In introducing our salute to Jerry, Bill Bennett pointed out that heroes are a good thing to have around, to remind us how to pattern our own behavior, how to act for the benefit of those for whom we work. The cause of heroes was taken up by our keynote speaker, the phenomenal E.D. Hirsch. His analysis of our schools and his rich curriculum, the Core Knowledge series, have brought new life to the quest to make American education excellent and equitable. His speech, carried several times on C-SPAN, challenged the audience to recognize the failings of conventional educational institutions. He asked us to honor those local men and woman whose schools and classrooms are often not under a microscope amongst reformers, but who succeed despite the obstacles.
Factual knowledge leads to critical thought.
The decision about which end of the continuum needs to be stressed depends on the historical moment. Our thinking about education needs to be more contextual. Especially we need to de-emphasize the romantic overemphasis on innate ability rather than effort. It's convenient to think that poor children are destined to be low achievers in school because of social forces and innate differences. Yet some schools manage to bring all children to grade level.