Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Rethinking Orphanges essays

Rethinking Orphanges essays Gina Magnanti Economics Nowadays, it is considered acceptable to send a young person from a supportive, wealthy family away to a residential boarding school. At the same time it is considered destructive to send a young person from an unsafe, unhealthy home to a nurturing, educational, residential setting. As a result of old orphanage stereotypes in the past, many residential education programs have shut down during the past four or five decades. Most of these stereotypes werent helped by such examples as shown in Charles Dickens's novel Oliver Twist. Major newsmagazines supported these popular stereotypes with turn-of-the-century pictures of pathetic orphanage residents on their covers. The debate lasted only a few months. The critics claimed victory once again, and nothing was done. The government has failed at taking care of children who find themselves unwanted because their parents have given them up or died. There are now few education-focused, residential settings available for young people, especially adolescents, who dont have homes that can support them nor schools that can effectively teach them. However, there are tens of thousands of children who could Unwanted children are condemned to constant dependency on individuals who are more concerned with their perks and privileges than with children. The government rewards those who carry out its programs for the number of children they take in, but it doesn't evaluate the quality of care. Children are moved from one program to another each time people dream up some new way to get This book gives a compelling case that unwanted children are much better cared for in the private sector by orphanages run by churches or other charitable organizations. McKenzie grew up in an orphanage and speaks passionately from his own ...

Saturday, November 23, 2019

What You Need to Know About Weekend MBA Programs

What You Need to Know About Weekend MBA Programs A weekend MBA program is a part-time business degree program with class sessions that are held on the weekend, usually on Saturdays. The program results in a Master of Business Administration degree. Weekend MBA programs are typically campus-based but may incorporate some form of distance learning, such as video-based lectures or online discussion groups. Most weekend MBA programs are just that: programs that take place on the weekend. However, there are some programs that have weekend and evening classes. Programs like this have classes on the weekend as well as classes that take place in the evening on weekdays. Types of Weekend MBA Programs There are two basic types of weekend MBA programs: the first is a traditional MBA program for students who would enroll in a typical MBA degree program, and the second is an executive MBA program. An executive MBA program, or EMBA, is specifically designed for corporate executives, managers, and other working professionals with extensive work experience. Although work experience can vary, most executive MBA students have 10-15 years of work experience on average. Many executive MBA students also receive full or partial company sponsorship, meaning that they typically receive some form of tuition reimbursement. Top Business Schools With Weekend MBA Programs There are a growing number of business schools offering weekend MBA programs. Some of the top business schools in the country offer this program option for people who want to attend school part-time. Some examples include: The University of Chicago Booth School of Business: At Chicago Booth, students meet every Saturday for 11 weeks at a time and earn an MBA degree in 2.5 to 3 years. The curriculum for the weekend MBA program is the same as the curriculum for the full-time MBA program.The University of California Berkeley Haas School of Business: At Berkeley Haas, students can choose from a weekend or evening schedule for MBA classes and could earn their degree in as little as 2.5 years. Weekend MBA classes are held on Saturdays in the spring and fall, but year-round activities are available.Kellogg School of Management at Northwest University: Kelloggs weekend MBA program takes place on Saturdays, but students can choose to take evening classes in addition to weekend classes. There are two weekend MBA options: traditional pace and accelerated. The traditional option takes 20.5 months to complete, while the accelerated option requires fewer credits and evening classes and takes 15.5 months to complete. Pros and Cons of Weekend MBA Programs There are many good reasons to consider a weekend MBA program, but this education option might not be the best choice for everyone. Lets explore a few pros and cons of weekend MBA programs. Pros The biggest advantage of weekend MBA programs is that you can take all of your classes on the weekend, which makes it easier to work part-time or full-time while you earn your degree.A weekend MBA program may make it easier to attend a business school that is not located near your home. It is not unusual for MBA students to fly in from somewhere else for weekend classes.Some full-time MBA programs take two years to complete. You can often earn your degree in the same amount of time (or close to it) as you would in a full-time program by attending part-time weekend MBA programs.Some weekend MBA programs allow you to reduce your tuition costs. In other words, you might pay less for a weekend MBA program than you would for a traditional, full-time MBA program. Cons Classes might take place just one day per week in a weekend MBA program, but you will have to put in work on other days of the week to keep up with your studies.Being able to put what you learn into practice right away in an advantage for students who work while they attend school, but it is also important to remember that it can be exhausting to work and study at the same time. Furthermore, there will come a day when you have to choose between work and academic commitments, and one is likely to suffer because of your choice.Students in full-time programs sometimes get the opportunity to spend more time with their cohorts, which is conducive to relationship building. In a weekend MBA program, you may not have as many opportunities to network or make friends.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Teaching Assistant's Handbook Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Teaching Assistant's Handbook - Assignment Example 1. Learning activities, materials and/or equipment, the organization of pupils, staff, and parent helpers are differentiated by the teacher to ensure that the â€Å"programme of work enables pupils to develop in the manner, and the rate, most appropriate to them† (p.145). This provides pupils with learning activities that offer a â€Å"variety of learning modes and experiences, and a fair balance of both mental and physical activity† (p.145).2. Pupils are arranged by ability groups for enhanced social and communication learning that is appropriate to their developmental level. 3. In order to encourage continuity and progression, established routines and systems are within the classroom that is similar to the whole school's routines and systems. 4. Praise and encouragement are used by staff towards pupils in the form of â€Å"positive feedback, continuous assessment, and clear explanations† in order to continue and promote steady progress made by the pupils.5. Chi ldren are monitored within the classroom by the teacher and the teaching assistant in order to match learning activities and resources to individual learning needs. As a teaching assistant, their role in planning and preparing learning activities involves meeting with the teacher regularly to discuss the â€Å"teacher's lesson plans, the objectives of the learning activities†, what the teacher's expectations are of the teaching assistant's contributions to learning activities and the type and level of support for pupils that is expected (p.130).... Her profile indicates that she has difficulty concentrating and is easily distracted. This would indicate that she has a short attention span and would require shorter, more interactive lesson activities in order to improve her learning. Activity 2. Task A. 1. Learning activities, materials and/or equipment, the organisation of pupils, staff and parent helpers are differentiated by the teacher to ensure that the â€Å"programme of work enables pupils to develop in the manner, and the rate, most appropriate to them† (p.145). This provides pupils with learning activities that offer a â€Å"variety of learning modes and experiences, and a fair balance of both mental and physical activity† (p.145). 2. Pupils are arranged by ability groups for enhanced social and communication learning that it appropriate to their developmental level. The groups are adjusted as the pupils learning needs change. 3. In order to encourage continuity and progression, established routines and sys tems are within the classroom that are similar to the whole schools routines and systems. 4. Praise and encouragement are used by staff towards pupils in the form of â€Å"positive feedback, continuous assessment and clear explanations† in order to continue and promote steady progress made by the pupils. 5. Children are monitored within the classroom by the teacher and the teaching assistant in order to match learning activities and resources to individual learning needs. Task B. As a teaching assistant, their role in planning and preparing learning activities involves meeting with the teacher regularly to discuss the â€Å"teacher's lesson plans, the objectives of the learning activities†, what the

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Behavior, Needs, and Motivations in a Hotel Environment Essay

Behavior, Needs, and Motivations in a Hotel Environment - Essay Example One of the recent trends in travel is in offering ‘green’ accommodations in which the lowest impact possible on the environment is applied to the experience. The following report has identified this potential trend and explores the ways in which the Radisson Edwardian Hotel in Manchester has met the needs of those interested in the topic of ’green’ travel and what ways in which it can further exploit this trend. 2. Process of Market Research in the Hospitality Industry Marketing research in the hospitality industry can be conducted through a five step process: define the problem and research objectives; develop the research plan; collect the information; analyze the information; and present the findings (Sudhir 2009, p. 41). Because the topic of this report is on sustainable and ‘green’ industry trends, the concept of responsible marketing will be taken into consideration as it is addressed by Sloan, Chen and Legrand (2006, p. 92) who state tha t there has been a shift away from the traditional methods of research towards a belief in the way in which marketing is produced should take a stakeholder point of view. The nature of the research should be to follow a concept from inception to application in order to assure it has produced an ethically viable result. Andrews (2009, p. 41) states that there are three criteria that should be examined in order to justify creating a marketing research program. The research should be focused on one or a combination of concepts that either define an exploratory topic that sheds light on an issue, a descriptive result which will shed light on a phenomenon, or a casual inquiry that explores a ’hunch’ that might be a benefit in the industry. The research that is used for researching the impact of ’green’ practices on the satisfaction of a guest at a hotel is through a descriptive model in order to describe the phenomenon of the trend and its impact on travel sta ys at a hotel. 3. Secondary Research Jenner and Smith (2008, p. 5) define green travel, in what is termed as a simple form, through stating that it involves traveling in such a manner as to do the least amount of harm to the environment. Travel, by its nature of using energy to get from one place to another, most often has a high impact on the environment. The idea is to minimize that impact as much as possible. According to Ching (2010), one of the best ways to create a green travel plan is to participate in a eco-friendly experience, engaging the out of doors with environmentally sustaining practices. However, it is not always possible to plan a vacation or business trip with camping as the mode of accommodations. The hotel industry has engaged the concept of green practices in order to present themselves as being environmentally friendly. As exampled in Table 1, which is table 6.4 from Yudelson (2008, p. 117), there are a series of ways in which green practices will benefit a hot el from a business point of view. As an example, in the United States, the Hilton Hotel in Vancouver, Washington received certification at the silver level for a modest investment in each room which provided ten times that in publicity returns (Yudelson 2008, p. 117). Seemingly small activities can provide a large benefit towards both green accreditation and towards

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Transantional Media Essay Example for Free

Transantional Media Essay Introduction The media has played a very crucial role in the transformation of people, their culture and lifestyles world over. The media itself has been on constant revolution with some growing to become big multinational or transnational corporations. This growth and evolution has been necessitated by a few factors among them being: The shifting business environment The changes in communication technology The changes taking place in terms of politics Emergence of global business and the emergence of common markets like Free-Trade agreements such as NAFTA and Easy export and import of business culture and business interests Take an example of the Snow White and the seven dwarfs in the early 1930’s and the Disney world in the early 30’s. The Disneyland of today for example is a whole world of wonders consisting of: Movies Museum Mobile Arks Shop Television Radio Satellite Records Music On Ice Music on Broadway Cruises Resorts and Amusement This means that the effect created by such a transnational media would not only be felt in the mother country but world over as well. To this end however, it would not be wise to downplay the role the media corporations play without critically looking into the effects the very existence and expansion of such corporations have on the society in general. This is because the society of today values information significantly as a vital product in the market, Gershon R. A. – (2000) The other issue is that these media corporations are traversing a world with different cultures and lifestyles yet they themselves have a central origin with a particular culture. Therefore it would be good to know if they could influence others by such cultures and ultimately change their ways of living. What would be the reaction of the locals? Would they resist such external influence? How would they try to resist and would such resistance be effective or successful? These are some of the questions this article will examine and the main reason is because the world comprises people of different preferences, tastes, fashion and who live on diverse culture divides. What one culture might resist as not worth taking another culture may find no difficulty in its daily course of events and society’s mode of life. It may be even a serious challenge where such different cultures exist in such a way that they are mingled up and it is difficult to isolate or selectively come up with a particular group and claim to placed   it in a particular culture. It is also good to remember that the world, due to such technological developments such as the advent of the computer era and transnational media, has become such a small village in such a manner that people in the US, UK, Africa and Far East share or live on similar divide. Discussion The media imperialism thesis has for long argued against the expansion of Western media. It has maintained that such an expansion especially creating roots into the developing world has had great consequences resulting in the supremacy over the developing countries’ national media environments. The consequences of such domination would be to destroy the indigenous media production of the developing countries, (Kalyani Chadha, 2000). However, according to history, societies which live under despotic regimes created by superimposing media have constantly come up with alternative forms of communication as instruments of subversion. Most common forms include the use of underground newspapers though the issue is even completed further with the fact that the there are more sophisticated communication technologies in the modern world. These new communication technologies have made it possible for transnational media and the citizen to participate amicably with great empowerment. It should be realized that the transnational media has also been of great help in helping the citizens to creatively exploit new media to resist state propaganda roiled out through the mainstream media, (Moyo, D. 2007). Critical scholars time and again view media concentration as an expression of corporate free enterprise: that is, influential media owned and sustained by wealthy private interests. In liberal democracies, the media exerts its power and ability to influence the lifestyles of people through performance of three main duties. They act as watchdogs on governments provide conduits for the two-way flow of information between the people and their government, and lastly they act as source of information for the professed free bazaar of ideas, (Mowlana, H. (1996). Global communication in transition: The end of diversity. London: Sage). Critical mass in media industries is what this article is all about with empirical tenability being a critical point of examination. Great emphasis lies on emerging production centers like the Hollywood and the manner in which such media productions penetrate their businesses into other frontier market like East Asia and Africa. In order to understand the issue much better it is good to examine the growth models used by emerging media economies. More specifically, the framework critiques approaches that argue that global integration is normatively disadvantageous to peripheral industries and societies. These growth models are: De-territorialization Media,(low-cost outsourcing); Isomorphism (cloning culture); Cultural technology transfer (co-productions and franchise agreements); Niche markets (breakthroughs); and Cultural or industrial milieu (local clusters).   Culture Society  © 2006 SAGE Publications (London, Thousand Oaks and New Delhi), Economic and organizational factors are the major lead forces causing cultural globalization. Yet this cultural globalization must have an organizational infrastructure. A form of such globalization comes about   as   a   product   of   the   actions   of   media   and   entertainment   organizations   based   in advanced countries and whose production and distribution of film, television, and popular music creates a certain global dominance which basically depends on the economic standing of the media mother country rather than the cultural factors. And that’s why American firms in particular have   profited   from   the   size   of   their   national   market   and   the fact that funds   for investment are available. Thus a minute number of media corporations, based in a few Western countries, control the production and global distribution of television, film, book publishing and popular music. Due to deregulation of national media industries and emergence of new technologies, global media market has developed. In this oligopolistic market the level of investment required to enter the market is so high, due to high costs of production and distribution. Developing countries are locked out in a competition by the developed ones thus it makes it easy for those vertically integrated corporations to make huge profits by selling very similar product in   different media thereby influencing the people in all areas: books, films, theater movies, cable television, CD- rom and others. The films which are expensively produced capitalize on technical effects that are much concerned with action, stunt and violence rather than character and emotion. This is because action films have a greater impact since they are simple to understand in diversity considering the diversity of languages spoken across the globe. Hindrances and Local Resistance Before looking at the effect and extend of local resistance, we should keenly look at some of the forces that have hindered the development and influence of the transnational media in the different parts of the world. As we had seen earlier, the transnational media corporations we have today have undergone several stages of development through a series of obstacles. Thus in a world of competition we expect some to prosper and others to flop. This is the reason as to why there are those that have grown while others have not. Those that grew are the ones that withstood the challenges. In the beginning of the desire to expand their influence, the media had a lot of trouble due to technical impediments that existed between the developed and the yet to develop nations. This meant that the influence could not penetrate easily to the required level. For example the fact that some nations had developed satellite while others depended on the cable for communication. And in fact communication in some countries was still very underdeveloped and therefore installation had to take place before further penetration- Richeri (1994) Another hindrance was the fact that there was a great divide caused by linguistic obstacle.   Considering this, you find that there was a great difference in the time of news broadcast, type and structure of news especially given that the same reporter cannot present all the news. Thirdly, there were financial obstacles which were as a result of the difficulty with which advertisement could be put into one platform to satisfy a wide range of audience with different needs. Lastly we meet the cultural obstacle. People have varied cultures which they want to preserve at all costs and would try to resist any force which may intend to change their culture.   This local resistance still meets various challenges especially which are political and technological. Most governments have deregulated their broadcasting and this has had the following consequences: A shift from public to private media Normative goals have shifted to commercial goals A movement from political system to the market model A shift from national media to transnational operators The above points imply that the media has become more liberal, now having owners, administrators and advertisers and the fact that political influence is not uncommon. Therefore local resistance becomes a difficult task to accomplish. However, transnational media’s political aspects have remained a thing of the past or completely failed or have survived precariously as a preserve of the business or political elite.   Ã‚  Collins (1996) However, some argue that the success of transnational media in influencing the culture of the world will fail automatically given the cultural diversity. It is argued further that due to vast dissimilar languages, diverse cultures, political practices and even trends in media usage attempts by the transnational media to influence the world culture would fail even if there were no attempts to interrupt such an influence. This is because for it to succeed effectively, it would require an existence of uniform political world, a world with one language, the one with homogeneous cultures or lifestyle. Yet creation of such a society is not nearly possible as consensus would not be probable. Although there are those who hold that the emergence of a global public sphere is already imminent and as such, they maintain, it is possible that a uniform cultured world is achievable or already being achieved. For example, based on this argument, they say that the public, its opinion and the world political system is already under a strong influence of the global communication rather than a particular political state or system.   (Volkmer, 1999: 119) Skeptics have their view.   Political economic tradition criticism maintains that global media corporations play an increasingly imperative role in that they in reality control media industries all over the world. These changes are primarily caused by commercial and industrial momentum thus both culture and communication becomes more profit-oriented and product-driven. (Schiller, 1993 also Spark, 1998).   Another faction of the skeptics holds that based on cultural and institutional analysis of the current processes which lead to development of the transnational media, transnational media does not have a wide reach but rather regional such that even within its primary reach it is yet to make a universal penetration, (e.g. Collins, 1994, 1996 1998; Schlesinger, 1993 1999). In addition, you find that in most countries the usage of transnational media channels is restricted only to the well educated cadres and the business or political elites and mostly only applicable as a back-up to the national news channels viewed by a majority. According to this view it means that international media corporations cannot play a worthwhile role in formation or creation of a world public sphere or global culture. But there is still a point to consider in our argument. Technological development led to globalization especially invention of satellite which contributed to the development of mass media and more so electronic media which rather created a global village. Therefore people interacted and lived on a global scale since space and time barriers in human communication were collapsed. For example as mentioned in the introductory part, Disney culture can be found in many countries today in the world due to the Globalization of Culture different audiences can be brought different cultural experiences. Thus people in Japan, China and other far Eastern countries have learnt about Christmas Day, Valentine’s Day much from mass media making such events more popular in those parts of the world. Today, Disney is among the largest media and most popular entertainment corporations known in the world. Yet this Disney has been part of America’s cultural identity. This shows an example of how transnational media has influenced culture across the globe. Disney Theme Parks for example are found in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Paris showing a transfer of this culture from the original cradle to other countries despite it being commercialized. On the other hand, Internet incites a globalization of both public sphere and news media. It enables more interactive passage of information via its bidirectional communicative Technology, that is, Online Chat, e-mail and etc- C. Barker, (1999). Conclusion The hindrances that earlier on faced the expansion and influence of the transnational media corporations are no longer effective as the world becomes more liberal in handling of its affairs. Hence, as media companies of today grow persistently and continuously keep expanding, the challenges of staying competitive globally become all the time more difficult but the corporations use strategic planning to deal with environmental dynamics that affect their business. This means that penetration of other cultures in a region is not as difficult as it used to be earlier on when it had just started making in roots. Linguistic obstacle that used to be is no longer a problem since people are able to understand gestures, picture motions and other physical aspects of communication even if language is not availed: – audio- visual effects of today’s communication C. Barker, (1999). This therefore implies that local resistance would not be sufficient to counter the effects and impact of multinational media corporations in influencing cultural aspects of the world we live in today. Information is a major product on high demand and the way this information is channeled to the end user will have a significant impact on the behavior of the user after reception of the information. Thus so far, as we acknowledge the role played by the media in reducing the global geographical distance between societies, individuals and cultural spheres, we need to also accept that it will be impossible to curtail it from creating a global sphere. Hence continued dominance of the transnational media corporations in the world media market is a sure threat to the cultural diversity that exists at present yet local resistance has been made impossible unless political interventions are signed out, which are also prone failure- Akwule, R. Global (1992). References: Platon and M. Deuze Indymedia Journalism: A Radical Way of Making, Selecting and Sharing News? Journalism, August  1,  2003; 4(3): 336 355. Gershon A. R. Communication Department, Western Michigan University.Publication Journal of Media Economics, April 2000; 13 (2): 81 – 101 Abshire, D. M. International broadcasting: Western diplomacy’s new dimension of. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. (1976). Akwule, R. Global telecommunications: The technology, politics, and administration. Boston: Focal Press. (1992). Goff, H. D. A. B. Albarran, (Eds.). Understanding the Web: Social, economic, and political dimensions of the Internet. Ames, Iowa: ISU Press. (2000). Alexander, A. et al. (Eds.). Media economics: Theory and practice (2nd). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, (1998). Megamedia A.D.: Dominance of Giant Corporations in Mass Media, How competition is distorted and democracy endangered. Lanham, MD: Rowman Litlefield(1998). Miller A. D. International communication and international power, New York: St. Martins Press. (1995). Bagdikian, H. B. The monopoly of the media (5th ed.). NY: Beacon Press. (1997). Barker, (1999). Television, globalization and cultural identities. London: Open University Press. Schlesinger B, E. The Media and Conglomerates. New York: New Press. (1998). Spark, The global village: Dead or alive? Ohio: BGP Press, (1998).

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee :: essays research papers

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Indians were being confined to crowed reservations that were poorly run, had scarce game, alcohol was plentiful, the soil was poor, and the ancient religious practices were prohibited. The Indians were not happy that they had been kicked off there land and were now forced to live on a reservation. The Indians then began to Ghost Dance a form of religion it is said that if the Indians were to do this trance like dance the country would be cleansed of white intruders. Also dead ancestors and slaughtered buffalo would return and the old ways would be reborn in a fruitful land. Once the Bureau of Indian affairs noticed what was going on they began to fear this new religion would lead to warfare. The white peoplewere scared that this new dance was a war dance. They called for army protection. Army was called in to try to curbed this new religion before it could start a war.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Sioux band tougher led by Little Big Foot. They were heading to Pine RidgeReservation in South Dakota, when the army stopped them and held them at gun pointovernight. Big Foot’s group contained about 300 people two-thirds of them were women and children. While the soldiers numbered around 500 and were armed with automatic weapons. The next morning when the army began to disarm the Indians a shot rang out then the gun fire began leaving about 200 Indians dead in the snow. Thirty soldiers were also killed in the massacre. The soldiers that lost there lives were most likely killed by their own men in friendly fire. Wounded Knee is said to have been the last battle of the war but it was not so much a battle as it was a massacre. It was in fact the last exchange of fire between the army and the Sioux.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Goals and Objectives Essay

â€Å"We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in any society, a life free from violence and fear.† â€Å"We would like to create a world familiar with the smiles of children rather than their tears.† â€Å"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.† — Nelson Mandela The Children’s Defense Fund â€Å"Leave No Child Behind’s† originated in 1973 and is a private, nonprofit organization that is funded, and supported by many different sources such as, donations by individuals, corporations, foundations, and corporate grants. The CDF’s goals and objectives is to make sure that all children, no matter what their race, religion, financial status, and so on, has the opportunity for a fair, healthy, safe, and moral head start in their lives. This will also allow each child to have a successful approach into adulthood by having the help of loving and caring families, organizations, and with the h elp from their communities as well. The Children’s Defense Fund provides for all children of America a independent, strong, and effective voice for those children who are not able to speak, vote, or lobby for themselves. The CDF provides specific attention to our children and families who are not financial sound (poor), our children of minority groups, and our children with disabilities. This organization provides education throughout the nation on the needs of all children, and encourages different measures of prevention before our children get sick, find themselves in trouble, drop out of school, or end up with the breakdown of their families. The objectives of the â€Å"No Child Left Behind Act† consists of closing the gap between children and their achievements, especially when it comes to successful achievements academically. The federal government plays a huge and critical role in achieving all goals. The CDF endorses the accountability system that will helps guarantee that all children, which inclu des children from low-income  households, children of a different race or ethnicity, children with disabilities, and those who lack proficiency in the English language, are given the tools, skills, education, and knowledge so that they will be able to be successful members of society. While there are numerous positions that differ on the many different aspects of the law that is based on issues that have been raised throughout the development of the NCLB. There are constructive and significant corrections to be made in order for the Act to be effective and fair. â€Å"Among these concerns are: over-emphasizing standardized testing, narrowing curriculum and instruction to focus on test preparation rather than richer academic learning; over-identifying schools in need of improvement; using sanctions that do not help improve schools; inappropriately excluding low-scoring children in order to boost test results; and inadequate funding,† (Amanire, 2004). All in all, it is important that the laws need to put more emphasis on taking action, and placing our localities and states accountable for the lack of high test scores, as well as making the necessary changes systematically, that will help increase the achievements of our students. The â€Å"No Child Left Behind† according to William J. Mathis (2003), â€Å"is the manifestation of a society that has lost its sense of community and purpose. Instead of passively complying with a law that further alienates individuals from their society, we must refocus our laws to include the societal and democratic purposes of education†(Mathis, W.J., 2003). It is important that we remind everyone that one of the most important purposes of school and education is to help develop and mold our children into becoming a generation of citizens that practice respectful civic virtues, as well as become a generation who cares and supports the needs of one another, along with helping others when it comes to the health of our towns, communities, cities, states, our nation, and the world in general. This will require the realization that our hope for the future will depend on the unlimited abundance of skills, tools, knowledge, and intelligence lies within our children. It is our responsibility to educate and train our children so that they will be a generation of individuals who will grow, and develop into responsible individuals who will take better care of our world and make it a better place. References Amanire, (2004), Joint Organizational Statement on No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act New America Foundation, (2014), Federal Education Budget Project; No Child Left Behind Overview: http://febp.newamerica.net/background-analysis/no-child-left-behind-overview Short, Kathleen. 2013. â€Å"The Research Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2012† U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, Table 5a, http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p60-247.pdf. Calculations by the Children’s Defense Fund. William J. Mathis, â€Å"No Child Left Behind: Costs and Benefits,† Phi Delta Kappan 84:9, May 2003: 679–687