Keep Gary Stager, lose the apologies.Joe Hanson has invited readers to share their thoughts about Gary Stager's two columns ("Kerry's Educational Plan," August 2004, and "Direct Instruction," October 2004). Here goes: Stager is absolutely right about the ignorance of politicians about education; the dangers of extrinsic EVIDENCE, EXTRINSIC. External evidence, or that which is not contained in the body of an agreement, contract, and the like. 2. It is a general rule that extrinsic evidence cannot be admitted to contradict, explain, vary or change the terms of a contract or of a rewards and vouchers; the mindlessness and heartlessness Heartlessness See also Cruelty, Ruthlessness. Chester, Sir John towards son’s love affair. [Br. Lit.: Barnaby Rudge] Clare, Angel cannot forgive Tess’s past. [Br. Lit. of the Direct Instruction approach; and the well-documented cozy relationship between the Bush family and McGraw-Hill, the publishers of many Direct Instruction materials and tests mandated by No Child Left Behind. Stager concludes there is a war on public education. He is not alone in these views. A number of recent books by well-respected educators have documented the highjacking of curricula in the service of corporate profits, the suppression of voices of opposition, and the failings of Direct Instruction programs. For those interested, two of these books are: Why is Corporate America Bashing our Public Schools? (Kathy Emery and Susan Ohanian) and Education, Inc." Turning Education into a Business (Patrick Shannon and Alfie Kohn  This article or section is written like a personal reflection or and may require .Please [ improve this article] by rewriting this article or section in an . ). Educators, as well as the general public, need to hear from both sides. Stephen Krashen Stephen Krashen is professor emeritus at the University of Southern California, and he is a linguist, educational researcher, and activist. Krashen has contributed to the fields of second language acquisition (SLA), bilingual education, and reading. Professor Emeritus Rossier School of Education University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission Please save your apologies about running two recent columns by Gary Stager. Mr. Stager reflected the disappointment of many of us who longed for a clear choice on Election Day. What we got from the presidential candidates was a lot of nit-picking about whether or not the ill-conceived No Child Left Behind law was adequately funded or not. Perhaps if John Kerry  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. had had the courage to challenge the shallow high-stakes testing A high-stakes test is an assessment which has important consequences for the test taker. If the examinee passes the test, then the examinee may receive significant benefits, such as a high school diploma or a license to practice law. reforms that are sucking the last bit of joy out of public education and the teaching profession, he would have been swept into once by millions of thankful parents and educators. You shouldn't be embarrassed but proud to feature the work of a columnist who is so clearly tuned in to the views of a frustrated electorate. Sue Allison The Coordinator of Marylanders Against High Stakes High Stakes is a British sitcom starring Richard Wilson that aired in 2001. It was written by Tony Sarchet. The second series remains unaired after the first received a poor reception. Testing I'm deeply disturbed "Deeply Disturbed" is a CD single by the Israeli psychedelic trance duo Infected Mushroom, realeased in July 2003 on the label Absolute. by your recent "Mea Culpa me·a cul·pa n. An acknowledgment of a personal error or fault. [Latin me  culp ." In this piece, you advance the idea that Stager's opinions about "educational matters" are appropriate for publication, but his questions about "the motives of elected officials or candidates" are inappropriate. How sad. At any time, but this year in particular, presidential politics is all about "educational matters" and the candidates themselves ask the voters to evaluate their opponents' and their own motives. Campaigners demand that we look at the record, assess their policies, and, most of all, judge them on their "motives." Since I doubt you actually believe national politics is not an "educational matter," I have to conclude your embarrassment results more from Stager's criticism of Mr. Bush's policies and the motives that appear to undergird them. Is District Administration going to a closed room full of "appropriate" cheerleaders Notable cheerleaders
Roger Leege District Director of Technology Services Tolland (CT) Public Schools What kind of bubble do you live in? Education is not now and never has been neutral. How can you write, "We at District Administration value the open exchange of ideas about improving public education." And then contradict that by condemning one of your own columnists for speaking his mind on an extremely important topic. Don't district administrators keep up with what is happening to education under the Bush regime? I'm very worried that my cash-strapped district is going to end up with one of those tedious Direct Instruction programs that cost so much money and bore students and teachers to death. I'm eternally grateful to people like Gary Stager for bravely standing up and protesting "phony science-based" programs. We need more, not less, of this kind of discussion. Nancy S. Elkins A parent from an embattled district Maplewood, NJ Letters can be sent to wdorio@edmediagroup.com. Please include your name, title and district (including state). We reserve the right to edit all letters. |
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