An Update on No Child Left Behind and National Trends in Education

In this article, the author provides a review and critique of key provisions in the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and documents some major effects of the law, which have not been positive for arts education and other subjects not formally tested under the law. Because NCLB is scheduled for reauthorization in 2007 or 2008, the author offers a sample of proposed changes in the law articulated by a few of the groups engaged in lobbying for modifications. The author also reports on several other national programs that could influence school-based arts education in the next decade. The discussion reveals some of the alliances being formed to influence policy and the degree to which studies in the arts and humanities are marginalized in many of the proposed reforms.