many, this policy was not a failure. One of its main goals was to raise graduation rates across the United States, which it did in fact. According to the latest report by the Department of Education, graduation rate across the U.S. reached the highest it has ever been, at 82% for the 2014-2015 school year (U.S. Department of Education), but the problem is that most of these graduates do not feel prepared for the work force nor to continue their education, which is another key goal set by No Child Left Behind. Many experts and entrepreneurs believe that a large number of graduates are not ready to join the workforce as high schools fail to teach graduates various skills required in jobs, such as basic communication skills and technology handling. In a world where technology is being developed at a faster rate and is being incorporated in our everyday lives, including in jobs, it is important that personnel have the knowledge to operate computers and other gadgets. Employers fear more and more students lack these essential skills: too often, high school students do not demonstrate workplace habits that employers prioritize, including reliability, punctuality, customer service and high-quality task completion, said Andrew Rothstein, Chief Academic Officer of the National Academy Foundation (Education World). Other issues found by employers in high school graduates is the inability to work well with others; There are also frequent issues with written and presentation skills that are appropriate in a business context. Teamwork and problem solving are the new constants. All these problems can slow down the economy as employers need to spend more time providing extra training to employees for knowledge they should already have.As Sandy Boyd, chief operating officer of Achieve says Policymakers should take note and create an environment where college and career ready standards-which all states now have-are translated into high expectations for all students. Until states set gradation policies that match their academic standards and support rigorous instruction, too many recent graduates will continue to feel underprepared for their next steps. (Boyd). Setting high expectations in high schools will assure that students are prepared for the workforce. In reality, jobs demand a lot from people. When a student graduates from a high school with low expectations, they find themselves overwhelmed by what is expected on them in the job, therefore, high schools should become tougher to graduate from rather than easier.As reports show, it is now easier to graduate from high school than it was a decade ago. Expectations are being lowered, which makes students believe life post-high school is as easy.

Notes:Include works cited page.More historic context.More opposing view.

Works cited page"2013 Mathematics and Reading: Grade 12 Assessments." The Nation's Report Card. N.p.,2013. Web. 28 Jan. 2016. .

ACT. Crisis at the core: Preparing all students for college and work. ACT. 2004. Web. 29 Jan. 2016. http://www.act.org/research/policymakers/pdf/crisis_exec_summary.pdf

Boser, U. & Burd, S. (2009). Bridging the gap: How to strengthen the Pk-16 pipeline toimprove college readiness.

https://static.newamerica.org/attachments/2778-bridging-the-gap/NAF_Bridging_the_Gap.adcd880132044bb480238492c1871b61.pdf

Boyd, Sandy. Achieve Calls Mathematics "Gateway" to College and Career. Achieve.N.p., 21 May 2008. Web. 20 Jan. 2016..

Chikoore, H. Staying competitive: In a global economy many argue that America needs to emphasize science, technology, engineering, and math in its schools.Conley, D. T. (2007). Toward a more comprehensive conception of college readiness.Eugene, OR: Educational Policy Improvement Center.

Kaye, R. D., Lord, J., & Bottoms, G. (2006). Getting students ready for college andcareers. Atlanta, GA: Southern Regional Education Board. http://publications.sreb.org/2006/06E04-Students_Ready_College_Career.pdf

Kobrin, J. L. (2007). Determining SAT benchmarks for college readiness.http://research.collegeboard.org/publications/content/2012/05/determining-sat-benchmarks-college-readiness

National Center for Education Statistics. (2008). Conditions of education 2008.Washington, DC: U. S. Department of Education.

"NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND." Atlas. 02 July 2015. Web. 30 Jan. 2016. .

Russell, A. Enhancing college student success through developmental education. AmericanAssociation of State Colleges and Universities, Aug, 2008.

Strong American Schools. Diploma to nowhere. Washington, DC: