Education Excellence

Education Excellence

In order for our children to succeed in life they need an education. With the need to improve education in the United States, the government saw a need to improve the national educational achievement rates.

The first goal was to have all children in America start school ready to learn. Part of this goal is to have all children have the access to high-quality and developmentally appropriate preschool programs that will help to prepare the children for school. This goal also focuses on children receiving the nutrition, physical activity, and health care needed to begin school healthy and be ready to learn mentally. Part of this does seem to have been met because the states do not allow children to begin school if they have not received all the immunizations required by the age of four. When it comes to the first goal, it is wanting every parent to be the child’s first teacher and gives the parents the access to training and support that they need. This does not seem to have been met because there are so many parents who do not have the time unfortunately since they have to work to support the family.

The second goal was to have the high school graduation rate increase to at least 90 percent. In comparison to the national average graduation rate, Texas is ranked as one of the highest in the United States. According to the Texas Education Agency web site, “Among the 34 states currently reporting the Compact Rate, also known as a four-year on-time graduation rate, Texas had the second highest graduation rate for white students at 91.6 percent”. (http://www.tea.state.tx.us) This places Caucasian students in Texas above the average and it also meets the goal that was set by the government. The part of the graduation rate that needs improvement is the Hispanic students and the African-American students. Neither of these rates meets the goal. Texas has “the fourth highest rate for Hispanic students with 78.8 percent. Texas also had the fifth...