POLICY
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© 2011 by ASCD
But in many districts, especially at low-performing schools, NCLB’s high-stakes
testing did just that.
Now, as lawmakers haggle over the reauthorization of NCLB during a worldwide
economic slump, they have a chance to correct the reform’s excesses and reaffirm that a
well-rounded education and a nation’s economic health are unavoidably linked.
agree that the curriculum should include not
only foundational subjects like reading, math,
and science, but others as well. The reality,
however, is that subjects like history, civics,
foreign languages, and the arts fight hard for a
place in the day-to-day curriculum—and not
always successfully.
For much of the last decade, because of
the NCLB testing mandates that tie school
As lawmakers haggle over the reauthorization of NCLB
during a worldwide economic slump, they have a chance
to correct the reform’s excesses and reaffirm that a
well-rounded education and a nation’s economic health
are unavoidably linked.
Favoring that direction, educators, parents,
the public, and the nation’s political leaders
seem to agree that a comprehensive education
is crucial to competing in the global
marketplace of the 21st century. They also
success to test scores in reading and math,
many other subjects have been marginalized.
Even science, which is generally considered a
key indicator of a rigorous secondary curriculum, is tested under NCLB only three times
