Dumbing Down Our Kids Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can't Read, Write, or Add

by Sykes, Charles J.

• ISBN13: 9780312148232
• ISBN10: 0312148232
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-09-15
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Summary

Dumbing Down Our Kids is a searing indictment of America's secondary schools-one that every parent and teacher should read.Dumbing Down Our Kids offers a full-scale investigation of the new educational fad, sometimes called "Outcome Based Education" -the latest in a long series of "reforms" that has eroded our schools.-Why our kids rank to, or at the bottom of international tests in math and science-Why "self-esteem" has supplanted grades and genuine achievements-How the educational establishment lowers standards and quality in our schools-while continuing to raise their budgets and our school taxes-The dumbing down of the curriculum so everyone can pass-but no one excel-How parents, students, and teachers can evaluate schools and restore quality learning

Author Biography

Charles Sykes is the author of three previous books, ProfScam, The Hollow Men, and A Nation of Victims. A journalist who specializes in educational issues, he has written for and is frequently quoted by newspapers including The New York Times, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal. He has appeared on The Today Show, The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder, and NPR's Talk of the Nation to discuss schooling. A senior fellow at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, Sykes lives with his wife and three children in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
SECTION 1: Dumbing Down America's Kids	1	(36)
Scenes from the Front: ``Mere Facts''	3	(2)
Andrea's Complaint	5	(3)
Dumbing Down Our Kids	8	(8)
Losing the Race	16	(12)
Scenes from the Front: An Endangered Species I	25	(3)
The American Way of Denial	28	(9)
SECTION 2: Dumbing Down Our Schools	37	(118)
Scenes from the Front: How Did Einstein Feel?	39	(2)
Feelings	41	(7)
The Religion of Self-Esteem	48	(16)
Scenes from the Front: The Mission Statement	61	(3)
The Attack on Excellence	64	(19)
Scenes from the Front: Leaders and Followers	81	(2)
The Making of an Educationist	83	(9)
Scenes from the Front: ``I Wanted to Be a Teacher''	90	(2)
The New Illiteracy	92	(22)
Why Johnny Can't Add, Subtract, Multiply, or Divide (But Still Feels Good about Himself)	114	(13)
Dumbing Down the Texts	127	(16)
Scenes from the Front: The Political Classroom I	140	(3)
Dumbing Down the Tests	143	(12)
Scenes from the Front: The Political Classroom II	152	(3)
SECTION 3: Moral Dumbing Down	155	(40)
The ``Values'' Wasteland	157	(17)
Telling on Mommy and Daddy	174	(9)
Doctor, Doctor	183	(12)
SECTION 4: The Attack on Learning	195	(30)
The Attack on Learning	197	(18)
Scenes from the Front: 1928	210	(2)
1958	212	(3)
Educational Wastelands	215	(10)
Scenes from the Front: Mold	223	(2)
SECTION 5: Reform and Counterreform	225	(73)
The Blob	227	(14)
Outcome Based Education	241	(20)
Goals 2000 and the Counterreformation	261	(10)
Scenes from the Front: An Endangered Species II	268	(3)
Schools That Work	271	(9)
Scenes from the Front: Barclay	275	(5)
The Coming Educational Revolution	280	(18)
Notes	298	(29)
Index	327