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Title: Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves but Can't Read, Write, or Add by Charles J. Sykes ISBN: 0-312-14823-2 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.95

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Average Customer Rating: 4.23 (22 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: A book every aspiring teacher should read.
Comment: As a 30-year-old returning to school for teacher certification, I was distressed by the "cooperative learning" techniques currently trumpeted at the university I attend. After several courses in which I was encouraged to "discuss with my group" the objectives being tested (in lieu of a formal review), given "group tests" for final exams (which were also open-book), and being assigned in yet another group to divide up chapters of text and "discuss what was learned" with each other (without any input or insight from the Professor), I began to feel abnormal for being less than enthusiastic about the methods my instructors were promoting. By showing me that I am not alone in my criticism of such shallow techniques, and my desire to teach in a manner that focuses on skills and knowledge, Sykes' book has somewhat eased my disillusionment. What passes for instruction in schools of education across the country is nothing more than theory, rhetoric, and a lot of coddling that insults the intelligence - a simulation of what teaching has become in K-12 schools across the country. Something needs to be done about the schools of education that shape our nation's fledgling teachers, many of whom gobble up this nonsense eagerly, content with easy A's in their education courses and final exams that require little preparation. This book should be required reading on all college campuses where students are prepared to teach in our public schools, in place of the fatuous textbooks we are forced to consume.

Rating: 5
Summary: A compelling, informative read
Comment: With over two hundred studies conducted nationwide showing the tenuous relationship between school spending and quality education, you would think those who make school policy would look elsewhere for a reason why our schools are such failures. In this compelling and informative book about our educational decline Charles Sykes gives us a glimpse into the insanity of a system which rewards political correctness, student failure and poor teaching habits. Dogmatic iberals won't like it, but concerned parents and others should look at this study before pouring any more funding into a failed system. Paul J. Walkowski, Co-Author, "From Trial Court to the United States Supreme Court"

Rating: 2
Summary: How many times can you make the same point.
Comment: The book could have been reduced to the first few chapters. The remainder of the book is simply a rehashing of the same theme discussed at the beginning of the book. This should have been an article in a magazine and not a published book. Perhaps he should have titled the book "Dumbing Down Our Kids and Our Customers."

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