No Child Left Behind?

Former president George W. Bush set up the No Child Left Behind policy which is now either making the students of America look completely incompetent, or making the policy look ridiculous, or a little of both. Even though President Obama will not have a chance to reform education within the span of the rest of his current term, America's education policy does need reform in the near future if we, as a country are to maintain our status as a superior nation. Christine Armario, in her article on March 9, 2011 entitled "82 percent of US schools may be labeled 'failing'" in the San Francisco Chronicle, explains that:

The Department of Education estimates the percentage of schools not meeting yearly targets for their students' proficiency in in math and reading could jump from 37 to 82 percent as states raise standards in attempts to satisfy the law's mandates.

Simply raising the standards for U.S. children is not going to make the children work harder, or be smarter, or test better. Education Secretary Arne Duncan believes that the No Child Left Behind policy is sorely undeveloped in its current state, and if nationwide education is to be improved, a few more, possibly significant changes will be required as a whole and in Bush's policy. The education system, the way teachers teach, the credentials teachers must have, and things of that nature must be modified, rather than taking the easy route of improving education by raising standards. Raising the standards might give some children less incentive to work harder because they know that they're already below standards, so it can't be the only method of attempting to raise test scores. This policy must be combined with another significant change in education in order for American schoolchildren to actually start to get smarter.