No Child Left Behind

71% of school districts

have narrowed the curriculum as a result of NCLB

Another report was released showing, once again, the impact of NCLB on "narrowing the curriculum." The threat to music and arts education programs is now reaching crisis proportion.

Read the New York Times article: Schools Cut Back Subjects to Push Reading and Math

Read the Full Report: From the Capital to the Classroom: Year 4 of the No Child Left Behind Act   from the Council on Education Policy

Read Editorials in Response:

Salt Lake Tribune

Some things advocate and concered citizens may do:

The Commission on No Child Left Behind is a bipartisan, independent commission that will examine the strengths and weaknesses of the No Child Left Behind Act and make concrete and realistic recommendations to Congress.

To provide suggestions directly to the Commission regarding how to improve No Child Left Behind click here

Some suggested talking points for your letter to the Commission click here

The Unraveling of No Child Left Behind: How Negotiated Changes Transform the Law

This report documents the changes states have made to their accountability plans and examines how these policy shifts affect the meaning of accountability and who benefits (and loses) from the changes. The intent of this report is to provide policymakers with information they can use to develop a systemic approach to correcting the flaws in NCLB by documenting the requirements that are difficult for states to implement and identifying areas where the law may not be working as intended.

NCLB: Narrowing the Curriculum

July 2005 Brief from the Center on Education Policy

Academic Atrophy: The Condition of the Liberal Arts in America's Public Schools

Study of how the No Child Left Behind Act is influencing instructional time and professional development in key subject areas reveals that schools are spending more time on reading, math, and science but squeezing out social studies, civics, geography, languages, and the arts.

Putting Arts Education Front and Center

By Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige

Secretary Paige Reaffirms Arts Education in NCLB

This July 2004 letter to superintendents and supporting communications are a tremendous resource for advocates who are being faced with program reduction or elimination in the name of the No Child Left Behind Education Reform Act

No Subject Left Behind (PDF) - The highly regarded guide to arts education and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Prepared by many of the leading arts and arts education organizations through the Arts Education Partnership.

To download a special NCLB version of From the Trenches (an 11 MB MPEG4 File) click on: http://music-for-all.org/podcasts/trenches05.m4a