Hirsch shows why American students perform less well than students in
other industrialized countries. Drawing on classroom observation, the
history of ideas, and current scientific understanding of the patterns
of intellectual growth, he builds the case that our schools have indeed
made progress in teaching the mechanics of reading, but do not convey
the more complex and essential content needed for reading comprehension.
Hirsch reasons that literacy depends less on formal reading 'skills'
and more on exposure to rich knowledge. His argument gives parents
specific tools for enhancing their child's ability to read with
comprehension; shows how No-Child-Left-Behind tests and SATs are
measuring a kind of knowledge that is not being taught in our schools;
and maps out how American schools can become a strong antidote to
poverty and to the race-based achievement gap, and thus fulfill our
democratic ideal for our children.
E.D. Hirsch Jr. (Core Knowledge)
1- Le croisé inattendu
2- Romancer l'enfant
3- 8 Short Chapters on E.D. Hirsch Educational Theory
4- E. D. Hirsch, Jr. (Core Knowledge)
http://books.google.com/books?id=djCgIkW1IKAC&pg=PA83&hl=fr&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=3#v=twopage&q&f=false
"One
of the major contributions of psychology is the recognition [that]
much of the information needed to understand a text
is not provided by the information expressed in the text itself but must
be drawn from the language user's knowledge of the person, objects,
states of
affairs, or events the discourse is about.
T. A. VAN DIJK AND W. KINTSCH
"I
am sure that the power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated
compared with the graduat encroachment of ideas . . . Soon or late, it
is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous for good
or evil.
J. M. KEYNES
The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money
Read extracts of The Knowledge Deficit by Hirsch on Amazon
CONTENTS
PREFACE Xi
1.
WHY Do WE HAVE A KNOWLEDGE DEFICIT? 1
The
Achievement Crisis 1
The
Curse of Romantic Ideas 3
Should
Schooling Be Natural? 7
What
About "Mere Facts"? 8
Is
Knowing How Better than Knowing What? 11
Is
Society to Blame? 14
Making
Better Ideas Prevail 16
2.
SOUNDING OUT: JUST THE BEGINNING OF READING 23
What
We've Recently Achieved 23
Is
Reading Like Listening? 26
Filling
in the Blanks 35
Are
Some Kinds of Knowledge Better than Others? 39
Reading
Strategies: A Path to Boredom 45
3.
KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGE 51
Learning
the Standard Language 51
Learning
Grammar 54
Learning
the Elaborated Code 56
Building
Vocabulary 58
Can
Disadvantaged Children Catch Up? 66
4. KNOWLEDGE
OF THINGS 68
What the Text Doesn't Say 68
Who Is the
General Reader? 70
How Much Knowledge Do We Need? 73
Which Knowledge Do We
Need? 74
Why Not in the Reading Program? 77
5. USING
SCHOOL TIME PRODUCTIVELY 80
Wasting Students' Time 8o Blaming Teachers 83
Better Use of Time Leads
to Greater Fairness 85
Using Time Effectively
88
6.
USING TESTS PRODUCTIVELY 91
Are Tests Driving Our
Schools? 91
The Flaws of State Tests
93
The Nature of Reading
Tests 96
What Kinds of Tests WiII
Enhance Education? 102
7.
ACHIEVING COMMONALITY AND FAIRNESS 107
Reading and a Wider
Crisis 107
Fulfilling Our Nation's
Highest Ideals io8
Constantly Changing
Schools—A Critical Issue 109
Localism and a Perfect Storm of Bad Educational
Ideas 112
Are There Decisive
Advantages in Specifying Definite Content? 115
Thinking
the Unthinkable: A Core of Common Content in Early Grades 119
NOTES 139
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 159
INDEX 161
