There is growing concern that the federal No Child Left Behind Act accountability provisions in mathematics, reading, and science are diverting significant time and resources from other academic subjects. To address this concern, the Council for Basic Education executed a study to collect data about American K-12 students access to a curriculum in the liberal arts. Public school principals from Illinois, Maryland, New Mexico, and New York were surveyed. This document reports the survey results. Findings showed strong evidence of a growing commitment to mathematics, reading, writing, science, and secondary social studies and a waning commitment to the arts, foreign languages, and elementary social studies. Schools with high minority populations have endured the greatest curriculum erosion. [The Council for Basic Education ceased operations in June 2004.]

There is growing concern that the federal No Child Left Behind Acts accountability provisions in mathematics, reading, and science are diverting significant time and resources from other academic subjects. To address this concern, the Council for Basic Education executed a study to collect data about American K-12 students access to a curriculum in the liberal arts.