American students, we are told, are falling behind in reading and math; on test after test, they score below most European students {at the level of Lithuania}, and the solution, rather than seeking to engage their curiosity, has been testing and more testing- a dry and brittle method that produces lackluster results. And so resources are pulled from the "soft" fields that are not being tested. Music teachers are being fired or not replaced; art classes are quietly dropped from the curriculum; history is simplified and moralized, with little expectation that any facts will be learned or retained; and instead of reading short stories, poems and novels, students are invited to read train schedules and EPA reports whose jargon could put even the most committed environmentalist to sleep.
( Azar Nafisi )
[ The Republic of Imagination: ]
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