[WarrenC]

The curriculum teaches for the test.

I've never understood this complaint. Every test I ever took was "taught for". If the idea is that the test is badly designed, then say so, but no one ever does. There's just this assumption that it's bad to "teach for the test."

And the notion that we need to "blame the parents" misses the mark. Many parents are either unable or unwilling to serve as tutors for their kids. Blaming them is simply a way to deflect the problem. The one decision that nearly all parents would be happy to make is the one regarding which school their children attend. That decision, given to parents by means of a voucher plan, would solve most of the their kids' educational problems.

[twyn1]

It depends on what is meant by teaching to the test -- I worked as a teacher's aide and I watched a teacher put an example on the board and then tell the kids which "bubble" to fill in when they saw this on the test (*standardized testing) -- the reasoning behind her doing this was, "the class hadn't gone through the math book quickly enough, so they didn't learn this yet" -- she did NOT explain how to get the answer, even what math proces was involved, she just gave them the answer.

Teaching basic skills, and giving students a chance to practice problems like those they will see on a test is fine, but if curriculums simply give the kids examples along with the answers, without explanation -- the kids who have a good memory will just check off the right boxes without thinking or practicing the process you must go through to get the correct answer -- and, esp. with the "new, new" math (guess and check, group-think work, "feelings" math) most school kids never learn the critical thinking skills that are needed for a higher level of learning