The Rockefeller Center's Policy Research Shop has completed a preliminary report analyzing the effect of the federally-mandated No Child Left Behind Act for the Vermont General Assembly. The survey sought to find out if schools in New Hampshire and Vermont shifted curriculum in response to the act's requirements.
While the report calls for more research to fully understand the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act, it outlines some of the ways that the federal legislation has affected the educational systems in New Hampshire and Vermont. The research summarizes key issues and identifies important areas that merit further inquiry.
The group surveyed a random sample of 30 of the 130 school district superintendents in New Hampshire and 32 of the 60 in Vermont. The preliminary results showed that 63 percent of the superintendents in both states indicated that their curriculum is prioritized toward tested subjects.
The specific focus of the study came as a direct request from the Vermont Legislation Council in October to provide a report for the legislature's subcommittee on the No Child Left Behind Act. Professor Scott Carrell, who analyzed data for the study, explained the study's implications.
"The bottom line is that survey responses indicate that there is a shift in curriculum in New Hampshire and Vermont from some evidence through a small sampling eight question survey," Carrell said.
Despite state standards in non-tested subject areas, the imposition of high-stakes testing appears to cause school districts to teach to the test, the survey showed. Seventy percent of superintendents in New Hampshire and 83 percent of those in Vermont indicated that teaching to tested subjects is either "increasingly common" or occurring "throughout the district."
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has left states to contend with the new federal requirements for state and local education. These federal requirements define standards for teachers and students and increase accountability for schools and school districts that do not achieve the desired standards.
In the three years since the bill was signed into law, the act has sparked a nationwide debate about standards, accountability and the role of the federal government in education.
"The NCLB legislation is the most sweeping federal education policy to have taken place in a number of years. As a result, legislatures in all states are trying to keep up with requirements and look for consequences, not just to look for the good and the bad but also the impact of those consequences," Vermont State Sen. Matthew Dunne, the study's coordinator, said.
The survey included three multiple choice questions and open-ended questions such as "Which subject areas are being de-emphasized?"
In response to that question, superintendents responded that social studies, arts and science are being replaced by additional emphasis on reading and math. Other responses noted that a curriculum shift to the tested subjects is occurring regardless of other state standards.
The Policy Research Shop is staffed by undergraduate researchers who tackle a variety of public policy issues and provide reports to the public after research.
"The Policy Research Shop takes on questions provided to us by the Vermont and New Hampshire state legislatures," Nik Nartowicz '07 said. "The shop offers a great opportunity for the state legislatures and students. Very few undergraduates can say they performed policy research on this type of scale and prepared reports that are used like ours are."
The initial survey took place last March and the final results should be in by Winter term.
