Curriculum+Movement

**Overview**
 * Federal educational goals identified in //[|A Nation at Risk]// (1983) became an impetus for adopting a standards-based education. //A Nation at Risk// claimed the educational system was an attack on the nation: “If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. As it stands, we have allowed this to happen to ourselves. We have even squandered the gains in student achievement made in the wake of the Sputnik challenge. Moreover, we have dismantled essential support systems which helped make those gains possible. We have, in effect, been committing an act of unthinking, unilateral educational disarmament.”
 * Since the 1980s, education reforms have been rooted in the standards-based movement. Academic standards are designed to specify the knowledge and skills students should master at each grade level. Decisions regarding curriculum, assessments, and professional development are aligned to the standards. States receiving federal funding agree to adhere to various federal guidelines.
 * Since the 1980s, education reforms have been rooted in the standards-based movement. Academic standards are designed to specify the knowledge and skills students should master at each grade level. Decisions regarding curriculum, assessments, and professional development are aligned to the standards. States receiving federal funding agree to adhere to various federal guidelines.
 * Since the 1980s, education reforms have been rooted in the standards-based movement. Academic standards are designed to specify the knowledge and skills students should master at each grade level. Decisions regarding curriculum, assessments, and professional development are aligned to the standards. States receiving federal funding agree to adhere to various federal guidelines.

In 1993, Massachussetts passed the The Educational Reform Act, which required that the state schools adhere to a common curriculum and submit to standardized testing for accountability purposes. Other states follow, and the era of high-stakes testing is born. In 1998, the Higher Education Act (1965) is amended to require "report cards" about teacher education programs. The 1994 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) eventually became the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), which required all students to be proficient in reading and math by 2014. Schools are held accountable for student achievement as measured by high-stakes tests. Schools are penalized if they do not make adequate yearly progress (AYP).The Higher Education Act was again amended in 2003, which further increased accountability standards. In 2007, the reauthorization of NCLB was vetoed, and, in 2010, President Obama released a [|"Blueprint for Reform"] of the ESEA Authorization. In 2012, President Obama granted [|waived ten states] from the NCLB requirements. Currently, many states are adopting the [|Race to the Top] common core standards and assessments.

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 * ~ Additional Resources ||~  ||
 * = //Sir Ken Robinson's Changing Education Paradigms video (below) traces the recent changes in education.//



[|Teachers Talk about NCLB] blog ||