Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

G–17

Glossary

President’s Task Force on Private Sector Initiatives) Psychological Approach. “1. A method of teaching in which new subject matter and ideas are presented in a manner appropriate to the way in which the pupil learns and through situations that are meaningful to him” is the definition given by the Dictionary of Educa tion, 3rd Edition by Carter V. Good, Ed. (McGraw-Hill: New York, 1973), published under the auspices of Phi Delta Kappa. It is also called a Child-Experience Approach, Functional Approach. Contrast with logical method. Psychomotor Domain. (See Taxonomy of Educational Objectives and Appendix XIX) Quality. The following definition is provided in Filling the Gaps: An Overview of Data on Education in Grades K–12 (National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), Office of Educational Research and Improvement [ID: NCES 92–132]: Washington, D.C., 1992). In the section called “Teachers” on page 5 we find:

Beginning in the 1980s NCES collected detailed information on the char acteristics and qualifications of teachers. Information collected includes years of full- and part-time teachers’ experience in public and private schools, major and minor degree fields for all earned degrees (from Associate degree to Ph.D.), type of certificate in teaching assignment fields, college coursework in mathematics and science, and, to a limited extent, participation in in-service education. The inclusion of these measures in SASS [Schools and Staffing Survey] allows for an assessment of the qualifications of the current teaching force. But the term “qualifications” is not synonymous with “quality.” The charac teristics that contribute to good teaching are many, and no single configuration of traits, qualifications, or behaviors unvaryingly produces optimal student outcomes in all situations. NCES teacher surveys have concentrated on collecting data on “qualifications,” rather than trying to define “quality.” In order to define and measure “quality,” characteristics and qualifications of teachers must be related to growth in student achievement.

[Ed. Note: This definition forces teachers to comply with Goals 2000 criteria and to teach to the test.] (See 1992 Filling the Gaps ) Regional Education Laboratories. The following definition comes from Goals 2000: Restructur ing Our Schools... Restructuring Our Society by Kathy Finnegan (ibid.), pp. 306–307.

The U.S. Department of Education maintains ten RELs (“labs”) in scattered geographic areas—all under the jurisdiction of OERI [the Office of Educational Research and Improvement]. The labs function as field offices of OERI, assist ing the states under their jurisdiction in finding and implementing educational resources (such as the “validated” programs of the NDN [National Diffusion Net work]) suited to their needs. They also generate and oversee research projects, print publications, and provide training programs to teachers and administrators. Each lab puts out a catalog of its publications. Under Goals 2000 the regional labs are charged with designing appropriate materials for their clients if suitable ones cannot be found. The ten regions are: 1. The Northeastern Region (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands) served by the Education Alliance for Equity and Excellence at Brown University