The proposed Virginia social studies standards, which were published earlier this year, have been greeted warmly by conservative parents. But professional educators call the standards rigid and old-fashioned and say they will discourage student learning. Both sides are, but both are also missing something important. On the one hand, critics are right that the proposed standards ask young children to master material that is far too demanding. These requirements are one of the strengths of the Virginia standards.
Teachers have to waste valuable time making sure that everybody is beginning at the same place.
But the big dispute is the standards' focus on learning facts. Some critics say these requirements fly in the face of educational research and will keep kids from learning to think. If students need to know something they can always look it up in an encyclopedia. This is nonsense. If you go to England and pick up a British newspaper, you'll be able to read the words, but it will be practically impossible to follow what is being said.