SECRETARY OF STATE WELLS AND ACTING COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION DAVY ANNOUNCE STATEWIDE ARTS EDUCATION SURVEY
Trenton – New Jersey Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells and Acting Commissioner of Education Lucille E. Davy announced today the launch of a month-long online survey to evaluate the status of arts education in every public school in New Jersey. During the news conference held at the Mott Elementary School in Trenton, Secretary Wells […]
Gov. Huckabee on the Narrowing of the Curriculum: “It’s Stupid”
Our champion lends his voice to the national debate on NCLB. The end of the first paragraph is my favorite quote on this issue ever made by an elected leader! Schools Need the Arts Published: April 2, 2006 To the Editor: Re "Schools Cut Back Subjects to Push Reading and Math" (front page, March 26): […]
Majority of School Leaders Report Gains in Achievement, But a Narrower Curriculum Focus Under No Child Left Behind
NCLB Affecting Everyday Lives of Students & Educators; Greatest Impact in Urban Districts, According to New Report, Survey WASHINGTON – March 28, 2006 – The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is having a greater impact on the everyday activities of schools and districts, including prompting districts to better align instruction and state standards and […]
And so it begins…
I firmly believe that Sunday's New York Times article Schools Cut Back Subjects to Push Reading and Math has established the tipping point for the whole issue of "narrowing the curriculum. The article, based on a report due today from the Center on Education Policy has been widely published in this country over the past […]
NY Times “Schools Cut Back Subjects to Push Reading and Math”
Another report will be released this week showing, once again, the impact of NCLB on "narrowing the curriculum. One stunning number: 71% of school districts have narrowed the curriculum as a result of NCLB. The threat to music and arts education programs is now reaching crisis proportion. The story By SAM DILLON: Schools Cut Back […]
NJ Arts Ed Survey Ready to Launch!
Eighteen months and lots of meetings, reserach, pilot studies, drafts, negotiations, and vetting has brought us to the point where we are preparing to launch the most significant census of arts education ever undertaken in the United States. On Monday, March 20, 2006 acting Commissioner of Education Lucille Davy sent a letter to all public […]
Battle Lines and Buzz Words are Drawn in Florida over Graduation Requirments
If the Governor of Florida is call for a system with more "relevant learning opportunities" is it fair to say he feels that arts education is an "irrelevant" learning opportunity? Gov. Jeb Bush's proposal to dramatically overhaul Florida's education system would give him a much stronger hand in turning around struggling schools, force educators to […]
School Performance of Grease Ignites Culture War
It appears that the a high school performance of the musical Grease has ignited a culture war: When Wendy DeVore, the drama teacher at Fulton High here, staged the musical "Grease," about high school students in the 1950's, she carefully changed the script to avoid causing offense in this small town. She softened the language, […]
Sound of Music in New Brunswick
When everyone works well together great things can happen for our students. The collaboration in New Bruswick to restore music and arts education is a great case in point! During the two decades New Brunswick was remaking itself into a celebrated cultural hub, the music program in its public high school kept getting cut back […]
Battle of the Bands vs Battle of the Bulge
From the "now I have seen everything" category we have this little tidbit from the great state of Texas. Could it be that the next great threat to music and arts programs in the United States is not No Child Left Behind, or State High Stakes Tests, or increase graduation requirements, or block scheduling, or […]
