I'm all for math reform that brings more abstract concepts and thinking into
the hands of younger students, but the testing process appears to have
become a way of forcing teachers to teach certain things "to the test" just
so they look good. And my sense is that we're again sacrificing breadth for
depth.
I think the AP testing mania at the other end of the scale has the same
whiff of turning learning into a Jeopardy game of rote memorization and test
cramming. Sometimes being slow is a good thing in learning.
Louise
P.S. Ken, thanks for the newspaper cites. You're right. You haven't been
given a fair shake by Colvin in the Times. Has he ever talked to you?
----------
>From: Ken Goodman <kgoodman who-is-at u.arizona.edu>
>To: xmca who-is-at weber.ucsd.edu
>Subject: Re: Campaign Against Public Schools
>Date: Sun, May 16, 1999, 6:15 AM
>
>Apropos of Nate's discourse: who is this left that you think has
>proposals for educational reform and where are they in response to the
>overwhelming power of the right? Where is there a left agenda outside
>of those of us who are in the trenches fighting to save education?
>Ken
>--
>Kenneth S. Goodman, Professor, Language, Reading & Culture
>504 College of Education, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
> fax 520 7456895 phone 520 6217868
>
>These are mean times- and in the mean time
>We need to Learn to Live Under Water
>