Chapter 13

Chapter 13 deals with issues about war and poverty that reflected the education of children. The specific war mentioned in the chapter was the Cold War. The Cold War fueled the United States to increase the concentration on science and math because of the desire to win the Space Race. The governments main focus during this time was similar to previous beliefs that education is the key to eliminate poverty. Education was the way to improve the social status of the poor. While I agree with this idea, the way the government went about achieving it did not really help. The quality of education being given to the poor was dismal in comparison of that given to the rich. The government, however, did pass and enact the Opportunity Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Later it would lead to more programs to help better the quality of education, such as the No Child Left Behind program. The important thing to keep in mind here is that even though the opportunities increased, students’ progress is affected by there environment and ability to learn. Not every child is the same in learning ability and test-taking ability.

The chapter also touched upon the SAT’s being created to give everyone an equal opportunity to gain a college education. The SAT is not good a test because some people are just bad test takers. It doesn’t measure how smart a person really is. A person could be a straight A student, but when it comes to the SAT, he/she will do poorly. I just believe it should not be used as an entrance test.

So the questions I would like to ask are: If one doesn’t pass the SAT, what happens to the student and their supposed equal opportunity to education? If they get left behind and not accepted into college, what does the No Child Left Behind program say about it? And can it do anything to help?