Major Issues in Schools and How They Need to Be Addressed

Since the No Child Left Behind Act was passed by President Bush there has been a huge movement towards standardized testing. Some may say that this is a good decision; however I feel that it is a major issue in our school systems. Through this movement a lot of pressure is put on the student when standardized testing time comes around. Teachers are also now teaching just the test and not what they feel is an important part of the construct for the student to learn. Schools that receive the highest scores, receive the most money, therefore; lots of money is going into the preparation for theses standardized tests. I feel that this money could go elsewhere. Also, through this movement most extra activity time such as art, physical education and music classes are being pushed away. Schools and school systems are so concerned with SAT standardized tests scores that these extra activities are completely taken away. Teachers feel that they need this time to prepare for standardized tests. I think that this is absurd and that children need to have a well rounded curriculum. Studies have shown that students, early- elementary especially, tend to do better on assessments when they are able to rest their minds.
In addition art and music exposure has been correlated to improvement on grades and assessments. As an upcoming teacher this movement will affect my daily classroom practices tremendously. If these extra activities are not offered, I want to be able to incorporate music, art and these extra activities into the classroom myself. In college at Auburn University, I took college course in how to teach art, music and physical education and I would incorporate these activities in with my learning activities. Thus giving my students time to have fun and rest their brains. Too much pressure on the students is bad for their esteem and they need to learn more than just what is on the standardized test. With proper classroom management, I could help my students by making sure they achieve high enough on the SAT, but still allowing room for them to learn information and have a little fun outside of test preparation.
Another issue that must be addressed is school funding. With the economy at a record low, there is just not enough money to make sure that all schools are equipped well and are up to par with supplies. I plan to address this even before I become a teacher. I am taking advantage of opportunities that allow me the chance to start collecting and acquiring supplies as I go along. For example, yard sales have children’s’ books at very inexpensive prices. Also, trying to stay in contact with old teachers who retire is good for collecting supplies. I recently collected an abundance of books and posters for room decoration from a retried teacher who did not have a need for the materials. I will use these especially for being a first year teacher. When becoming a teacher, I can address this by brining in my own personal things that can contribute to classroom activities. .
The last issue that I want to address is overcrowding of the schools and school systems. Since No Child Left Behind, several schools have been shut down due to poor quality. This and insufficient t funding has caused schools to become overcrowded. Some schools are now looking at 30 kids in a classroom. If this is the case for my classroom, I will address the problem by giving my students as much one on one time as possible. I think that working in groups can contribute to this. If I can not allow one on one time to each of the students, a group of 5 gives the student more individual attention than a group of 30. I know that I am only allowed 8 hours everyday; however I plan on capitalizing on these eight hours and making sure each child gets enough individual attention to get the most out of their year with me.