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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
3 pages in length. Robert W. Howard's article entitled "The Shrinking of Social Studies: As Standards-Based Reform Gains Ground, Social Studies is Getting Squeezed" takes a bold stand on a fast growing concern: Will this critical foundation of education ever regain its much-valued status amidst the changing climate of academia? Clearly, standards-based teaching has instituted an entirely new - and unmistakably imbalanced - method for instructing and evaluating students whereby they must rise to a certain collective level of comprehension if they ever expect to get through school. This all-or-nothing approach to education has virtually paralyzed certain student populations that do not have the same academic benefits as others, ultimately leaving many casualties in its wake, not the least of which includes what is included in the curriculum and how it is taught. Social studies - a broadly-scoped category Howard (2003) identifies as involving virtually every aspect of daily life - is quickly becoming a most unfortunate victim. No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: LM1_TLCSocialStud.rtf
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Will this critical foundation of education ever regain its much-valued status amidst the changing climate of academia? Clearly, standards-based teaching has instituted an entirely new - and unmistakably imbalanced
- method for instructing and evaluating students whereby they must rise to a certain collective level of comprehension if they ever expect to get through school. This all-or-nothing approach
to education has virtually paralyzed certain student populations that do not have the same academic benefits as others, ultimately leaving many casualties in its wake, not the least of which
includes what is included in the curriculum and how it is taught. Social studies - a broadly-scoped category Howard (2003) identifies as involving virtually every aspect of daily life
- is quickly becoming a most unfortunate victim. "Citizens with strong knowledge, skills, and democratic dispositions help advance public dialogue and deliberation especially on major policy issues such as
these. However, this type of informed and democratic citizenry is jeopardized by the impact of standards-based reform on the social studies" (Howard, 2003, p. 285). Given the fact that
standardized testing has trumped the inherent structure of a solid, balanced education, it is now imperative for teachers to approach the aspect of learning through more evenhanded methods. Howard
(2003) duly points out how standardization benefits no one but the bureaucrats whose job it is to push through a politically correct agenda; to impose such broad-brush academic restriction while
also remove the integral role of social studies is in no way implemented in the best interest of the student population as a whole.
For example, one of the most serious and explosive issues in Massachusetts today is how to meet the educational needs of at-risk, minority and learning-disabled students in the states
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