Along with their counterparts at schools like the University of Illinois and the University of Texas, Oregon professors have been the driving forces behind the push for letting "scientifically based research" inform classroom practices.
The professors are promoting teaching techniques that they say have been tested extensively in classrooms and have produced good results on standardized exams.
Some of their concepts have been scooped up by the Education Department for use in the No Child Left Behind act, the Bush administration's centerpiece education bill. That law says that all children, regardless of their background, must be at grade level in reading and math by 2014, or else their schools could face sanctions.
Critics say the Oregon professors have helped usher in an age of rigidity in education, with classrooms full of teachers who "teach to the test," and students whose creativity is stifled because so much time is devoted to preparing for testing.
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Year after year, Oregon's school of education consistently beats out powerhouses like Harvard, Stanford and Columbia universities when it comes to research dollars per faculty member. According to the most recent rankings compiled by U.S. News and World Report, University of Oregon education professors were bringing in $1.46 million per faculty member, the most in the nation, with some of that money also coming from state and foundation grants.
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Their method, called Direct Instruction, requires teachers to follow a script word-for-word when working with young readers. The approach is used at schools nationwide, and several independent reports have singled it out as a way to help meet the goals set out in No Child Left Behind....
No Child Left Behind has emerged as an issue in the November elections, with Democrats charging that the law is underfunded and unrealistic. But even if John Kerry is elected in November, the Oregon researchers said their ideas -- standards, testing, public accountability of schools and "scientifically based research" -- will not soon be swept aside.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/07/20/oregon.education.ap/index.htmlWasn't excellence once the goal of teaching?