From: hrubin@pop.stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin)
Newsgroups: misc.education
Subject: Re: Please Read and Critique for my Education Class
Date: 13 Oct 92 20:32:38 GMT
Organization: Purdue University Statistics Department


In article <WRIGHT.92Oct12184905@aesc.cs.odu.edu> you write:

			................

>Hello!


>Below is my group's topic.  Please critique our topic entitled
>"Reform."  Tell us why our topic is "good" or "bad."  Share some
>related educational stories from your past.  Just simply rip
>it to shreads.  Please post all responses here so I can keep
>track of them.  Also, include in your post your name, location
>of employment, and title.

>Thanks so much in advance.  Here is the topic:

>RFEORM

Reform for the sake of reform is not always good.  The "John Dewey"
school of education reformed the schools in the 1930's, causing many
of the problems we now face.

>REFORM #1
> A: National standardization of curriculum
> B: The following classes will be nationally 
>standardized:  Math, History, Science, 
>Language, English
> C: All high school students are required to take 
>one semester of Art and Music Appreciation.  
>This class will include common infor- mation 
>about known painters, composer, theories, and 
>works.
>        Advantadges:
>          1) Through the standardization of the 
>curriculum, a successful regional comparison of 
>school systems can be made.
>          2) Students who frequently move are able 
>to transfer high school credits with ease and are 
>readily able to assimilate into a new school 
>regardless of the time of year.

At this time, standardization would be disaster.  Every one of the subjects
listed has to be completely redone, and until we experiment, we will have 
no idea what will be successful.  Nor should we expect different children
to be able to do approximately the same thing.  

We also must not try to adjust changes in curriculum to what the teachers
can handle.  Anything good will fall flat on its face here.  The teachers
have little understanding of anything other than rote.  Refusing to face
this fact will not help.

>REFORM #2 - Mandantory Competency 
>Examinations
> A: Students must successfully pass a 
>competency exam before etneringJunior High 
>school, high school, and graduation.

What kind of exam?  The typical multiple-choice exam which discourages
thinking, or something meaningful, which will take many hours both of
student time and grader time.

> B: The grade-appropriate exams will include 
>the following:  Math, Science, social Studies, 
>English
> C: Upon failure of the exam, the student will be 
>required to complete summer remedial classes 
>before a second apptempt of the test.
> D: If the student fails a second time, he\she 
>will be held back and placed in a remedial 
>classroom where the focus of classroom in-
>struction will be correction of the student's 
>deficiences.

This does not work!  It is not the case that all children can do this.  
One of the observations of the John Dewey school was that not all 
deficiencies can be overcome.

An even bigger reform needed is to let the bright students learn faster
and by means which the dull may not be able to do.  I believe that those
who really should go to college should get essentially the contents of
a good BA by the time they are now starting.

>REFORM #3 - Learning Disabilities Screening
> A: Screenin for all students before 
>kindergarden will include the following group 
>tests: Physical attention, Level of Attention, 
>and Listening Skill
> B: If the psychologist identifies potential 
>problems in a child, further individual testing 
>will be performed based upon the 
>psychologist's discretion.
> C: Before completing the second grade and 
>seventh grade, the child is required to complete 
>the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test for 
>Children administered by a psychologist or 
>another qualified professional.
> D: Stanford-Binet Intelligence test for 
>Children:
>        1) score on the intelligence test will be 
>correlated with the progress in school to 
>identify any discrepencies between the IQ Test 
>and school performance.
>        2) the IQ Test is composed of two sections: 
>Verbal and performance.
>        3) VERBAL is compried of math problems, 
>vocabulary definitions, and question-answer 
>section which are given verbally by the 
>examiner.
>        4) PERFORMANCE is comprised of 
>puzzles, story sequencing, and mazes performed 
>by the student.
> E: Based upon the psychologist's findings, the 
>child will be referred for placement of special 
>education.

Far more important than the educationally disabled are the gifted.  The
disabled can be partially helped, but the bright are now totally turned
off by the drudgery they now face.  And what level of attention can 
anyone expect of a child who already knows what is being taught, and
in many cases, better than the teacher?

>REFORM #4 - Enviromental Education
> A: Starting in Kindergarden, each class will be 
>assigned a particualr clean up job with-in the 
>school grounds.
> B: Once a month, students will participate in a 
>supervised clean up period in which students 
>straighten, clean, and pick up trash inside and 
>outside the school.
> C: Once in high school, the students are 
>required to take  one semester of an ecology 
>class.  This calss will teach the student the 
>harms of polluting and the benefits of 
>recycling.

This is purely a political agenda.  It has NOTHING to do with education.
To understand ecology, one must first understand physics, chemistry, 
biology, and geography.  The schools must concentrate on teaching
children subject matter; children vary enormously, and the proposal
is to use a particular moral agenda, and force the children, as far
as possible, into a Procrustean mold.
-- 
Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399
Phone: (317)494-6054
hrubin@pop.stat.purdue.edu (Internet, bitnet)  
{purdue,pur-ee}!pop.stat!hrubin(UUCP)