2 Types of Education--One Will Build and The Other Will Destroy Minds and Children
Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 09:25AM “2 Types of Education: America Hangs in the Balance”
by Donna Garner
4.22.13
[4.22.13 -- Nearly all educators, curriculum, vendors, lobbyists, organizations, and advocacy groups fall into one of these two categories – Type #1 or Type #2. Action Steps are listed in red toward the bottom of this e-mail, and the latest updates on education bills in the Texas Legislature are posted at the very end. – Donna Garner]
COMPARISON OF TWO TYPES OF EDUCATION
TRADITIONAL (TYPE #1) vs. CSCOPE/COMMON CORE STANDARDS (TYPE #2)*
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TRADITIONAL TYPE #1 – CLASSICAL LEARNING |
CSCOPE TYPE #2 PROGRESSIVE, RADICAL |
COMMON CORE STANDARDS – TYPE #2 SOCIAL JUSTICE AGENDA |
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Instruction |
Direct instruction by teacher |
Self-directed learning, group-think |
Emphasis on subjectivity, feelings, emotions, beliefs, multiculturalism, political correctness, social engineering, globalism, evolution, sexual freedom, contraceptives, environmental extremism, global warming/climate change, victimization, diversity, acceptance of homosexuality as normal, redistribution of wealth
De-emphasis on Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Constitution, national sovereignty, Founding Fathers, American exceptionalism, |
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Curriculum |
Academic, fact-based, skills, research |
Social concerns, project-based, constructivism, subjective, uses unproven fads and theories |
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Teacher’s role |
Authority figure, sets the plan for the class, academic instruction |
Facilitator |
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Student’s role |
Learn from teacher, focus on factual learning, develop foundation skills for logical & analytical reasoning, independent thinking |
Students teach each other; focus on feelings, emotions, opinions; group-think |
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English, Language Arts, Reading (ELAR) |
Phonics; classical literature; cursive handwriting; grammar; usage; correct spelling; expository, persuasive, research writing |
Whole language, balanced literacy, Guided Reading; no cursive writing instruction so can’t read primary documents of Founding Fathers |
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Math |
“Drill and skill,” four math functions learned to automaticity |
Fuzzy math, rejects drill and memorization of math facts, dependent on calculators |
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Social Studies |
Focus on American heritage/exceptionalism, national sovereignty, Founding documents |
Diversity, multiculturalism, globalization, revisionist history, political correctness |
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Character development |
Pro-faith, self-control, personal responsibility, self-discipline, solid work ethic |
Secular, moral relativism, anti-faith, victimization |
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Equality |
Equal opportunities |
Equal outcomes |
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Assessment |
Students evaluated by earned grades, objective tests |
Inflated grades, subjective assessments evaluated based upon value-system of grader |
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Outcomes |
Objective tests (right-or-wrong answers), emphasis on academic skills and knowledge |
Subjective assessments; emphasis on holistic, “feel good” scoring |
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*Chart produced by Carole H. Haynes, Ph.D. – chaynes777@gmail.com
RESULTS OF TYPE #1
If we want our public school children to learn to read well, we must have Type #1.
If we want them to be able to speak and write English well, then we must have Type #1.
If we want them to be patriotic citizens who revere the Founding Fathers and know and honor the Constitution, then we must have Type #1.
If we want our graduates to be knowledgeable voters who know history and can analyze current events based upon the past and the present, then we must have Type #1.
If we want our public school children to recognize that they and the whole world were created by a Higher Being, then we must have Type #1.
If we want our public school children to know their math facts to automaticity, then we must have Type #1.
If we want our public school children to be able to do well in foreign languages, then we must have Type #1 that teaches the phonetic sound system and grammar/usage in English so that they can apply that to their foreign language learning.
If we want our public school children to read the great pieces of literature that have connected our country to past generations, then we must have Type #1.
If we want our public school children to have the skills and knowledge they need for college and/or the workplace, then we must have Type #1.
If we want to turn out scientists who are well read, logical, analytical, and who can write down their scientific conclusions, then we must have Type #1.
If we want our graduates to be able to write compositions built upon facts and persuasive techniques, then we must have Type #1.
If we want our high-school students to know how to research a topic and then put that information into well-written text, we must have Type #1.
If we want future legislators who are well read and who have a deep understanding of world history/American history/U. S. legal system and how those apply to current events, then we must have Type #1.
Because of the dedication of some of the elected members of the Texas State Board of Education (both past and present), our state now has Type #1 curriculum standards (TEKS) in English/Language Arts/Reading, Science, Social Studies, and Math – all passed since May 2008. Our TEKS are not the problem. CSCOPE, Common Core Standards, and the stubborn education establishment are the problems.
It would be wonderful if Texas educators on their own volition would teach the Type #1 TEKS, but most have chosen not to do so for various reasons. To better understand these various reasons, please read these two short articles:
4.11.13 – “Education Is Serious Business: Green, Yellow, and Red People” -- http://educationviews.org/education-is-serious-business-green-yellow-and-red-people/
4.11.13 – “Open Letter to Texas Legislators: Bad Bills – SB 1724 (Sen. Dan Patrick), SB 3 (Sen. Dan Patrick), and HB 5 (Rep. Aycock)” -- http://nocompromisepac.ning.com/profiles/blogs/open-letter-to-tex-legislators-do-not-pass-these-bills-by-donna?xg_source=activity
Unfortunately, the only way to force educators to move from their Type #2 instructional materials into Type #1 is to hold them and their students accountable at each grade level and in each course.
That accountability comes through the STAAR/End-of-Course tests which under Texas law have to be Type #1; and under the watchful eyes of the SBOE and the Texas Education Agency, they are.
ACTION STEPS:
First, you must inform yourself; the future of America depends on it. You cannot convince other people until you feel confident that you understand the education issues thoroughly yourself. Please spend the time to go through the various resources posted below, and share these with everyone you know.
Plead with your Congressmen to sign U. S. Senator Charles Grassley’s letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Education to request that they prohibit future funding for the Common Core State Standards, the national assessments, and the assessment review panel that was recently launched. The letter is posted here: http://truthinamericaneducation.com/common-core-state-standards/contact-your-senators-to-co-sign-grassleys-request-to-halt-common-core-funding/
Tell Texas Legislators to quit dumbing down the New Plan which is being implemented (sophomores on down) in the Texas public schools right now – new Type #1 TEKS, STAAR/EOC’s, and graduation requirements, It is this present plan that will eventually produce well-educated citizens who will become capable college students and/or employees with the core knowledge to be able to think logically/analytically and to be able to vote intelligently.
UPDATED ON 4.11.13 – LIST OF ANTI-CSCOPE AND/OR DUMBING-DOWN RESOURCES
*Compiled by Donna Garner (These are some of the best resources on the subject of CSCOPE and the attempts to "dumb down" Texas public schools through legislative intent. These links are all active at the time of publishing on 4.11.13.)
Here is the link to the full, updated list (as of 4.11.13) of numerous
Anti-CSCOPE and/or Dumbing-Down Resources. This will help the public to prepare themselves with the facts they need to counter the proponents of CSCOPE and of the dumbing-down of our Texas public schools:
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Below is the link to the list of Anti-Common Core Standards Resources compiled by Donna Garner from 12.11.09 through 4.14.13:
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INFORMATION FOR FELLOW TEXANS -- UPDATE ON BILLS PRESENTLY IN TEXAS LEGISLATURE
GOOD BILLS
SB 1406 (Senators Dan Patrick, Donna Campbell, Jane Nelson, Ken Paxton) should be passed because it would grant the elected members of the Texas State Board of Education the oversight of instructional materials (e.g., CSCOPE) produced by the Education Service Centers. The Senate passed SB 1406 on 4.15.13, and it is waiting to be referred to a House committee.
HB 284 (Reps. Zedler, Capriglione, King, Laubenberg, Miller, Sanford, Taylor) would require public schools to put their checkbook registers online. HB 284 emerged from the House Public Education Committee on 4.16.13 and is headed to the House Calendars Committee.
BAD BILLS
HB 5 (Reps. Aycock, Deshotel, Davis, Villarreal, Callegari) is one of the bills, if passed, that would dumb down education in our Texas public schools. It was voted out of the House and was sent to the Senate Education Committee on 4.2.13 with public testimony taken in committee on 4.16.13.
SB 2 (Sens. Patrick, Campbell) must be changed to retain the elected Texas State Board of Education’s over sight of charter schools rather than giving that responsibility to the unelected Commissioner of Education and the Texas Education Agency. Commissioner Michael Williams and the TEA have not asked for that extra responsibility.
Another big fallacy of SB 2 is that the Legislature has refused to pass safeguards over charter schools FIRST before approving the increase in the number of charter schools. These safeguards should include such provisions as requiring independent, generally accepted, transparent, accounting/auditing practices; protections and regulations over bond funding requiring our Texas dollars to stay in Texas; criminal penalties for fraudulent violations; proof of U. S. citizenship for all charter school operator board members and the five highest-paid administrators; names, titles, biographies posted online for all charter operator board members and the five highest-paid administrators; and charter school check registers posted online.
Without these safeguards in place, the education of the children who attend these charter schools could be subject to indoctrination from dangerous, hostile influences.
SB 2 passed out of the Senate on 4.11.13, and a public hearing will be held on 4.23.13 in the House Public Education Committee.
SB 3 (Sen. Patrick, Campbell, Lucio, Taylor) and SB 1724 (Sen. Patrick, Birdwell, Campbell, Hegar, Lucio, Paxton, Taylor) would, if passed, totally decimate the ten years it has taken to put the Type #1 “New Plan” into place. These two bills would dumb down the public schools of Texas and would throw us back into the Type #2 mode that has harmed our public school children for the last ten to fifteen years. Both SB 3 and SB 1724 have both been reported out of the Senate Education Committee and have been placed on the intent calendar.
HB 2103 (Reps. Villarreal, Branch) would require large amounts of personal student, family, and educator data collected over the last 20 years and in the future by the Texas Education Agency to be shared widely among various state agencies supposedly for research. However, this would cause more invasion of people’s private information. HB 2103 has been passed out of the House Higher Education Committee and was placed on the general state calendar on 4.24.13.
Texas Legislature Online: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/Home.aspx
Donna Garner