The object of education should be to enable the individual to fit into his environment, armed with the knowledge and skills necessary to surviving and, hopefully, adapting well. Not only basic skills such as reading and arithmetic, but a foundation of knowledge in health, science and other building blocks of wise choices. As well as values such as cooperation, thrift, respect for each other and his peculiarities, industry, self-reliance, . . . As a society we must decide if our schools are to be holding pens for restraining youngsters until they reach the age they can no longer be controlled, or if we are intent on preparing our young to use their innate abilities in pursuit of their personal independence and/or advancement. Most of us recognize the impact of education on society; if we as a nation wish our country to be second rate, that is our choice; that is the American Way.

Educators should be concerned for the quality of their product. Moves in recent years toward home schooling and other alternate arrangements for education ought to awaken educators to the unhappiness shared by many parents in the performance of our public schools. Control by the teachers union will never replace concern for the students. Unions do what unions were intended to do: advance the interests of their members without regard for consequential damage; they must never be allowed to control our educational enterprise in order to advance their selfish interests.

The work place is a significant part of life for most of us, and it may be here that a lack of preparation first becomes a noticeable handicap. Apart from honesty and industry and a sense of teamwork, an employer is entitled to feel that a high school diploma signifies a certain level of proficiency in language and arithmetic and other basic skills and knowledge. Should the high school diploma signify only that the holder has survived so many years of attending school, the document serves no purpose other than massaging the ego of its holder. As an employer I learned quickly how to assess the value of a diploma.

One of the primary components of schooling (and the education that hopefully results) is to help the individual learn his peculiar strengths and weaknesses and then to help him develop his strengths and develop strategies for overcoming the weaknesses that can hinder him. As schooling progresses individual traits become increasingly obvious and our values become increasingly important as we recognize and respect the peculiarities, the uniqueness, of ourselves and our fellows. We will not all be equally successful in each task set before us because of differences in either talent, preparation or motivation; that is simply part of being unique.

Why does one child perform better than another? It is a combination of learning environment, innate ability, motivation and resultant effort, preparation and personal priorities that dictate rate of progress. In my view a student will progress most efficiently if presented with a modest but sustained challenge. From experience we know that a student loses interest if there is no gradual progress; once a topic is mastered, continued repetition induces boredom. At the same time, we know that a challenge that is consistently beyond a student's ability will result in frustration and loss of interest. Moreover, a mind that is not engaged in the subject matter at hand will wander, and that is the source of unruly behavior. Either no challenge or too great a challenge produces essentially the same twin results: no progress in learning and classroom disruption.

It has been an educational catastrophe to assign students to a grade level on the basis of either race or age without regard for earlier educational attainment. Youngsters who have not mastered a minimum level of performance in third grade simply are not prepared for fourth grade and cannot be expected to perform well; it is educational lunacy to assign them to a level to which it is known beforehand they cannot perform. Granted there is social justification for advancing an entire class together so friendships can be retained and nurtured. And there may be economic justification in "mainstreaming" students to get them through school regardless of attainment. But justification does not educate.

Moreover, it is a heedless waste to fail to recognize and provide for the educational needs of those possessing outstanding abilities. The future of our society will be determined by these rather than by the lesser gifted, who must necessarily assume roles of followership: Of this we may be certain.

I am a strong advocate of busing students. But only for the purpose of placing each student in an environment where his specific needs can be addressed. Those performing markedly below grade level should be bused to centers where they can receive the more individualized attention needed to bring up their performance, while those of obviously greater than average ability should also be transported to sites catering to youngsters of their ability.

Educators are continually faced with the choice whether to advance or retain a student. It is educationally destructive to advance an unprepared student. It should be equally obvious that down-grading the level of challenge results in unacceptably slow progress. Ninth grade should indicate a specific range of topics mastered and degree of proficiency, and assignment of students to the tenth grade should be in recognition of their proficiency in the ninth grade; assignment on any other basis is both cruel and wasteful of educational resources.

That last thought: 'wasteful.' Efficiency in the use of a student's time and effort ought to be a concern. As should efficiency in the use of instructional resources, including the instructor's time and effort. Efficiency in application of instructor resources requires student assignment on the basis of past mastery and proficiency; willy nilly assignment on any other basis requires the instructor individualize lesson plans not only for the particular group of students but for each specific student. What a waste! For the sake of efficiency, as well as economy, students should be organized so the instructor knows upon first greeting a new group of students that each student in the group is near the same threshold of mastery of prerequisite materials and therefore what materials can be readily mastered during the term. And, if mastery is not the goal, then, pray tell, what is the goal?

There must be options. Discussions of public versus private versus charter schools, as well as the recent drive to establish tax credit programs to fund scholarships, suggest it.^{1(To view footnote, click here).} (The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice has been pushing for allowing parents greater control over their children's education; their programs warrant discussion.) I suggest that giftedness deserves special attention; for a discussion of giftedness, click here. My personal experience, which forms a backdrop for these comments, is found by clicking here. Moreover, I offer a specific suggestion for organizing the sequence of instructional units, hence classrooms and the school, to foster academic achievement. To view this, click here. You can return here using the BACK button.)

¹(FOOTNOTE)
Our founding fathers saw fit, because of the value they assigned to it, to separate religion and state, and we can see the result in a tremendous diversity -- some call it chaos -- of religious offerings. So there is a religion or non-religion to suit every calling. Few youngsters can, without the assistance of responsible adults, make appropriate choices, yet there results a network that is wholly adequate to serve all. Because of the importance of education, is it possible we rely too heavily on government to provide an educational environment for our children, that we should move in the direction of separation of school and state?

There is the parallel question of how parents, when moving, can select a neighborhood to take advantage of educational opportunities for their children.