Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

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The "Effective" Eighties : c. 1987

Positive Interdependence Students must feel that they need each other in order to complete the group’s task, that they “sink or swim” together. Some ways to create this feeling are through establishing mutual goals (students must learn the material and make certain group members learn the material), joint rewards (if all group members achieve above a certain percentage on the test, each will receive bonus points), shared materials and information (one paper for each group or each member receives only part of the information needed to do the assignment), and assigned roles (summarizer, encourager or participator, elaborator).

1987

C HARLOTTESVILLE , V IRGINIA ’ S T HE D AILY P ROGRESS CARRIED N ORMAN D ODD ’ S OBITUARY in its January 30, 1987 edition. The tribute read in part: Mr. Dodd’s earlier suspicions of a political and economic conspiracy were confirmed. During his research for this committee [the Reece Committee], the president of the Ford Foundation, H. Rowan Gaither, Jr. told him that some of the giant foundations, including Ford, were work ing under directives from the White House to so alter life in America as to make possible a comfortable merger with the Soviet Union. N ORTH C ENTRAL A SSOCIATION OF C OLLEGES AND S CHOOLS (NCA): M ICHIGAN C OMMITTEE ’ S Out comes Accreditation was published in 1987. The brochure demonstrates clearly the shift from academic education to performance/outcome-based affective education focusing on changes in the behavior of the individual student over time. Excerpts from this important publication follow: The NCA’s Outcomes Accreditation model has generated considerable interest among Mich igan educators. It is a process that follows many of the principles of the “Effective Schools Research” and results in schools focusing their activities on improving student success.... Outcomes Accreditation [OA] is a school-based accreditation and evaluation model that helps schools document the effectiveness of their programs. Schools are required to target their evaluation efforts by measuring changes in student behavior; i.e., outcomes. OA serves as an alternative to the NCA’s traditional evaluation formats. OA was adopted for use by NCA member schools in April 1987. Rather than focusing on “inputs” or what the school contributes to the educational process, OA examines “student outcomes” or the influence the school has on the students it serves.... Schools identify no more than five areas in which they want to focus their improvement activities. Target goals are written for each area. Three of these target goals focus on cognitive or basic skill areas, and two goals address affective concerns or how students behave or feel about themselves. The goals are written in such a way that changes can be measured over time. Student outcomes are measured by comparing desired levels of student performance with present performance.... Examples of specific data sources include: criterion- and norm-referenced test results, anecdotal records, attitude inventories, teacher-made tests, student participation rates, writ ing samples, and attendance and enrollment figures.... Next, faculty committees establish the desired levels of student performance. Although external sources such as state-mandated