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 Subjects to Push Reading and Math
SACRAMENTO Thousands of schools across the nation are responding to the reading and math testing requirements laid out in No Child Left Behind, President Bush's signature education law, by reducing class time spent on other subjects and, for some low-proficiency students, eliminating it.
Schools from Vermont to California are increasing – in some cases tripling – the class time that low-proficiency students spend on reading and math, mainly because the federal law, signed in 2002, requires annual exams only in those subjects and punishes schools that fall short of rising benchmarks.
The intense focus on the two basic skills is a sea change in American instructional practice, with many schools that once offered rich curriculums now systematically trimming courses like social studies, science and art. A nationwide survey by a nonpartisan group that is to be made public on March 28 indicates that the practice, known as narrowing the curriculum, has become standard procedure in many communities.
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Schools Cut Back Subjects to Push Reading and Math – New York Times
