Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

G–14 these standards. In other words, students will have to meet the government standards in order to be certified for various kinds of jobs. (See SCANS ) New American Schools Development Corporation (NASDC). NASDC was formed in 1991 when President George Bush requested that the business community raise funds to support development of “radical, break the mold” schools—one in each Congressional district. Ann McLaughlin was CEO and President of NASDC. The Request for Proposals stated: “The design may entail major changes in community governance... community structures and functions of other institutions such as public health agencies and welfare departments.”(See 1991 NASDC) New Standards Project (NSP). A partnership formed by Marc Tucker (head of NCEE) and Lauren Resnick, co-director with Robert Glaser of the University of Pittsburgh’s Learning Research and Development Center, to establish a “world class” system of standards and assessment that reflects international standards and culminates with the CIM and CAM. (See Certificates of Initial and Advanced Mastery ) Outcome-based Education (OBE). The following definition comes from Excellence in Instruc tional Delivery Systems: Research and Dissemination of Exemplary Outcome-Based Programs , a grant application submitted to the United States Department of Education for funding in 1984 by William Spady, Director, Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development:

The concept of Outcome-Based Education emerged from the synthesis of two broad areas of instructional design and improvement. One is known widely as Mas tery Learning and is identified with the pioneering work of Benjamin Bloom (1968, 1976), James Block (1971, 1974), Block and Lorin Anderson (1975), and Block and Robert Burns (1977). The other is known as Competency-Based Education (not to be confused with Minimum Competency Testing) and was defined conceptually and operationally by Spady (1977) and by Spady and Mitchell (1977). The term “Outcome-Based Education” represents a synthesis of these two approaches and took form in the winter of 1980 with the formation of an organi zation known as the Network for Outcome-Based Schools. OBE is based on the following philosophical premises: 1. Almost all students are capable of achieving excellence in learning the essentials of formal schooling. 2. Success influences self-concept; self-concept influences learning and behav ior. 3. The instructional process can be changed to improve learning. 4. Schools can maximize the learning conditions for all students by a. Establishing a school climate which continually affirms the worth and diversity of all students b. Specifying expected learning outcomes c. Expecting that all students perform at high levels of learning d. Ensuring that all students experience opportunities for personal success e. Varying the time for learning according to the needs of each student and the complexity of the task f. Having staff and students both take responsibility for successful learning outcomes g. Determining instructional assignments directly through continuous assess-