No Child Left Behind in Art?

Abstract

I n June 2004, three out of four public schools in Florida failed to meet a new federal standard for school improvement, including one arts school that had earned A ratings on statewide tests for four consecutive years (Shanklin 2004). How can so many schools, including A schools, be failing? The answer: the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (U.S. Congress 2001). The act is reshaping public education in the United States. In this article, I identify key terms and regulations in the law and indicate how it is related to the companion Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (U.S. Congress 2002). At the close, I consider the impact of NCLB on our schools, including our best ones. Early reports about the NCLB law were confusing. In pursuit of more information, I downloaded the whole law and have since focused on understanding the vision of excellence that it promotes, the implications of this vision, and their relationship to larger political currents. The law also has many implications for arts education, but I find it difficult to see how these can be positive. Although I am not alone in that judgment, it is also important to recognize that NCLB earned substantial bipartisan support in Congress and that neither political party, at present, proposes major changes in it. In theory, the law articulates the idea that all students can learn far more than teachers may currently expect of them. NCLB is intended to close achievement gaps among students. It requires that schools use teachers who are well qualified in the subjects that they teach and seeks greater engagement of parents in monitoring the quality of the schools that their children attend. Nevertheless, the thrust of the law is punitive. In seeking improvements, it deploys more sticks than carrots.

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