Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

G–10

(See Effective Schools , Mastery Learning , and Appendix II, III, XVII and XXI) Effective Schools. The following definition is taken from an article entitled “Effective Schools for Results” published in The Effective School Report (July 1984):

Over the past 30 years there have been three primary programs related to the design and implementation of Effective Schools and successful learning results. Each effort focused on different aspects: behavioral change and application of learning theory to produce successful learning results; identification of sociologi cal factors operating in Effective Schools; teaching strategies to effect learning; and the combination of these variables and practices in a systematic approach to achieve learning and management results. The results of these research programs offer proven practices which, when combined in an interdisciplinary approach, can deliver “predictable excellence” in educational results, the ultimate criterion of an Effective School program. The following professionals and groups have been involved in this research and development: Wilbur Brookover, Ron Edmonds, Effective Schools Research Movement; B.F. Skinner, Norman Crowder, Robert E. and Betty O. Corrigan (1950– 1984), Mastery Learning Practices; R.E. Corrigan, B.O. Corrigan, Ward Corrigan, and Roger A. Kaufman (1960–1984); Project entitled “A Systematic Approach for Effectiveness (SAFE) for District-wide Installation of Effective Schools.”

(See July 1984 Effective School Report and Appendix VI and XXVI ) Environment. A key term used in behavior modification. Changing one’s environment can be utilized to bring about behavioral change. The term “psychologically facilitative climate” means the same thing as “positive school climate.” Facilitate, Facilitator. A change agent who chairs handpicked committees or groups to direct discussion toward the “right,” predetermined conclusions or consensus. This process is called “managed change.” Facilitators are highly trained to deal with “resisters,” those opposed to the predetermined change. (See Change Agent and Appendix XIV) Global Education. Education for the purpose of creating “global citizens.” Also known as “world class” education, “holistic” education or the “transformation” of education. A pilot global education curriculum in Iowa ( Catalogue of Global Education Classroom Activities, Lesson Plans, and Resources , 1991) emphasized topics such as environmentalism, vegetarianism, pantheism, pacifism, population control and global government. In holistic fashion, it was designed to be “integrated” and “infused” throughout the academic curriculum. The Global Alliance for Transforming Education (GATE) in Education 2000: A Holistic Perspec tive (1991) defines holistic (global) education as follows:

We call for wholeness in the educational process, and for the transformation of educational institutions and policies required to attain this aim. Wholeness implies that each academic discipline provides merely a different perspective on the rich, complex, integrated phenomenon of life. Holistic education celebrates and makes constructive use of evolving, alternative views of reality and multiple ways of knowing. It is not only the intellectual and vocational aspects of human develpment that need guidance and nurturance, but also the physical, social, moral, aesthetic, creative, and in a nonsectarian sense—spiritual aspects. Holistic