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 EARLY
LEARNING
Introduction...
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Most
American parents believe that their children's schools are at least
okay, but American students are outperformed by students in nearly
every other industrialized nation. That' s the bad news. The good
news is that it doesn't have to be that way, as our program,"Early
Learning," clearly shows.
"Early Learning" reports on four approaches: Henry Levin's "Accelerated
Schools," E.D. Hirsch's "Core Knowledge Schools," Robert Slavin's
"Roots and Wings" program and James Comer's "School Development Program."
As we learned, only about ten per cent of our elementary schools are
using these new approaches. Why so few? It may be that the good news
hasn't gotten around, but Dr. Lauren Resnick of the University of
Pittsburgh says that's not the only barrier. "Our children are capable
of far more than we ask or expect of them, but schools don't ask or
expect enough because, deep down, we believe that only some children
are smart, and only some children can learn."
When it comes to schooling, we apparently have an attitude problem.
In other endeavor, like athletics and business, we know that hardwork
pays off, but somehow we seem to thing that academic success is a
matter of natural ability, genes, or social class. That's just not
true, and "Early Learning," the latest research, and the new report
by the Carnegie Task Force on Learning in the Primary  Grades
all prove that point.
As Dr. Sam Stringfield of Johns Hopkins University says, "The research
proves that we know how to teach virtually every child, which means
that we've run out of excuses. It's time to teach the children." |
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Original
Airdate: September, 1996
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