Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

201 A T THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE A MERICAN E DUCATIONAL R ESEARCH A SSOCIATION HELD in New Orleans, Louisiana in April of 1984, Brian Rowan, Ph.D. in sociology, presented a paper entitled “Shamanistic Rituals in Effective Schools.” The work on this “curious” paper was supported by the National Institute of Education, U.S. Department of Education (Contract #400–83–003). Rowan should be noted as one of the principal investigators involved in the infamous 1984 grant to Utah (See later 1984 entry for Utah grant) to implement William Spady’s Outcome Based Education program, the purpose of which was to “put OBE into all the schools of the nation.” The “curious” nature of this paper is derived from Dr. Rowan’s implied criticism of the very Effective Schools Research with which he is so closely associated. The importance of Rowan’s paper lies in Rowan’s professional credentials and willingness to bring to the debate table a discussion of the legitimacy of claims of “effectiveness” made by those associated with the Effective Schools movement (William Spady, et al.), including promoting outcome-based edu cation, mastery learning and direct instruction—all of which are required by Effective Schools Research. This presentation helps one to better understand the dismal academic results to be found in schools using Effective Schools Research; i.e., most often urban schools attended by underprivileged and minority children. The following quotes are taken from “Shamanistic Rituals in Effective Schools” which can be found in its entirety in Appendix XXVI of this book: …Lacking a systematic understanding of the scientific pros and cons of effective schools research, naïve individuals are left only with the powerful and appealing rhetoric of the reviewers.... The experienced shaman knows to avoid the scrutiny of scholars, for this can raise objections to the “scientific” basis of ritual claims and divert attention away from the appealing rhetoric. Instead, the shaman cultivates the practitioner who needs a simple and appealing formula. Thus, any experienced shaman can find “effective” schools.… The ritual is particularly suited to application in urban or low performing school sys tems where successful instructional outcomes among disadvantaged students are highly uncertain but where mobilized publics demand immediate demonstrations of success. The uncertainties faced by practitioners in this situation can easily be alleviated by what scholars have begun to call curriculum alignment [teach to the test].… Thus, the art of measurement can be used as an aid to shamanism, especially in urban schools plagued by the uncertainties of student performance. Student variability in perfor mance can be reduced, and relative performance increased, not by changing instructional objectives or practices, but simply by changing tests and testing procedures. T HE O FFICE OF E DUCATIONAL R ESEARCH AND I MPROVEMENT OF THE U.S. D EPARTMENT OF Edu cation in 1984 approved a grant from the Secretary’s Discretionary Fund in the amount of $134,459 (Grant No. 122BH40196) to Vanderbilt University to implement Vanderbilt’s proposal entitled “National Network for Educational Excellence.” This project covered a period from October 1984–October 1985 to use a computer-based network of fifty superintendents to col lect and exchange information about “effective” practices and to encourage national dialogue about increasing school “effectiveness,” so as to promote educational excellence. (Quotation The "Effective" Eighties : c. 1984 We begin with one of the most common shamanistic rituals in the effective schools movement, the glowing literature review....