Curricula
Beginning with my first article on the subject in the KAPPAN in 1966, in books published by respected publishers, in myriad articles in professional education journals, and in dozens of my Knight-Ridder/Tribune columns, I have argued that the curriculum adopted in 1892 and now in near-universal use in our schools and colleges was poor when it was put in place and grows more dysfunctional with each passing year. By any objective measure, it is simply unacceptable. Sending the young into an unknown future armed with such a crude intellectual tool is unconscionable.
My statements of problems have been very specific, as have been my suggestions for their solution within present bureaucratic boundaries. No one in the intervening 42 years has challenged my arguments, yet so deeply embedded is current practice, not a single current reform initiative calls present practice into question.
The curriculum is the cutting edge of education. Hype and wishful thinking related to reform efforts notwithstanding, there will be no significant improvement in student performance at the upper elementary, middle school, or high school level as long as our 19th Century curriculum remains in place.
The situation calls for nothing less than a high-profile national dialog or conference. Nothing the new President and Secretary of Education could do would yield greater long-term benefit.
This post was submitted by Marion Brady.
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