NYT 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.
Wonderful. Reading and Math are very important subjects, and until the students master both of them, they should not be wasting their time in other subjects.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.
If the students don't know how to read, they are not going to learn that much in social studies or science, and they are not going to make a living knowing hot to draw. Teach them to read and write and do math, and then you can teach them the other stuff.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.
1 comment:
Great Post!
I read the article this morning, and I felt that the NYT was trying to turn this into bad news. This is an amazing example of schools making adaptations to try to teach their kids something!
amazing. . . .and all across the blogosphere, all you hear are people complaining.
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