Tim WaIz leads the elimination of fact-based learning
American linguist and educational researcher Stephen Krashen advocates some theories that are research based but also make a lot of sense. Let’s start with his theory related to input vs. output.
Parents and other caregivers speak to babies/children before the children speak. They also use language at a comprehensible level. They speak using vocabulary and structures that children can understand and imitate in their own attempts at communication. The caregivers also tailor their language slightly above what the child can produce.
According to Krashen, this is the Input Hypothesis with comprehensible input + 1 (i + 1). For caregivers that means naming food, clothing, and family before espousing political or economic opinions. The child receives beneficial input.
Nor does a caregiver expect a child to speak automatically (output) without first hearing and processing words before attempting to imitate them and months later attempting more than telegraphic speech segments. A full narrative that reflects reality comes much later. BUT, the revised Academic Standards for Minnesota’s students dropped the fact-based input, at least in Social Studies.
A month ago, many honored the Fallen of D-Day. What do Minnesota’s students learn/know about this prodigious event? Let’s compare the assessments outlined in the 2011 and the 2021 academic standards from the Minnesota Department of Education.
In 7th grade in the 2011 standards in US History, Standard 21 stated "The economic growth, cultural innovation and political apathy of the 1920s ended in Great Depression which spurred new forms of government intervention and renewed labor activism, followed by World War II and economic resurgence. (The Great Depression and World War II: 1920-1945). The benchmark was "Outline the causes and conduct of World War II including the nations involved, major political and military figures and key battles, and the Holocaust. (The Great Depression and World War II: 1920-1945), asking students to use factual information to meet the standard.
By contrast, in 7th grade US History in the 2021 the comparable standard 18 required students to "Ask historical questions about context, change, and continuity in order to identify and analyze dominant and non-dominant narrative about the past." The benchmark to meet that standard is "Analyze connections between World War II, Fascism and the Holocaust. Identify the relationship between individuals' experiences and these events and broader historical contexts." It mandates narratives about experiences within a historical context.
Catrin Wigfall, Policy Fellow at Center of the American Experiment, contrasts the “input hypothesis” as the need for a foundation based upon facts and the “output hypothesis” that asks the students to produce a narrative without being directly taught the facts.
“The current standard identifies a specific period and specific events for students to study. The replacement standard focuses on “dominant and non-dominant narratives.” That framework imposes a single interpretive lens before students have built the factual knowledge needed to evaluate competing interpretations in the first place.
“Students need anchors — dates, names, places, and events — that help them make sense of the past. Conceptual frameworks, when divorced from specific facts, risk leaving students susceptible to the idea that history is merely a collection of competing narratives rather than a record of things that actually happened.
“To be fair, nothing in the new standards prevents teachers from covering D-Day. But standards and benchmarks exist precisely to ensure that what is taught is not left entirely to chance or individual discretion.”
Krashen’s language acquisition research and parents with a baby advocate and practice rational principles that are common sense and produce results. Comprehensible input and opportunities to practice lead to developing skills. Makes sense.
For those who criticize conservative writers, please consider John Dewey, the acknowledged advocate of progressive education. His belief was that learning should stem from real-world experiences.
The push for the narrative without the content is even greater with the newly created Ethnic Studies IMPOSED by the committee during the revision of the Social Studies standards. The Legislature was told one story in February 2023, and the reality in July 2023 was quite different. The narrative stems from students’ opinions not based upon reality (content-based instruction).
This short clip from the Center of the American Experiment highlights the intentional changes in pedagogy that political appointees made to impact all classrooms for at least the next ten years. This brief podcast shows how woke our education system has become:
ED- Under Tim Walz, Education test scores have dropped. I wish I could say I'm surprised but I'm not.
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