Focus on 2 R’s Cuts Time for the Rest, Report Says

[ulysses]

Almost half the nation’s school districts have significantly decreased the daily class time spent on subjects like science, art and history as a result of the federal No Child Left Behind law’s focus on annual tests in reading and math, according to a new report released yesterday.

The report, by the Center on Education Policy, a Washington group that studies the law’s implementation in school districts nationwide, said that about 44 percent of districts have cut time from one or more subjects or activities in elementary schools to extend time for longer daily math and reading lessons. Among the subjects or activities getting less attention since the law took effect in 2002 are science, social studies, art and music, gym, lunch and recess, the report said.

The report, based on a survey of nearly 350 of the nation’s 15,000 districts, said 62 percent of school districts had increased daily class time in reading and math since the law took effect.

Within a year of the law’s implementation, teachers and their associations were reporting that schools and districts were suggesting or requiring that they spend more time on reading and math to improve test scores, and that they cut back time spent on other disciplines.

More at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/25/education/25child.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[lostinacause]

1. Who expected this to happen?

[indepat]

2. Who would'a thunk it?

[LWolf]

3. I did. So did most of my colleagues, and admins.

It's not hard to follow the dots. Threaten schools over test scores. The first time you don't make "enough" progress, in ANY subgroup, including special ed or english language learners (Do you really think students who haven't mastered english are going to do well on a test given in english???)

You'll be put "on watch." When it happens the 2nd time, you have to come up with an official plan for improvement that will be approved by those who actually WANT you to fail in the first place. Your plan had better include all of those corporate products, trainings, etc., that are approved by them, and it will, inevitably, include increased time on reading and math. If your plan doesn't please tptb, they'll "help" you improve it to avoid takeover.

This has gone so far, in some schools, that there is only 1 hour left in their day in which to fit science, history, music, pe, art, etc..

This happens to all schools in a district, even if many of the schools are making the expected "AYP" every year. The district is judged, and the improvement plans are implemented throughout the district.

This is the process, and yes, many of us saw it coming. It would have been nice if the general public had listened to those who objected, but that's water under the bridge.

The obvious solution, at this point in time, is to block reauthorization of NCLB this year. Not "fix" it. Refuse to reauthorize it. Otherwise, you'll get another whole generation of kids suffering under it, while congress talks about it, "tweaks" it, and, while playing around with it, makes sure that it continues to negatively affect the quality of every students' education.

[ulysses]

4. yes.

The obvious solution, at this point in time, is to block reauthorization of NCLB this year. Not "fix" it. Refuse to reauthorize it.

Do they have the guts?

[LWolf]

5. I hesitate to answer that question.

Do they have the guts to take immediate action? It has to happen before 2008. What "guts" have been on display since last November? It's a mixed bag, at best.

On the positive side, I noticed that the two candidates who answered the NCLB question Monday night, Biden and Richardson, both said they'd scrap it. Of course, Richardson isn't in Congress to do so. And, of course, Dodd jumped in from a different question to go back to NCLB and rant about "accountability."

That will be the real sticking point. They're afraid that if they don't reauthorize NCLB, they'll be seen as allowing us to get away with no "accountability." As if there weren't plenty of vehicles in place to make sure we are accountable already.

How can we bring other measures of accountability, outside of test scores, into the conversation? How, exactly, am I accountable for someone else's performance, anyway?

What did you think of the video question Monday night?

[lostinacause]

6. Sorry the sarcasm was not apparent enough. It is the obvious

consequence of testing heavy in particular subject areas. To be honest I am a little surprised by the extent that you suggest it happens.

[LWolf]

7. I'm currently working in a smaller, semi-rural

district in a state that has been WAY behind the NCLB curve. They are just now reaching the point where they are starting to feel the heat.

So...in June, discussing how the new language arts adoption would be implemented this fall, I pointed out the time crunch. My admin said, "We don't have to spend so much time on history. We'll have to cut somewhere to increase instructional time in language arts. Literacy has to come first."

It sounds good, doesn't it? Literacy has to come first! Of course, that was the excuse used in my previous state and district to cut almost everything out of the curriculum. I've done this before. My admin and colleagues here are responding to the pressure to continually raise test scores, and going through the various stages of adaptation I've already seen happen elsewhere. Deja vu. Unfortunately, I've seen the end result of those adaptations. One seemingly small step at a time, until the district mandates every move we make, every breath we take. Until teachers and students alike hate school.

In my last state/district/school, we not only had "scripted" curriculums to follow, and random checks to make sure we were on the part of the script at the part of the day we should be, we hand mandated BULLETIN BOARDS, with district employees doing random checks of the bulletin boards as well. Random checks. That means at any unannounced point, someone can walk in, and if you aren't reading the part of the script assigned for that period, if your bulletin board isn't up to date, if the state standards you are teaching aren't clearly listed in your lesson plan book and posted in the room somewhere, if a random student can't recite what standard they are "learning" at that moment, you get "written up."

My current school, in another state and district, assure me that "that can't happen here." Ok. Call it ptsd. Call it paranoia. Call it deja vu. Call it cynicism. One small step at a time, here it comes.