Focus on 2 R’s cuts time for the rest, report says

 Almost half the nation’s school districts have significantly decreased the daily class time spent on subjects like science, art and history as a result of the federal No Child Left Behind law’s focus on annual tests in reading and math, according to a new report released yesterday. The report, by the Center on Education Policy, said that about 44 percent of districts have cut time from one or more subjects or activities in elementary schools to extend time for longer daily math and reading lessons. The report, based on a survey of nearly 350 of the nation’s 15,000 districts, said 62 percent of school districts had increased daily class time in reading and math since the law took effect. Read more of this article from The New York Times. In addition, read the report Making Every Moment Count: Maximizing Quality Instructional Time, a collaborative project of IRA and the American Association of School Librarians, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the National Council for Geographic Education, the National Council for the Social Studies, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the National Education Association, the National Geographic Education Foundation, and the National Science Teachers Association.