2026 Conference Archive
Still Waiting for Superman: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Systematic Curricular Culture during the No Child Left Behind Era
Location
Boston 2&3
Session Format
Presentation
Abstract
From 2001-2014, states instituted changes to conform to No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates that impacted the math and reading curriculum, and created a systematic curricular culture that I define as the prioritization of the standardization of curriculum, instruction, and leadership through accountability measures that are tied to neo-liberal and market-driven approaches to determining teacher effectiveness, student learning, and what constitutes knowledge. Analysis of the historical contexts of NCLB by examining the political rhetoric and discourse in the 2010 documentary Waiting for Superman is needed to contextualize the continuing impact of systematic curricular culture on American education. Therefore, questions that guide this research are as follows:
1) How can the historical analysis of 20th and 21st-century education reform policy as seen in Waiting for Superman inform curricular resistance to systematic curriculum culture?
2) What examples of political rhetoric and spectacle education reform in Waiting for Superman are most emblematic of systematic curricular culture during the NCLB-era from 2001-2014?
Through the implementation of historical research and multimodal discourse analysis methods, I examine the political spectacle and rhetoric in the film to address which aspects of NCLB-era education reform are still relevant, and what needs to be reformed.
Keywords
No Child Left Behind, Education Policy, History of Education, Systematic Curriculum
Professional Bio
Dr. Katherine Perrotta is an Associate Professor of Middle & Secondary Education at Mercer University Tift College of Education. Her research interests include social studies methods, historical empathy, curriculum studies, and teacher education.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Perrotta, Katherine A., "Still Waiting for Superman: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Systematic Curricular Culture during the No Child Left Behind Era" (2026). Georgia Educational Research Association Conference. 42.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gera/2026/2026/42
Still Waiting for Superman: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Systematic Curricular Culture during the No Child Left Behind Era
Boston 2&3
From 2001-2014, states instituted changes to conform to No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates that impacted the math and reading curriculum, and created a systematic curricular culture that I define as the prioritization of the standardization of curriculum, instruction, and leadership through accountability measures that are tied to neo-liberal and market-driven approaches to determining teacher effectiveness, student learning, and what constitutes knowledge. Analysis of the historical contexts of NCLB by examining the political rhetoric and discourse in the 2010 documentary Waiting for Superman is needed to contextualize the continuing impact of systematic curricular culture on American education. Therefore, questions that guide this research are as follows:
1) How can the historical analysis of 20th and 21st-century education reform policy as seen in Waiting for Superman inform curricular resistance to systematic curriculum culture?
2) What examples of political rhetoric and spectacle education reform in Waiting for Superman are most emblematic of systematic curricular culture during the NCLB-era from 2001-2014?
Through the implementation of historical research and multimodal discourse analysis methods, I examine the political spectacle and rhetoric in the film to address which aspects of NCLB-era education reform are still relevant, and what needs to be reformed.
