Education Secretary Seeks Input on NCLB Reform

From a U.S. Department of Education press release:

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will travel to 15 or more states in the coming months to solicit feedback from a broad group of stakeholders around federal education policy in anticipation of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The tour will gather input on the Obama administration's education agenda, including early childhood, higher standards, teacher quality, workforce development, and higher education.

The tour, "Listening and Learning: A Conversation About Education Reform," officially began May 4th with three events in West Virginia.

Duncan said that the primary purpose of the Listening and Learning tour is to, "Have a national dialogue about how to best deliver a complete and competitive education to all children—from cradle through career. We want to hear directly from people in the classroom about how the federal government can support educators, school districts and states to drive education reform. Before crafting education law in Washington, we want to hear from people across America—parents, teachers and administrators—about the everyday issues and challenges in our schools that need our national attention and support."

Other states targeted for potential events include Michigan, Vermont, California, Montana, Wyoming, New Jersey, Tennessee, North Carolina, Washington D.C., Ohio, Indiana, Florida, Utah, and Alaska. Additional states and events may be added during the course of the tour.

• How do you think NCLB should be changed in the future?
• How has NCLB affected you as a social studies educator? How has it affected your students?