I recently came across an article on Twitter celebrating the passage of the Every Child Achieves Act by a Senate vote of 81-17. This is important because "by naming music and arts as core subjects in the Every Child Achieves Act, the Senate has acknowledged and begun to address the national problem of the narrowing of the curriculum that has taken place under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for more than a decade now."
I think that this is a really fantastic development in education. I actually wasn't aware that this was even in the works, but reading it really resonated with me and made me feel inspired because it's another step in a positive direction as we move away from NCLB's often narrow minded view of education. I've been a teacher for 16 years, and in that time I've personally seen an experienced the loss of PE, art, band, and music programs from schools. I think it's sad and an injustice to our students to eliminate these "enrichment" activities in favor of the core academic subjects. The passage of this act by the Senate is a victory and makes me optimistic that we can move back toward a view of education that values the arts as an integral part of human development. As the article states, "The Senate’s action today is an important step forward in ensuring that all students—regardless of their socioeconomic status—experience the demonstrable positive impact that music education has on learning and life."
The complete article can be found at: http://www.nafme.org/senate-passes-every-child-achieves-act-with-music-and-arts-as-core-subjects-in-tact/
Amanda, I think the key will be what the states decide to assess (assuming the Senate bill is closer to the final bill, which leave most testing decisions up to the states). It isn't that NCLB narrowed the curriculum, they just outlined specific core courses that needed to be tested and the states, and to a lesser extent individual school systems, made the decision that it if isn't tested it won't be taught.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, it wasn't that NCLB narrowed the curriculum, it just seemed like that. This is my "teacher" bias showing. Thanks for pointing that out.
DeleteI think that ensuring that every child has access to arts and music education is critical. I agree with Michael that the missing piece is assessment. As long as we have our current "culture of testing" I am not sure that all of the possible benefits of this legislation will be realized.
ReplyDeleteI am very fortunate to teach in a district where we are told to not worry about the test and just teach. I've met with others who have their job security and/or pay tied to test results, which is so awful!
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