Resolved: That NCLB is a negative policy and should be terminated.

But back to business. I will go off of my opponents points. In his first point, he states that NCLB has improved opportunities for low-income and minority students. Now, this can be a common misconception. From . http://www.tcdailyplanet.net... An Education Week survey found that 83 percent of Minnesota€™s white students graduated from high school in 2003, compared with just 44 percent of African-Americans. The national average for African-American students that year was 52 percent. Also, from . http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com... The researchers also categorized the graduation rate by ethnicity, race, and language. The study found that 60 percent of African Americans, 75 percent of Latino students, and 80 percent of ESL learners did not graduate within five years. Why? The more "punitive" the rules became in high school under NCLB, the more kids left, McNeil says. The dropouts actually helped raise the schools' accountability ratings, the study reports. Accountability, McNeil adds, allows principals to hold back students who are at risk of reducing their schools' scores; students who are retained frequently drop out. Grouping test scores by race, as NCLB requires, also helps to "single out" the lowest-achieving students in their respective subgroups, the study says, thereby increasing incentives for school administrators "to allow those students to quietly exit the system. Basically, the only reason for the heightened tests scores are because NCLB has too much punitive rules, therefore, over 60% of African-Americans have dropped out, and OVER THREE FOURTHS OF LATINOS have also. NCLB hasn't made new opportunities for minorities; it has made more kids dropout and lowered their chances of getting a job. Against his 2nd point, from . http://www.tcdailyplanet.net... An Education Week survey found that 83 percent of Minnesota's white students graduated from high school in 2003, compared with just 44 percent of African-Americans. The national average for African-American students that year was 52 percent. This problem is not new. Many studies and tests have produced similar results, including Minnesota's NCLB test, the MCA-II. There is no silver bullet, said Jennifer Godinez, associate director of the Minnesota Minority Education Partnership. Social racism, lack of motivation to do well in school, lack of resources at home, a youth culture that doesn't embrace education, lack of financial aid, less rigorous coursework they all play a part. Although Minnesota does not represent the whole country, it has the ability to be. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 requires that states demonstrate a reduction in the test score minority gap over time but does not specify what methodology states must use to demonstrate this. The Act also requires that a measure of Adequate Yearly Progress be established by each state expressed in terms of the percent of students who achieve a level of "proficiency" on the state examination. While the most common methods used by states for analyzing the minority gap in test scores over time are percent achieving a performance standard, mean scale scores, and effect sizes, the default method for analyzing the minority gap will likely be the percent achieving proficiency. This article considers some of the practical issues involved in using the percent achieving a performance standard, mean scale scores, and effect sizes to analyze the minority gap using Texas student performance on their in-state assessment, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), and SAT. The intent of the article is to increase the understanding of policymakers and others on the issues of using the various statistics to analyze the minority gap. From . http://www3.interscience.wiley.com... Against his 3rd point he states that NCLB provides more than $1billion to help children learn how to read. But he doesn't go into detail about how much of a financial failure it's been. From . http://www.larson.house.gov... Specifically, I was heartened that the bill would provide nearly $1 billion for a new program aimed at having all children reading by the third grade. The President has reneged on his commitment to fully fund No Child Left Behind, falling $9.4 billion short for this coming fiscal year and $27 billion short overall since its inception. He hasn't been following through with his promises, which is also why he had such a bad support rating. :P Against his 4th point, he states that the decrease of pupils has lead to more individualized education. Now, I understand that this could be a good thing, but it should be because of more dropouts. The only thing that NCLB has done for education is that, but as you can see, the negatives severely outweigh the benefits. To argue on his Sub Point A, college comes into question. If you go back to my first point, it states that NCLB has made it so students don't learn what they want to, they just teach about the basic fundamentals. Math, Science, etc. You never see on an SAT a question that states: An engine is burning oil. A dry compression test shows the cylinders to have 125 psi. A wet compression test shows 130 psi. The most likely cause of the oil burning is: a) bad main bearings b) worn piston rings c) bad valve seals d) bad intake manifold gasket. You see If 44 is the average (arithmetic mean) of x, x, x, 35, and 65, then x = 40 42 44 48 50 This is why we must terminated NCLB ASAP. Rising college costs are also an issue. Make it easier. Bring college to high school. If I would want to be a mechanic, that question would be irrelevant and the SAT would become unuseful. NCLB has become a very painful burden towards the U. S. and its harsh rules and strict guidelines lead to more dropouts and don't help the the average student (which by the way, the average student is more than 50% likely to dropout). VOTE PRO! !! !