Before We Make American Education New, Let's Master What Made It Great

James Marshall Crotty at Forbes.

"at the recent, and always engaging, ASU + GSV [Arizona State University and GSV Capital] Summit in Scottsdale, in the span of five minutes I met folks pitching middle school and high schools centered around rap music, dancing, performance, and just making stuff. Throughout the entire conference, I was not pitched one school centered on the deep reading and discussion of the classics of world civilization... .
[...]
"let’s not forget the salient strong points of America’s long-standing industrial teaching undefined model. Rote memorization is not bad on face. Nor are standardized tests. Nor are lectures. They are only bad when they become lockstep substitutes for deep listening, rigorous reading, and informed discussion of classic texts."