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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Colbert skewers Texas GOP on ‘critical thinking’ - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post

Colbert skewers Texas GOP on ‘critical thinking’ - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post:


Colbert skewers Texas GOP on ‘critical thinking’

I thought I’d heard enough about the Texas Republican Party’s platform that rejects the teaching of critical thinking skills until I heard Stephen Colbert’s take on it.
I wrote about this recently here, quoting from the platform:
Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority.
After this was ridiculed, Texas GOP Communications Director Chris Elam told TPM.com that it was a mistake and that opposition to “critical thinking” wasn’t supposed to be part of the platform. Since a party 

Why we need to relentlessly pursue diversity in schools

This was written by Eric J. Cooper, president and founder of the National Urban Alliance for Effective Education. He can be reached at www.nuatc.org.

By Eric J. Cooper
“In education, the road worth traveling.”
Read full article >>