Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

158 S TEPS TO B ETTER W RITING : A S YSTEMATIC A PPROACH TO E XPOSITORY W RITING BY G ENE Stanford (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc.: New York, 1979) was published. An exercise from this book is an example of the humanistic influence exerted in a writing textbook format: EXERCISE C. In each of the introductory paragraphs below, underline the thesis sentence. Then indicate in the blank which construction (funnel or contrast) was used. Finally, number the factors in the preview of main supporting points.... [Sample paragraph] 2. Too often parents think the way to rear a child is to give him guidance in the proper way to think and act. This “guidance” too often becomes an actual molding of his personality to suit the parent, as is seen in parental lectures beginning with the old clichés, “If I were you I would...” or “When I was your age I....” These parents, while they may have the good of the child at heart, are nevertheless making a grave mistake by trying to compel him to act or think in certain ways. What the teen needs instead is a type of love which gives him the freedom and confidence to develop his own opinions in matters such as religion, morality, and choice of friends. (p. 87) [Ed. Note: The 1991 article entitled “Seniors’ Church Attendance” from Education Week (June 12, 1991) shows how successful this type of “academic” curriculum has been in changing our children’s values.] Endnotes: 1 T.I.L.L., 67 East Shore Road, Huntington, N.Y. 11743 2 See 1998 entry concerning Newt Gingrich’s statements about the future of textbooks. Also, see 1974 entry for A Performance Accountability System for School Administrators by T.H. Bell. 3 This quote is taken from Danielson’s 67-page booklet, Practitioner’s Implementation Handbook [Series] : The Outcome-Based Curriculum , 2nd Ed ., by Charlotte Danielson (Outcome Associates, Princeton, NJ, 1992). Charlotte Danielson is presently employed by the Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey. 4 The Maine Facilitator Center was funded by the U.S. Department of Education and its primary role was to disseminate feder ally funded National Diffusion Network programs. Since 1994 the NDN has been defunded and its functions have been taken over by the U.S. Department of Education’s regional laboratories. 5 Excerpt taken from The Leipzig Connection mentioned and referenced earlier in this book. 6 Another View of Philosophy and Culture: Back to Freedom and Dignity by Francis Schaeffer (Crossway Books: Wheaton, Ill., 1989). 7 This particular “who shall survive” activity is still in use in 1990s NDN programs. 8 Child Abuse in the Classroom may be purchased for $10.00 by sending a check to: Eagle Forum, Pere Marquette Press, PO Box 495, Alton, IL 62002 9 The National Diffusion Network catalog, Programs that Work , may be purchased for $16.95 by calling Sopris West at 1–303– 615–2829. 10 Audiocassette of Lessinger’s speech (#612–20129) can be ordered from: ASCD, 1703 North Beauregard St., Alexandria, VA 22311–1714. 11 Sayer, George. Jack: A Life of C.S. Lewis (Crossway Books: Wheaton, 1994). 12 Lewis, C.S. “Our English Syllabus” in Rehabilitations and Other Essays (Oxford University Press: London, 1939). 13 Ibid. 14 Hooper, Walter, Ed. “Learning in War-Time,” in The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses (Macmillan Publishing Co., New York, 1980). 15 See Resources page for ordering information for Barbara Morris’s The Great American Con Game.