Deliberate Dumbing Down of America Public Education

A–92 training manual. My worst suspicions regarding DI/Reading Mastery have been confirmed. One of the many references follows:

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT

Until recent years, the study of human behavior was thought to elude careful analysis. However, during the last three decades, scientific techniques have been developed for the study of behavior which show that behavioral processes are based upon exact principles. In applying these principles to teaching, Becker, Engelmann, and Thomas stated: The experimental study of events that make learning happen has produced consistent findings that can provide the teacher with a systematic basis for doing her job. Events occurring before and after a child makes a response have been shown to be critical in determining when and where that response will occur again. Environmental events that influence responding are called stimuli. A teacher accomplishes a teaching objective by effectively arranging the occurrence of stimulus events for the child—that is, by controlling when and how she talks, praises, shows things, and prompts responses.

Teaching is further described as a three-step process, written S-R-S (S) The teacher presents preceding stimuli (signal) (R) The child responds (R) The teacher presents following stimulus (consequence) This Model for Direct Teaching can be shown thus: S (Preceding Stimuli);

R (Pupil Response); and S (Consequent Stimuli)

Reference #8, Becker, Engelmann, and Thomas, Teaching: A Course in Applied Psychology (Science Research Associates, Inc.: Chicago, 1971), p.1. DISTAR/Reading Mastery is being used in the Houston public schools and is being touted as the most successful curriculum around by conservative groups. It is also being promoted by the multi-national corporations and John Chubb who support charter schools for workforce training.

January 30, 1997 Memo To: Supporters of Direct Instruction From: Charlotte Iserbyt

Forces for Change in the Primary Schools 1980 (High Scope Press High Scope Educational Research Foundation: Ypsilanti, MI, 1980), pp.81–82, identifies Douglas Carnine as “Director of Follow Through (FT) Direct Instruction Model, University of Oregon, Department of Special Education.” The FT program was a longitudinal educational experiment aimed at finding effective methods for educating disadvantaged children. Doug Carnine’s Dec. 11, 1996 letter to Ms. Ellen Moran, State of California, Commission for the Establishment of Academic Content and Performance Standards, is written on the