"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."While I think this is good news, the author whines that it isn't!
This piece describes the curriculum shift to heavy emphasis on reading and math in schools with students who do poorly in those subjects as measured by testing required by the No Child Left Behind Act. It concludes that those schools are making progress with the tests. The column also laments the deemphasize of other subjects because the school day does not allow time for both remediation and subjects that may be more fun.
I'll argue that exactly the right things are happening if schools are focusing time and energy on reading and math. In the early grades particularly, reading in English is foundational to an American life with a hope of success, and fluency in math is equally important. Without them, other studies and life generally will be less fruitful and more likely to be filled with failure and poverty.
Why must educators and pundits continue to whine about high standards and testing? Teaching is a difficult job; perhaps the constraints of standards somehow stifles some teachers' penchant for curricula process rather than to teach the basics that will equip kids for other subjects later.
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