Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

G–15

Glossary

ment of student learning h. Certifying educational progress whenever demonstrated mastery is assessed and validated.

(See Appendix XXVI) Outcomes. Based on Prof. Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives , the outcomes of education in the 1990s and in the 21st century define “What students must know, be able to do, and be like.” Determined at the national and international level, they must be met locally. Called “learning goals,” “performance objectives,” “standards,” “competen cies,” or “capacities,” all require students to embrace “new thinking, new strategies, new behavior, and new beliefs” (Lee Droegemueller, Commissioner of Education, “Assess ment: Kansas Quality Performance Accreditation [QPA],” Kansas State Board of Education, Topeka, KS, January 1992). (See 1991 “outcomes” recommended at Jomtien, Thailand “World Conference on Education for All” and Conference of U.S. Coalition on Education for All, and 1994 “U.S. Coalition for All: A History”) Ownership. Encouraging parents to participate in school activities in order for them to feel a part of restructuring—to have a feeling of ownership which will result in parental support for radical change. Paradigm. A world view; a mental framework for thinking, for organizing information, and for understanding and explaining reality. A paradigm shift occurs when one turns the tradi tional way of doing things on its head, as is the case with corporate fascist public-private partnerships, the use of unelected boards for decision making, School-to-Work, etc. (See 1991 John C. Hillary’s “Paradigm Change; More Magic than Logic”) Parent Report Card. Report card issued by the school that grades parents on how they bring up their children, especially concerning school-related areas. The State of California recently passed a law requiring parent report cards. (See 1993 Total Quality for Schools by Joseph C. Fields, and 1999 January Rosemarie Avila article) Parents as Teachers (PAT). A federally funded program which brings the state educator into homes to make sure each child starts school “ready to learn” and “able to learn.” The child is given a personal computer code number, and a computer record is initiated that will enable the national data system to track each child for the rest of his life. Parents as well as children are evaluated. (See 1992 Laura Rogers’s articles and At-Risk Students ) Participatory Democracy. Opposite of republican, representative, constitutional form of gov ernment. Participatory Democracy uses polls, unelected councils, and task forces in which the voice of the people becomes more important than the voice of elected representatives. Example: 1998–1999 investigation of President Clinton and the use by the U.S. Senate of polls rather than principles to determine whether the President is fit to remain in office. Form of government supported by socialists and communists. (See 1984 April letter to President Reagan from Willard W. Garvey, Executive Director of the National Center for Privatization, which said in part “Privatization is now an idea whose time has come.... The knowledge, communication, and computer industry can make political representa tives obsolete.”)