Title: Is the Law an Effective Way to Improve Academic Performance
Prepare a debate on the positive and negative effects of legislation regarding mandated assessments for
your district�s students.
Build a case that presents the pros and cons of the issue. You may use current legislative mandates such
as No Child Left Behind and Adequate Yearly Progress to prepare your case.
Present your debate in outline format. Be prepared to present a defense for either side against an
opposing classmate in a mock class debate.
Introduction
A debate was conducted in a classroom where students provided the pros and cons of legislation
regarding class assessments.
Positive Source: Legislation is important in ensuring that academic performance improves in our
schools. According to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), the government decided to
improve the standards of education through legislating education reforms which will set high
standards and create a methodology for crafting measurable goals for individual better results in
education. The required standards in education can only be achieved through quality assessments
conducted through examinations. Legalizing assessment based education (Adequate Yearly
Progress), is important since it will be the responsibility of every participant in the education
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sector to ensure that better results are achieved by the students. Standardized tests encourage
competition which is a vital component for the active learning process hence the need for
legalizing assessments.
Negative Source: Legislation on the need to conduct assessments annually on students is not a
prudent decision for achieving sustainability in the education sector. The mandated standardized
tests are a waste of tax payers’ money since the tests occupy most of the students and teachers
time hence significantly reducing the time used for instructional active learning. Students have
different learning problems which can be addressed through alternative methods but not test
oriented mechanisms.
Conclusion: Legislation ensures that standards in the education sector are set and achieved for
the improvement of performance in schools.
References
New York State Department of Education, (2001). The George W. Bush Years: NCLB – Adequate Yearly
Progress. States’ Impact on Federal Education Policy
