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The Influences that Impact the “High Expectations for All Students” in the American Education System 

Fiona Crawshaw

Introduction
What is the five year old child thinking when they first enter the classroom, are they excited, nervous, fearful, resentful, do they want to be there or do they just not care? Prior to school they were largely influenced by parents and their cultural background. This may range from privileged, where the family has a strong sense of the importance of the child and whose values reflect values of society, to the disadvantaged, where children are negatively impacted by the family culture. Whatever the family life, the philosophy of the school system is to educate everyone to the same high standard with the same high expectations for all. The dilemma is how can these expectations exist for all students and how can they be met when the student body consists of children with such varying backgrounds and where the education in America is impacted by laws, teachers and society?

No Child Left Behind and Title I
The federal government recognized failures in the public school system and introduced rules, regulations and expectations for all schools to improve in performance. The Title I act was introduced to give financial assistance to schools in order to counteract the negative affects of poverty and boost learning in schools. In addition the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was implemented in 2002, “To close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, and choice so that no child is left behind” (National Assessment of Title I Final Report Summary of Key Findings, 2007). Key provisions of NCLB include requiring schools to have a general plan for the education of the student body and specific individual plans for any student identified as having special needs. Schools have to assess all students including major racial/ethnic groups, low income students, students with disabilities, and students with limited English proficiency. If the schools do not make adequate yearly progress NCLB provides directives that should promote achievement in a struggling school. One key aspect is that the school district has to provide schooling elsewhere if parents request it on the basis of an underachieving school. NCLB targets inadequacies in teachers by requiring them to be highly qualified with subject matter competence, a bachelor’s degree and full state certification. (National Assessment of Title I Final Report Summary of Key Findings, 2007)

What difference can the Teacher make?
More than the school facilities, or money spent on each child, the teacher’s ability to teach and their attitude has a bigger impact on high expectations for all students. “Anyone without an unshakeable belief in children’s capacity to learn has no business in the classroom” Margaret Gayle, gifted education expert at Duke University said in an interview with Time Magazine (Wallis, 2008). Within the classroom the teacher is restricted to content (determined by syllabus) and tools used, (determined by school administration) but their attitude and teaching strategies are their own. One such strategy evaluated in a recent study is cooperative learning, “grouping students from different cultural backgrounds into heterogeneous groups and instructing them to collaborate and cooperate with each other on activities and problem solving tasks” (Allison, Rehm, 2007). In this study the teachers rated cooperative learning as being highly effective and that in addition to the students gaining the testable knowledge necessary to succeed, the approach was also shown to, “foster, cross cultural understanding” (Allison, Rehm, 2007). Family culture is a major influence in both a child’s and a teacher’s attitude in the classroom. Teachers often do not have an understanding of the background of students causing a clash of cultures known as “theory of social discontinuity” (Sanacore, 2000). To avoid this clash there is much focus on teachers attending workshops to gain a better understanding and the practice of reflection to see if a plan is working. This awareness has led to more in service teacher education with regard to multicultural classrooms, and a greater appreciation for the diversity of society and its impact on learning.

Society shaping the school.
Society is dynamic; with many cultures, gender issues, socio economic gaps, and the changing expectations of its people. These changes drive the educational establishment to constantly assess their performance in order to provide a better education for all. For one example, the women in society who want to have the same opportunity in the workplace as men have changed the “old establishment” expectations of the female gender. The gender gap is closing with more women entering colleges when previously they were not expected to have academic credentials. In 1974 the ratio in the general population of people entering college was 38 percent of men vs 33 percent of women; in 2003 this had changed to 41 percent of men vs 51 percent of women. (Postsecondary Participation Rates by Sex and Race/Ethnicity: 1974-2003. 2005). This change is obviously beneficial for women but indicates that the emphasis in school on equality has gone too far in the other direction, leaving the male gender behind. Another significant characteristic of this report found that in 2003 there is a 15 point gap in White vs Black and a 26 point gap in White vs Hispanic. These results indicate that the schools have improved their expectations for females to achieve but have not performed as well in the racial/ethnic areas, especially with the Hispanic population. The percentage of Hispanic men attending post secondary education actually dropped over the time of the study.

Summary
The Educational Establishments in America are constantly addressing how each child can have an education that ensures they grow to their fullest potential. The thirteen years in school should be filled with learning and adventure rather than disappointment and frustration. Our world at the moment is constantly changing; technology is being invented at a rate that only the wealthy can keep up with, wars, famine and poverty are widespread causing legal and illegal immigration. America is a dynamic nation and the Education of it’s children is influenced and improved by it’s laws and highly qualified teachers that continue to adapt, monitor, and improve the services they provide to all children.

Test Your Knowledge Questions
1.	What is cooperative learning?

a. 	When one teacher shares her lesson plans with another.

b. 	Grouping students from different cultural backgrounds into heterogeneous groups and instructing them to collaborate and cooperate with each other on problem solving activities.

c.	A student shares her work with the whole class through presentation of material in lecture style.

d.	A teaching tool available through computer software.

2.	What does the No Child Left Behind Act aim to accomplish?

a.	Provide all children with highly qualified teachers and choices in schools

b.	Close the achievement gap.

c	Provide support to schools who do not make adequate yearly progress.

d.	All of the above.

3.	According to Margaret Gayle what do all teachers have to have to be in the classroom?

a.	A good strong middle class background

b.	Intolerance to differences

c.	Unshakeable belief in children’s capacity to learn

d.	Superiority

4.	What were the statistics for women in college in 2003 compared to men?

a.	62%of men vs 31% of women

b.	51% of women vs 41% of men

c.	38% of men vs 33% of women

d.	42% of women vs 41% of men

5.	What does the Title I Act do for schools?

a.	Establishes equal spending on Athletic extracurricular activities for each gender.

b.	Gives financial assistance to schools that have a high percentage of students who live in poverty.

c.	Limits the amount of money each school can spend per child.

d.	Sets the standard for technology in the classroom.

Essay Question
Discuss how the No Child Left Behind Act impacts the teacher, and how it can be improved to provide an educational system that educates everyone, to the same high standard with the same high expectations for all.