Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

225 learning/direct instruction, was accepted as one of the nationally recognized programs for use in restructuring.] The "Effective" Eighties : c. 1985 T HE E FFECTIVE S CHOOL R EPORT ’ S M AY 1985 ISSUE CONTAINED AN ARTICLE ENTITLED “Principal’s Expectations as a Motivating Factor in Effective Schools.” An excerpt follows: The principal expects specific behavior from particular teachers which should then translate into achievement by the students of these teachers; because of these varied expectations, the principal behaves differently toward different teachers; i.e., body language, verbal inter actions and resource allocations. This treatment also influences the attitudes of the teacher toward the principal and their perception of the future utility of any increased effort toward student achievement. If this treatment is consistent over time, and if the teachers do not resist change, it will shape their behavior and through it the achievement of their students…. With time teachers’ behavior, self-concepts of ability, perceptions of future utility, attitude toward the principal and students’ achievement will conform more and more closely to the behavior originally expected of them. E DUCATION D AILY OF J UNE 12, 1985 PUBLISHED “S WEEPING O VERHAUL OF M INNESOTA Education System Proposed.” Excerpts follow: The Minnesota Business Partnership, an organization of 60 corporations, commissioned an education consulting firm to study the state education system and plan improvements. The result is the Minnesota Plan, the business community’s proposals to radically restructure the state’s education system. The plan was outlined Monday at a National Institute of Education seminar in Washington, D.C. by Paul Berman, President of BW Associates, which conducted the study. The proposal would make kindergarten through sixth grade the elementary level, set up grades seven through 10 as the common high schools, and create specialized programs for grades 11 and 12. Students would have to master a core program of communication, social studies, science and math until the 11th grade, and pass state competency exams at the end of the sixth and 10th grades. Moreover, the plan would eliminate state-mandated courses and allow districts and schools to determine course requirements. Under the plan, 11th and 12th grade students could take courses at post secondary institutions, technical or vocational schools or even private corporations.... Despite the worries of business leaders in the partnership… most legislators don’t feel a major restructuring is necessary. “Most of us feel the system is changing and responding to needs. But it is not in need of drastic change.” But Berman counters that since “the best teachers are leaving at age 30 now,” teacher improvement plans would help overburdened staff and increase student-teacher contact. Teaching teams composed of a lead teacher, teaching assistants and adjunct teachers would work with 120 students. This would allow for individual student learning programs and removal of student counselors.... “It’s not a fantasy no matter how radical it is,” Berman contends, adding that the public does not real ize that “reforms we start today are not going to be in effect for 20 years. It takes time to modernize.” (p. 6)

[Ed. Note: In retrospect it seems, to this writer at least, that Minnesota was clearly out front in its early adoption of performance-based school-to-work agendas. (See Appendix X.)]