On 7/10/2012 6:31 PM, Ignoramus3314 wrote:
ROTFLMAO

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...d=pm_local_pop

Or: http://goo.gl/PFCg6

``We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS)
(values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs
that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education

This is *NOT* what it is being presented to be. It is *NOT* the case
that the Texas Republicans oppose children acquiring critical thinking
skills, and this deliberate misrepresentation by the idiot Post writer
shows a disgusting left-wing bias as well as an appalling lack of
comprehension on her part.

The opposition to the HOTS instruction rather has three sound bases:

1. Pedagogical appropriateness - there is a very lively debate among
educators as to the appropriate level to begin teaching HOTS. A
substantial part of the opposition is not due to any ideological
opposition to HOTS, but rather because it is thought that it is
being taught too early, to children who haven't achieved standard
subject mastery.

2. It *is* being included as part of an "outcomes-based education"
curriculum, and that is opposed by a lot of people as being a
dumbing-down of education.

3. While so-called "critical thinking" skills are supposed to be an
important part of HOTS, the program really is about so-called
"values clarification", which is left-wing code for discarding
traditional values simply because they *are* traditional values,
rather than the ethical relativism preached by leftists.


This smear by the Post has already generated a response in Wikipedia:

The Texas Republican Party expressed their opposition to the
teaching of certain HOTS by including the following item in their
2012 Party Platform [3]:

"Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher
Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical
thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a
relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning)
which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of
challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining
parental authority."

However, the final wording of this item was evidently a 'mistake'
according to Republican Party of Texas Communications Director
Chris Elam who said, in an interview with talkingpointsmemo.com,
that the plank should not have included the phrase 'critical
thinking skills' and it was not the intent of the subcommittee to
indicate that the RPT was opposed to critical thinking skills".
When asked to clarify the meaning of the item he said, "I think the
intent is that the Republican Party is opposed to the values
clarification method that serves the purpose of challenging
students beliefs and undermine parental authority" [4].

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_...hinking_skills