I hear from friends and former colleagues about the pacing guides they’re held to, the speed of light pace they have to keep to “cover” everything in their curriculum. In the quest for improving test scores, it seems our nation’s schools and government feels the logical thing is to move faster.
Has it occurred to anyone that the problem isn’t getting to everything but not being at liberty to take the time kids need to truly understand and master the content being covered in class?
Learning is complex, and facts are best retained in context. If we memorize all the pertinent dates of the American Revolution as well as a list of events that caused it, does that mean we truly understand how revolution was possible or why it’s important to our current understanding of our nation? Are we educating our children to learn groups of facts, or are we educating them for deep understanding and application? And which path is more important to their–and our nation’s–future?
