Literacy, Critical Thinking and Civil Rights

The Pew Charitable Trust funded a literacy study. Recently it found that 50% of students from 4-year colleges " Lack the literacy to handle complex real-life tasks. They cannot understand arguments of newspaper editorials, compare credit card offers, interpret a table about exercise and blood pressue..".

This literacy deficiency is about a lack of training in critical thinking. The Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s outlawed codified segregation. And it was right to do that. But the Acts also brought affirmative action and a dumbing down of the school curiculum for the purpose of more student inclusiveness. SAT scores after the implementation of the those Acts are lower than pre-legislation scores. The students are treated more equally and with less discrimination but the price paid was evident in the Pew report.

Remedies for this fall in performance has led to allowing students in many schools to access the internet during tests. Also some schools even allow text messaging among students during the test to arrive at a collaborative answer! Even Harvard does not discriminate against students applying for admission who have this type of learning history.

Students who cannot remember cannot learn. If students reference the internet or friends for the answers ,who then is being tested? What personal qualifications does a student have who passes such a test?

Lets reintroduce critical thinking into the curiculum. Even if that means discriminating against other students who can't compete or keep up. Schools should give students truths that they can use in later years. The truth for some may be that work in the trades , common labor or service should be the direction that they should pursue. Capable students should not be held back because of political schemes. We are known by our differences.