LANGUAGE ARTS-NEW MEXICO

Is NCLB Narrowing the Curriculum?

Here's a story that's showing up in lots of newspapers around the country today.  What do you think?  Is NCLB narrowing the curriculum in your school?   From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Left behind? In some subjects

Math, reading emphasized at expense of others

BY CINDY KRANZ  

Teaching time for subjects not tested under No Child Left Behind has fallen by nearly one-third in elementary schools since the law was passed in 2001, according to a national study released today.

School districts are adding instructional time for reading and math, the two subjects tested for accountability under the federal education law, while reducing class spent on science, social studies and other subjects, said the Center on Education Policy, a national, independent advocate for public education and more effective public schools.

"What gets tested gets taught," said Jack Jennings, president and CEO of the center, based in Washington. "Under No Child Left Behind, there is reading and math and then there is everything else. And because so much is riding on the reading and math included on state tests, many schools have cut back time on other important subject areas, which means that some students are not receiving a broad curriculum."

Read the rest here.

Governor Richardson on NCLB

Here's our governor (along with Sens. Biden and Dodd) talking about the No Child Left Behind Act at last night's debate. 

The Beginning of the End

Head to your local bookstore.  Potter-mania begins at midnight!

Would Jane Austen Get Published Today?

From The Guardian:

The author and the Austen plot that exposed publishers' pride and prejudice

 · Rejection slips for slightly amended literary classics
· Most failed to identify novelist's celebrated work

Steven Morris
Thursday July 19, 2007

Her work has endured for two centuries, sold in its millions and inspired countless film and television adaptations. But would Jane Austen be able to find a publisher and an agent today? A cheeky experiment by an Austen enthusiast suggests not.

David Lassman, the director of the Jane Austen Festival in Bath decided to find out what sort of reception the writer might get if she approached publishers and agents in the age of Harry Potter and the airport blockbuster.

After making only minor changes, he sent off opening chapters and plot synopses to 18 of the UK's biggest publishers and agents. He was amazed when they all sent the manuscripts back with polite but firm "no-thank-you's" and almost all failed to spot that he was ripping off one of the world's most famous literary figures.

Read the rest here. 

What's in a Name?

This is from the Washington Post.  It's interesting how people like Jay Mathews and the parents he quotes seem sure that the name of the course--honors, regular, whatever--determines what happens in the course. 

Who Needs Honors Courses? Try Everyone.

By Jay Mathews
Tuesday, July 17, 2007

The honors course was once a vital part of American high schools, respected by all. That is changing fast, both in the Washington area and around the country, and many students and their parents are upset about it.

School districts are replacing honors studies with more strenuous, college-level Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or Cambridge courses. Ambitious students who have already signed up for several of these demanding courses and are hoping to take the less terrifying honors option in some subjects find they must choose between other AP courses or rudimentary regular courses. Their parents are filling PTA e-mail lists with complaints. The situation is tough, but are honors courses really worth saving?

 

Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and Rappahannock counties have decreed that if they provide a college-level course in, say, American history, the less-challenging honors version is not necessary, leaving as the only alternative the regular course -- seen by many students and their families as a refuge for slackers and malcontents.

Read the rest here. 

Closing the Book

Only eleven days until the last Harry Potter book arrives.  Here's Stephen King on saying goodbye (from Entertainment Weekly): 

When it comes to Harry, part of me — a fairly large part, actually — can hardly bear to say goodbye. I'd guess that J.K. Rowling feels the same, although I'd also guess those feelings are mingled with the relief of knowing that the work is finally done, for better or worse.

And I'm a grown-up, for God's sake — a damn Muggle! Think how it must be for all the kids who were 8 when Harry debuted in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, with its cartoon jacket and modest (500 copies) first edition. Those kids are now 18, and when they close the final book, they will be in some measure closing the book on their own childhoods — magic summers spent in the porch swing, or reading under the covers at camp with flashlights in hand, or listening to Jim Dale's recordings on long drives to see Grandma in Cincinnati or Uncle Bob in Wichita. My advice to families containing Harry Potter readers: Stock up on the Kleenex. You're gonna need it. It's all made worse by one unavoidable fact: It's not just Harry. It's time to say goodbye to the whole cast, from Moaning Myrtle to Scabbers the rat (a.k.a. Wormtail). Which leads to an interesting question — will the final volume satisfy Harry's longtime (and very devoted) readers?

Hemingway's Cats

From the Guardian:

Reprieve for Hemingway's six-toed cats

The six-toed cats living at the former home of the writer Ernest Hemingway in Key West, Florida, have avoided eviction after a legal battle.

Read the rest here. 

 

Nose in the Hole

This just seems sad.  (From the Sarasota, Florida, Herald-Tribune of June 29th.)

Educators shift focus: More drills, less play

Some are worried that young children may be losing out on creativity time

By TIFFANY LANKES
tiffany.lankes@heraldtribune.com

"Ready, set, go!" a little boy shouts as he clutches a stopwatch.

His classmate starts rattling off words.

The summer school student at Bradenton's Daughtrey Elementary stumbles but keeps going.

"He put the end of his nose in the hole," the boy reads. The sentence actually says, "He put one end of a thin hose in the pail."

But no one notices the mistake, and no one corrects him. The speed drill at Daughtrey is more than just a reading lesson. It is a lesson in how schools are changing the way they educate their youngest students as they scramble to improve standardized test scores.

Read the rest here.