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Thursday, December 9, 2010

The Answer Sheet - Kohn: Remember when we had higher standards? Neither do I

The Answer Sheet - Kohn: Remember when we had higher standards? Neither do I

Kohn: Remember when we had higher standards? Neither do I

This was written by Alfie Kohn, the author of 12 books about education and human behavior, including "The Schools Our Children Deserve," "The Homework Myth," and the forthcoming "Feel-Bad Education . . . And Other Contrarian Essays on Children & Schooling." He lives (actually) in the Boston area and (virtually) at www.alfiekohn. This post appeared on Kohn's Huffington Post page. By Alfie Kohn "In recent years, parents have cried in dismay that their children could not read out loud, could not spell, could not write clearly,” while “employers have said that mechanics could not read simple directions. Many a college has blamed high schools for passing on students . . . who could not read adequately to study college subjects; high schools have had to give remedial reading instruction to boys and girls who did not learn to read properly in elementary schools…" On and on goes the devastating indictment