The combined folly of a civilization that has forgotten its own roots is forcing them to shore up the tottering
weight of an educational structure that is built upon sand. They are doing for their pupils the work which the
pupils themselves ought to do. For the sole true end of education is simply this: to teach men how to learn for
themselves; and whatever instruction fails to do this is effort spent in vain.
- Dorothy Sayers, The Lost Tools of Learning
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Education in Texas is out of control. It is not producing the desired result with its current control mechanisms.
Politics and social policies have been put in charge of the control mechanisms and are creating a student body
that is short of critical thinking but passing on political correctness.
The answer is not more money to produce the same result. The answer is to address what the money is
empowering in order to change the processes that produce the result.
Education is now based upon memorizing facts that create knowledge instead of being based upon the
development of cognitive thing that is able to compare and contrast ideas that develop a mind that possesses the
skill to learn. Higher academic achievement today means that we get better at memorization.
The purpose of an education is about obtaining “Higher Order Thinking Skills”, not merely informing students
about facts.
People expect that, at a minimum, their children will have mastered reading, writing, and elementary math by the
time they are out of high-school and to be prepared for a career by their undergraduate school. Higher Order
Thinking Skills should be the tool that reading, writing, and math use to find their highest use. The main career
skill that should taught at undergraduate school should be cognitive thinking from the viewpoint of Western
Philosophy, not just how to carry out a job.
Today, we seem to be impressed by the number of years one has spent in the academic institutions obtaining
degrees. However, the ancients probably would have thought that our institutions must be quite poor since after
so many years they had not produced students who were able to learn independently.
To be able to learn for oneself does not mean that you no longer need a teacher, but rather, you are capable of
making books your teachers without the aid of an instructor to explain the books to you. Because that is how it
works in the real world outside of academia.
Outcome based education is destroying the attribute of self-government. Outcome based education, measures
knowledge, not thinking. The problem is the student is never trained to think about the knowledge he/she is told
is fact. Another problem with outcome based education is the students may be able to read, but they do not know
the phonic structure of the words because they memorized the word. They write but cannot put an intelligent
critical argument together on a topic because all the student knows is how to regurgitate facts instead of
reasoning.
Outcome based education often incorporates many progressive pedagogical models and ideas, such as reform
mathematics, block scheduling, project-based learning and whole language reading, Outcome based education
in itself does not specify or require any particular style of teaching or learning.
Instead, it requires that students demonstrate that they have memorized the required skills and content. Outcome
based education generally promotes curricula and assessment based on constructionist methods and
discourages traditional education approaches based on direct instruction of facts and standard methods.
No Child Left Behind
The central purpose of NCLB was to improve public school accountability through state testing and sanctions
for low-performing schools. However, growing evidence suggests that states are responding to federal directives
by weakening standards and making tests easier. We have schools that are rated as Exemplary and have that
rating based upon a student body creating test results based upon a degraded test. Also, the graduation rates in
Texas are some of the worst in the nation, even with the degraded testing scheme.
Graduation Rates
School District Graduation Rate
Dallas ISD 44.4%
Fort Worth ISD 55.5%
El Paso ISD 60.5%
Houston ISD 54.6%
San Antonio ISD 51.9%
In a 1974 Gallup poll, 18% of citizens gave their local schools an overall rating of A. In 1995, Gallup reported that
only 8% were willing to do the same. In fact, half of all public school parents rated their schools a C, D, or Fail in
the most recent survey, while almost three quarters of the public gave such low ratings to the nation's schools as
a whole.
The unsinkable ship of elitist public education, proclaiming social progress for more than a century, is leaking
badly.
The federal government does not have constitutional authority to fund or regulate public education, the State of
Texas must exercise its state's rights and put our education system back on track.
The Classical Method of education needs to be re-established as the model of transferring the art of learning
using the philosophers and Great Classics of Western Society.
We need Western Society’s classic texts that put forth ideas that challenge the student to think, not indoctrinate
with the current political party’s facts that are needed to keep the current “Party” in power.
We need teachers teaching again instead of facilitating memorization, and doing paper work.
We need to stop hiring teachers with "Alternative Certification" as replacements for educated teachers.
We need to eliminate Tenure and replace the standard for pay increase and job security to be Performance.
We need to stop the absorption of education monies by bloated administration.
We need English Immersion now.
weight of an educational structure that is built upon sand. They are doing for their pupils the work which the
pupils themselves ought to do. For the sole true end of education is simply this: to teach men how to learn for
themselves; and whatever instruction fails to do this is effort spent in vain.
- Dorothy Sayers, The Lost Tools of Learning
_______________________________________________________________________________________
Education in Texas is out of control. It is not producing the desired result with its current control mechanisms.
Politics and social policies have been put in charge of the control mechanisms and are creating a student body
that is short of critical thinking but passing on political correctness.
The answer is not more money to produce the same result. The answer is to address what the money is
empowering in order to change the processes that produce the result.
Education is now based upon memorizing facts that create knowledge instead of being based upon the
development of cognitive thing that is able to compare and contrast ideas that develop a mind that possesses the
skill to learn. Higher academic achievement today means that we get better at memorization.
The purpose of an education is about obtaining “Higher Order Thinking Skills”, not merely informing students
about facts.
People expect that, at a minimum, their children will have mastered reading, writing, and elementary math by the
time they are out of high-school and to be prepared for a career by their undergraduate school. Higher Order
Thinking Skills should be the tool that reading, writing, and math use to find their highest use. The main career
skill that should taught at undergraduate school should be cognitive thinking from the viewpoint of Western
Philosophy, not just how to carry out a job.
Today, we seem to be impressed by the number of years one has spent in the academic institutions obtaining
degrees. However, the ancients probably would have thought that our institutions must be quite poor since after
so many years they had not produced students who were able to learn independently.
To be able to learn for oneself does not mean that you no longer need a teacher, but rather, you are capable of
making books your teachers without the aid of an instructor to explain the books to you. Because that is how it
works in the real world outside of academia.
Outcome based education is destroying the attribute of self-government. Outcome based education, measures
knowledge, not thinking. The problem is the student is never trained to think about the knowledge he/she is told
is fact. Another problem with outcome based education is the students may be able to read, but they do not know
the phonic structure of the words because they memorized the word. They write but cannot put an intelligent
critical argument together on a topic because all the student knows is how to regurgitate facts instead of
reasoning.
Outcome based education often incorporates many progressive pedagogical models and ideas, such as reform
mathematics, block scheduling, project-based learning and whole language reading, Outcome based education
in itself does not specify or require any particular style of teaching or learning.
Instead, it requires that students demonstrate that they have memorized the required skills and content. Outcome
based education generally promotes curricula and assessment based on constructionist methods and
discourages traditional education approaches based on direct instruction of facts and standard methods.
No Child Left Behind
The central purpose of NCLB was to improve public school accountability through state testing and sanctions
for low-performing schools. However, growing evidence suggests that states are responding to federal directives
by weakening standards and making tests easier. We have schools that are rated as Exemplary and have that
rating based upon a student body creating test results based upon a degraded test. Also, the graduation rates in
Texas are some of the worst in the nation, even with the degraded testing scheme.
Graduation Rates
School District Graduation Rate
Dallas ISD 44.4%
Fort Worth ISD 55.5%
El Paso ISD 60.5%
Houston ISD 54.6%
San Antonio ISD 51.9%
In a 1974 Gallup poll, 18% of citizens gave their local schools an overall rating of A. In 1995, Gallup reported that
only 8% were willing to do the same. In fact, half of all public school parents rated their schools a C, D, or Fail in
the most recent survey, while almost three quarters of the public gave such low ratings to the nation's schools as
a whole.
The unsinkable ship of elitist public education, proclaiming social progress for more than a century, is leaking
badly.
The federal government does not have constitutional authority to fund or regulate public education, the State of
Texas must exercise its state's rights and put our education system back on track.
The Classical Method of education needs to be re-established as the model of transferring the art of learning
using the philosophers and Great Classics of Western Society.
We need Western Society’s classic texts that put forth ideas that challenge the student to think, not indoctrinate
with the current political party’s facts that are needed to keep the current “Party” in power.
We need teachers teaching again instead of facilitating memorization, and doing paper work.
We need to stop hiring teachers with "Alternative Certification" as replacements for educated teachers.
We need to eliminate Tenure and replace the standard for pay increase and job security to be Performance.
We need to stop the absorption of education monies by bloated administration.
We need English Immersion now.
| Education |
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