NCLB Reading/Math Testing Pushes Out Other Subjects

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

AS SCHOOLS SPEND MORE TIME ON READING AND MATH,
MAGNITUDE OF CURRICULUM-NARROWING EFFECT IS REVEALED
SHIFTS APPEAR QUITE LARGE IN DISTRICTS REPORTING CHANGE IN EDUCATIONAL 
PRIORITIES
Center on Education Policy News Release
Washington -- February 20, 2008

Last summer, a groundbreaking report verified what
many in the education and policy communities had long suspected: that a 
majority of the
nation’s school districts were increasing time spent on reading and math 
in elementary
schools since the No Child Left Behind Act became law in 2002, while 
most of these districts
cut back on time spent on other subjects. Today, a follow-up report 
issued by the Washington,
D.C.-based Center on Education Policy provides an unprecedented look at 
the magnitude of
those changes.
In its earlier report, CEP found that a majority of school districts—62 
percent— had increased
time for English language arts (ELA) and/or math in elementary schools 
since school year
2001-02. Meanwhile, 44 percent had increased time for ELA and/or math at 
the elementary
level, while simultaneously cutting time from one or more areas 
including science, social
studies, art and music, physical education, recess, and lunch.
CEP’s new report, Instructional Time in Elementary Schools: A Closer 
Look at Changes
for Specific Subjects, examines the size of the shifts in those 
districts, in order to
determine just how extensive the changes were.
According to the report, districts increasing time for ELA and math had 
done so by an
average of 43 percent, or about three hours each week. To make room for 
the added time
for ELA and math, districts reducing time in other areas averaged cuts 
of about 32 percent
across those subjects, nearly 2.5 hours each week. Some of the districts 
reduced their
time in one subject, while other districts decreased instructional time 
in several areas.
“We knew that many school districts had made shifts in the time spent 
teaching different
subjects since the No Child Left Behind was enacted, but we had little 
evidence of the
magnitude of these changes within those districts,” said Jack Jennings, 
president and CEO of
CEP. “Digging deeper into the data, we now know that the amount of time 
spent teaching
reading, math and other subjects has changed substantially. In other 
words, changes in
curriculum are not only widespread but also deep.”
According to the report, eight out of 10 of the districts that increased 
time for ELA did so
by at least 75 minutes per week, and more than half (54 percent) 
increased by 150
minutes or more per week, or at least 30 minutes per day. Of the 
districts adding time for
math, 63 percent increased by at least 75 minutes per week, with 19 
percent adding 150
minutes or more per week.
Of the districts that both increased time for ELA or math and reduced 
time in other
subjects, a large majority—72 percent—cut time by at least 75 minutes 
per week for one
or more of the other subjects. For example, more than half (53 percent) 
of these districts
cut instructional time by at least 75 minutes per week in social 
studies, and the same
percentage (53 percent) cut time by at least 75 minutes per week in science.
Both of CEP’s reports on curriculum, including Instructional Time in 
Elementary Schools:
A Closer Look at Changes for Specific Subjects, and Choices, Changes, 
and Challenges:
Curriculum and Instruction in the NCLB Era (July 2007) are based on 
CEP’s nationally
representative survey of 349 school districts conducted between November 
2006 and
February 2007. Both reports are part of CEP’s multiyear effort to track 
the impact of the No
Child Left Behind Act since it became law in 2002, and are available 
online at
www.cep-dc.org.
# # #
Based in Washington, D.C. and founded in January 1995, by Jack Jennings, 
the Center on
Education Policy is a national, independent advocate for public 
education and for more effective
public schools. The Center works to help Americans better understand the 
role of public education
in a democracy and the need to improve the academic quality of public 
schools. The Center does
not represent any special interests. Instead the Center helps citizens 
make sense of the conflicting
opinions and perceptions about public education and create conditions 
that will lead to better public
schools.

The report, along with additional information from CEP, is available 
online at www.cep-dc.org.