The No Child Left Behind Act pushed by President George W. Bush unintentionally exacerbated the problem. It required each state to ensure that its students achieve universal proficiency in reading and math—but allowed each to define what that meant. The result was that many states made their job easier by setting their bar lower. This race to the bottom resulted in a Lake Wobegon world where every state declared that its kids were better than average. Take the amazing case of Mississippi. According to the standards it set for itself,89% of its fourth - graders were proficient or better in reading, making them the best in the nation. Yet according to the random sampling done every few years by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test, a mere 18 % of the state’s fourth- graders were proficient, making them the worst in the nation. Even in Lake Wobegon that doesn’t happen. Only in Americ
a. The ThomasB. Fordham Institute, led by reformer Chester Finn Jr. , has been analyzing state standards for more than a decade and concludes, "Two - thirds of U. S. children attend schools in states with mediocre standards or worse. "
In order to meet the requirement set the No Child Left Behind Act, every stateA. set lower assessment standards for students.B. worked extremely hard to help its students.C. assessed its students by way of sampling.D. focused all attention on reading and mat