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Updated December 14, 2008
What should be learned? When it should be learned? How we are to know it has been learned? Who is responsible for the actual learning? How is learning facilitated? What arrangements and systems are best suited for these purposes? What is the appropriate role of government in education? All of these questions are fundamental. How we answer them have grave implications for this increasingly important and visible part of the culture. There is no paucity of opinion on these topics.
There is so much information produced by government, commissions, special interest groups, academicians, and school systems themselves, that one may question whether the status and effectiveness of formal education in the United States are knowable or understandable. Perhaps, but from children killing other children and their teachers, to lack of respect of students for their schools and teachers, to allegations of rampant waste and a "dumbed down" curriculum in both the K-12 and college systems, the societal function of education is under fire. Many would argue rightfully so. Adding to all of this is an army of education "experts" and "consultants" who often advocate solutions to education problems that sooner or later become sources of future problems. Somehow the skills, knowledge, and will necessary to actually improve the system are lost in a sea of recycled fads and meaningless jargon. We have a hard time separating the wheat from the chaff and keeping the wheat. Vouchers, charter schools, and the growing home schooling movement add to the already bewildering milieu. "Facts" shift daily, and the interpretation of the information that rains down upon us all is colored by political, philosophical, and personal agendas. What are we to believe? In whom are we to trust? Are U.S. schools doing better or worse now than a few decades ago? Can the system actually be improved? What is improvement anyhow? Answers to these and other questions depend on whom you ask.
It is now late 2008. The economic crisis in which the world is immersed is getting worse. Perhaps really hard choices will have to be made about "value," especially in our education expenditures. In my rather long career, I saw unfathomable waste of money, due to the way institutions are funded, and the entrenched systems that perpetuate the resistance to change and economy. Of course, when tax supported education had a seemingly endless source of funding, everything was on the table. Now, even the table is in jeopardy. Read on.
Personally, I am among many who are quite skeptical of education reform efforts. Experience can be instructive, sometimes uplifting, and other times chthonic to say the least. In my career in education I have seen "reform" ideas come and go, and then like Lazarus, rise from the dead to be reborn under different names. Other reform ideas remind me of the Frankenstein monster - "programs" cobbled together from the dead, unworkable parts of other failed ideas. And on and on the cycle goes. In education, there is plethora of information but a paucity of knowledge. The problem is, we in education often treat mere information as if it were knowledge, with predictable, often disastrous results.
This is a risky page. It is also a serious page. Many, including some of my former colleagues, will not like it. Too bad. Here you will find links to other sites that present different, sometimes even dark and contrary viewpoints. Thinking is required here, as well it should be. The sites listed below are not "Smiley Face" mentality sites. God knows, there are enough of them already. They are, however, sites that contain information that can help you separate the wheat from the chaff and keep the wheat. There is, you know, a lot of chaff out there.
Unschooling.com This site includes a lot of information and links about not sending children to public schools, or for that matter any schools . While I think this is a bad, bad idea, I include it here for you to read and make up your own mind.
Who Should Teach? Quality Counts 2000 This is a special report from Education Week. Funded by the Pew Foundation, you'll find this an excellent summary of how well we educate teachers in all 50 states. Something of an eye-opener.
The Grandfather Education Report This is a thought provoking place, with some of the best information about education available anywhere.
The Society for a Return to Academic Standards College faculty concerned with the erosion of academic standards share their thoughts, anecdotes, and remedies.
Nothing Matters Unique, to say the least. It's about knowledge, and is an interesting example of "web weaving."
National Center for Education Information A thought provoking site for serious minds. A different slant on the "teacher shortage."
The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation Want information about education that is not homogenized, pasteurized, or otherwise dumbed down? Go there. The site also contains reviews of state education standards.
The Kossor Education Newsletter This is different, and certainly challenges all of us to think differently about education.
CNS News A great source of articles, opinions, and commentary about everything from school vouchers to home schooling.
Coalition of Essential Schools A serious place. The "less is more" philosophy is explained. Go there and find out what this means.
The National Center for Policy Analysis Different, and disturbing, this site features a wealth of information on topics ranging from teacher preparation to standardized testing.
COGITO: The Cognitive Paradigm From Drake University, an interesting summary of education problems and solutions. Well organized and well written.
Generation X Wants to Teach An excerpt from an article on the quality of education majors and the methods used to train them.
Generation Y Wants to Like, Teach You get the idea.
What They Bring A rather somber look at what incoming American college students know and don't know about their own history and culture.
Paolo Freire Information Read about this radical pedagogist. His ideas and insights will challenge you. Some have called him "the most profound education thinker of the 20th century."
Bad Science I couldn't resist this one. A cornucopia of science misconceptions from a variety of sources, some of them quite surprising.
"Anything not understood in more than one way is not understood at all."
Please email Dr. Bob Kizlik if you have any questions, or suggestions for other sites.
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