“We the People” is a civics curriculum with a patriotic-sounding name, but the title is misleading…
Curriculum Trends
The following two opposing quotes exemplifies the debate in curriculum today. Is school about the teaching of information or is it about creating the model “child of the future?”
“What the revolution has been in curriculum is that we no longer are teaching facts to children…” — Shirley McCune, then Senior Director, Mid-continent Educational Laboratory, speaking at the Governors’s conference in 1989. This quote was transcribed from the conference video. McCune was the Federal Liason, learning and teaching for Washington State until 2008, and played a key role in WASL and curriculum development.
“When will ‘progressive’ educators admit that you can’t learn history, geography, science, etc. in an atmosphere where children are expected to ‘construct’ their own knowledge in little groups and teachers are forbidden to engage in ‘direct instruction’?” –Andrew Wolf, Editor and Publisher, The Riverdale Review, Bronx Press Newsgroup
After months of debate, public input, and publicity, the Texas State Board finally adopted the new social studies curriculum.
Parents in Idaho protested against the International Baccalaureate program because of its anti-American ideology. Read the article.
Why is math teaching so…..unmathematical?? Here is what some math educators, including former Superintendent Terry Bergeson, believe…
“….The unelected education ‘experts’ proposed their history revisions such as eliminating Independence Day, Christopher Columbus, Thomas Edison, Daniel Boone and Neil Armstrong, and replacing Christmas with Diwali……”
However, the 2010 Texas State Board of Education voted by a 10-5 margin to reinstate traditional history.
Jesus was a Palestinian? That’s what one public school textbook says.
Commentary by Dr. Patrick Groff, Professor of Education Emeritus, San Diego State University who has published over 325 books, monographs, and journal articles and is a nationally known expert in the field of reading instruction.
This testimony was made by an elementary school teacher to the Seattle School Board regarding a report from The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation detailing the effectiveness of the state math standards.