Banner Graphic, Volume 21, Number 192, Greencastle, Putnam County, 18 April 1991 — Page 7

Education series

be deadlines students will have to meet, and the use of those deadlines ensures the students either continue to progress or are identified for remediation. But this is a door that is opened by the computer. And that door can lead to the ungraded elementary school. This is one of those concepts that

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serve as an apple in the eye of many reformers. Under this plan, there will be no grades from kindergarten to fifth grade. Instead, there would be only skills to master. When a child reaches his assigned mastery level on a certain skill or lesson, he would automatically advance to the next one. THIS PLAN ALSO eliminates

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any sort of ability grouping, except possibly for those few who would benefit from an isolated special education program. There would no long be a need to group children by ability for any subject. They could either be progressing at their own rate through computerized instruction, or they would be placed in cooperative learning groups where advanced children would serve as unofficial leaders. In these groups, advanced students

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would, in effect, teach other children. And, Burello points out, the ability to teach a subject shows a greater understanding of that subject than does the simple absorption of knowledge. Thus, gifted students are still receiving the enrichment they need and deserve, while the other students receive the education they need, frequently getting it from their peers. BUT SELF-PACED education

does not mean students can take, their dear, sweet time getting through lessons. There still would be tests at the end of each lesson and each unit Despite self-paced curriculums, deadlines would nonetheless be imposed that told students they had to progress toward the next lesson. But as students failed to make progress or achieve their assigned mastery level on a certain lesson, a red flag would be waved to the

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April 18,1991 THE BANNERGRAPHIC

teacher. She would then interceded to determine what the problem is. The solution could range from something as simple to an explanation to remediation to placement in special education, depending on what the problem is. But that is not the end of the reforms, for, at this point, the reformers have yet to change the parents. Tomorrow: The importance of innovation and parental choice.

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