European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 25, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Can you Legisla Many educators desire a return to traditional sub acts and teaching methods comp Back to which basics stories by Louise Cook associated press ack to the basics the phrase has become the rallying cry for a growing number of educators but there i disagreement As to what the words really mean and How children should be taught. The cries for a return to traditional subjects and teach ing methods started in the late 1960s, partly As a react onto the open classrooms and free style teaming patterns in Many areas of the  test scores declining enrolments and rising costs led americans to look at the Quality of education and ask whether they were getting their Money s  expressed concern Over Job applicants who could not understand a personnel form or solve simple business problems. We believe the schools can do a better Job than they re doing now said George Weber associate director of the Council for Basic education. It s a matter of zeroing in on the problem. In i a Long Over due decision that some skills arc More important than  the Council based in Washington. . Is a nonprofit organization founded in 1956 and dedicated to strength ening of the Basic subjects in american schools according to the Council strengthening the basics Means making sure that All students receive adequate instruction in English including Reading and writing math science history foreign languages and the arts that Clear standards of achievement Are used for promo Tion and that school administrators arc encouraged and supported in resisting pressures to make the school assume miscellaneous Respas Bililies for the social or lire adjustment functions of their  other educators Are less certain about defining the basics. I d like to think that the purpose of school is substantially broader than leaching  said Arthur Wise of the educational policy research group in Washington. In elementary school you should teach Reading and arithmetic of course but you also should stimulate children to think about the world around them stimulate their interest in a wide variety of things provide moral  he said the schools already do a Good Job for the vast majority of students but More research is needed to de Termine How to reach those who Are not now Able to learn. W Koss win crowd. A professor of English at the University of Southern California said he agreed that there was a need to get Back to the basics but it is absolutely essential that we first identify the basics we want to get Back to he added we Don t need to get Back to the basics of spelling punctuation and verb agreement As such. What worries me. Is the Strong evidence that coherence and the ability to develop ideas is Perli aps  a panel from the National Council of teachers of mathematics agreed. They warned against trying to build up students abilities to Deal with numbers by simply putting More stress on simple computations. Instead they urged a sharper focus on practical items such As consumer problems. Larry Frase of the National Institute of education the research Arm of the . Office of education said that there Are fundamental changes taking place in Many schools but he said there was no Long term evaluation available to determine which programs have been sue in general he said there has been a reorientation of the academic Community toward comprehension. Richard Anderson of the Center for studies in Reading at the University of Illinois noted that there has been some improvement in the Reading abilities of Young Chil Dren and attributed it to better materials and leaching " we be Learned that programs that give the child More productive exposure to Reading activities pay  he said the More time a child spends on Reading the better he is Able to read providing that the material can attract and maintain his attention said Anderson. Most kids come to school wanting to learn to read he added. The problem is to encourage an continue that desire. In the past be noted children had to read if they wanted to team about new worlds adventures and entertainment. Now you can get that. Irom television. One of the motivating forces is  there Are two Basic methods of teaching Reading phonics and look say. Phonics involves sounding out words letter by letter. The look say methods relies nonteaching a child to recognize the whole word. Supporters of the phonics method say that once the youngster learns the Basic sounds he or she can read almost any work supporters of the look say method claim hat children understand More if they learn the word As a whole unit. The look say method gained popularity prior to world War ii. H came under attack in 1955. With the publication of Why Joh Nih can l read by Rudolf Flesch. Now says Anderson. The Ware of look say versus phonics have moderated. Virtually every Reading program gives a considerable emphasis to  despite the general agreement on the need for at least some phonics training Weber of the Council for Basic education said that Only 20 or 25 per cent of the students now Learo by the phonics approach. One problem he said is the Lack of leaching materials. It lakes time to produce new textbooks and guidelines. It will take 10 to 30 years to switch to the new system  the same problem is True with mathematics be said. Schools recognized some time ago that there had been a decline in computational skills but the first new textbook on Basic math was not available until 1975. There is a growing pressure for improved  1972 the parents of a san Francisco High school graduate sued the school District contending that their son could not read and therefore could not get a Job. The parents claimed the school District was negligent. The plaintiffs ultimately lost their Case but a similar Suil has now been filed in new York slate. An in year old Long Island youth and his family Are suing a local school Board for $5 million contending thai the school system from which he was graduated in 1976 failed to educate him properly and left him unable to Cope. With the affairs of the  youth Edward Donahue said his attitude toward learning changed when he started working with a private Tutor at the end of his senior year in High school. I always thought that it was my fault. I just figured i could t learn. Then i realized that the reason i can t read is not because of me. But because i was taught wrong. Alarmed by reports of High school graduates who canno read ecu enough to fill out a Job application educators and Law makers Are trying to make sure that youngsters Leam Basic skills before they leave the classroom. State Legislatures and boards of Educa Tion Are Selling up testing programs re Quiring students to meet whal Are know Nas minimum competency standards before icy receive a High school diploma or Are promoted from Grade to  Are testing Tulud cols beginning in the eighth and ninth Grade and setting up remedial programs for those youngsters who  Pipho associate director of the. Department of research and information of the education commission of the slates in Denver said Hal by the end of 1976, 16 states had taken some action in the area of minimum competency standards and action is pending in More than half a dozen other slates. The push for minimal competency testing May be a reflection of the Gen eral mood of the country says Pipho. For some time separate groups have been concerned about the need for More Basic education declining lest scores and More accountability for the education  Richard m. Bossone. Professor of English at the graduate school of the City University of new York said the Public i showing a growing dissatisfaction with High school graduates who Are unable to read or write  spoke at a conference on mini mum competencies sponsored by the new York City Board of education and the cily University s graduate Center. Like Pipho he noted thai there Are several problems with the new testing programs. First and Foremost is the problem of determining whal constitutes mini mum competency. Docs it mean being Able to read Al a cer Tain Grade level or does it mean being Able to understand the instruction Booklet thai comes with a new appliance should writing tests stress grammar spelling and punctuation or should they be More concerned with determining whether the Stu Dent can express himself clearly what areas should be tested other problems include who should Settle standards when should the tests be Given How do you insure that the tests do not discriminate against minority groups what sort of remedial programs should be set up and where will the Money come from How do you insure thai the mini mum these problems have led some educators to criticize the minimum competency concept. Arthur Wise of the educational policy research group said that passage of Laws setting minimum standards on a statewide basis is a rather simplistic solution to what is a serious problem. I m certainly in favor of children learning How to read. The real question is whether you can legislate  Wise said that teachers and principals already know which students cannot Reador perform simple arithmetical tasks. The problem is that we Don t have effective ways of reaching these Young people inhale faced the child you attach i Ster or do lion level required sad. Undo i idea concede to All toe working to Theis suf rna Cly Menti answers exercised ses sment ofis funded by a project of the states. Wilson hugging exports summer the attrib Start h proach we the items body of. Mat local districts. That meet  profession have develops test includes whether the so notions can classified Adi grocery store he or she need it is Loo a existing Progi  the Stales we Page 12 the stars and stripes