I finally realized it was a losing battle. They will adopt and use these methods whether there is any research to show they work or not. On the contrary, there is ample evidence that shows these methods are totally ineffective, if not destructive. Curriculum is another issue which is being challenged by parents. An ongoing theme through textbooks of all subjects, those published after 1992, is environmentalism.
Texts now encourage group work, group projects, consensus building and cooperative learning.
There is a heavy dose of teamwork throughout the curriculum and in class projects. In July, I spent six hours in a hot exhibit hall at a home-schoolers convention digging through textbooks. When I left, hungry and tired, lugging my heavy box of books across the huge parking lot, I felt the most amazing sense of empowerment. I thumb through their Saxon math books and grin. They are black and white, no colorful photos of surfers and snow-boarders or MTV stars between the covers.