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Hooray to Virginia for standing firm
A recent report from the Center on Education Policy is a real eye-opener.
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 begat assessment tests, and it did not take teachers and administrators long to figure out that they better start spending more time on the subjects on which they were going to be measured, specifically language arts and mathematics.
And have they ever.
In a survey of the nation's elementary schools, eight out of 10 school districts increased classroom time for language arts by 75 minutes per week. More than half the polled school districts dedicated an additional 150 minutes a week.
Where did they find these extra hours? They stole them from science, art, social studies, music, physical education, lunch and recess.
Fortunately, the law in Virginia requires that 75 percent of instructional time in elementary schools be distributed between the four core courses, which include social studies and science in addition to language arts and math.
We're glad Virginia has stood firm on this one.
Math and science without social studies is a recipe for disaster, at least potentially.
We have trained scientists who are brilliant in their fields, but it's also important they have the educational grounding in history, sociology, psychology, even political science, to appreciate the bigger picture of how their innovations affect policy -- and people.
The importance of being well-rounded is first and foremost for a successful future. After high school and college, desirable traits transfer into the workplace. Analytic, technical and interpersonal skills can and should result in a successful future.
Once again, we praise Virginia for its steadfastness that students be grounded in mathematics, science, social studies and language arts.
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