Questioning the "Self Esteem Fad"

Here are some questions culled from the ongoing debate in educational circles in response to the DNR's editorial on October 19 concerning "The Self-Esteem Fad." These issues are routinely ignored or de-emphasized by the governmental policy known as “No Child Left Behind.”

Question: Some researchers say that pre-natal and early childhood care, environmental contamination, parental attitudes, family income, language facility and many other factors affect student performance. In well-run NCLB (No Child Left Behind) schools, are these irrelevant?

Question: NCLB relies on market forces to shape schools up. Does this mean that learning is unnatural and won’t happen unless teachers and kids are threatened or bribed?

Question: NCLB is rapidly pushing “frills” out of the curriculum. Has research now established that art, music, physical activity and so on have nothing to do with scientific and mathematical reasoning ability?

Question: Education is supposed to teach kids to think for themselves, not just recall what they’ve been ordered to remember. Are the centerpieces of NCLB (corporately produced, machine-scored tests) able to judge the relative quality of complex thought processes? If so, why aren’t they already doing that?