Fears of narrowing curriculum

A majority of people think No Child Left Behind is limiting what children are learning in schools and they’re getting increasingly fed up with standardized testing, according to the latest public-school poll from PDK International and the Gallup organization.

Released this morning, the poll found 52 percent of people believe No Child’s emphasis on reading and math has reduced the amount of time spent teaching other subjects. And among those who said yes, 93 percent said they were either very or somewhat concerned about it. The poll marks the second time in a month that the notion of narrowing curriculum has been raised in national surveys (read the Gradebook post on the Center on Education Policy survey here).

On other questions, the PDK-Gallup survey found 43 percent of Americans believe there is too much standardized testing in schools, up 12 percentage points since 2002, when No Child won bipartisan Congressional support and was signed into law by President Bush. A strong majority – 60 percent – continues to oppose vouchers. But a growing majority also supports charter schools, with 60 percent saying they favor them, up from 42 percent in 2000.

To read a response from the Forum on Educational Accountability, which includes many FairTest folks, click here.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter