Changes in Public School Curriculumby Shannon Stepp | More from this Blogger 18 Jan 2007 09:17 PM What is going on with our public school system today? They seem to be changing daily but I often wonder if it is really for the best? Remember the good old days when we learned all about science, history, and art? Remember music and cursive writing? In Mr. Holland's Opus, students are exposed to the wonderful world of music and find a passion they did not know they had. In today's schools, this might not be an option. Music, along with so many other wonderful subjects are no longer taught in many schools today. In today's classroom, it is all about reading, writing, and math. Now, I am not saying that reading and writing are not important. Of course they are. Math too. But I am not sure that they are more important than learning about history or science. More and more schools are opting to just focus on the three and forgetting about the rest. I am just wondering their reason behind this? I am sure politics and funding are behind most of it but gee, who is suffering? I am a high school teacher and often find myself amazed at what our kids know nowadays - or rather what they do not know. Since this is my first year teaching, my first thought was to blame my students. Maybe they just did not pay attention when these things were taught. But then after investigating, I discovered something amazing. They were not taught it at all! Now, I am sure all public schools are different and there are some great ones out there. Hopefully, this is just a phase and these long lost subjects will return some day. It is my sincere hope that they return sooner rather than later. After all, I was one of those kids who was actually forced to learn all the subjects and I think I turned out just fine! Well, maybe that is up for debate! Related articles: Trends in Secondary Education: Specialization Music to your ears (and brain) Learn more about Shannon Stepp  My name is Shannon Stepp. I am a 34 year old high school teacher. I have been married for almost 14 years and have three children ages 12, 11, and 8. Relevanteducation tags User Comments markbarnes19 (3015) 16 Mar 2007 06:56 AMShannon, I think the problem is diercelty related to President Bush's No Child Left Behind legislation. Teachers are so busy trying to meet state standards that they have little time to teach valuable enrichment and life lessons. The great inter-disciplinary projectes we used to do are now obsolete, because they allow for less textbook time and rote learning, required on NCLB-related tests. Hopefully, we'll get a democrat in office in 2008, and all of this will change. Mark Barnes http://www.middleschoolworld.com Discuss this article
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