RACE TO NOWHERE

About ten days ago, my married daughter called to tell me about a film she just had seen at her oldest son’s Middle School auditorium in Pennsylvania. She was excited (and, disturbed) about this documentary and wanted, very much, for her mother and me to see it. So, I accessed the movie’s website: www.racetonowhere.com and discovered that it would be showing in a Northern Virginia Community Center this past weekend. And see it, we did!

It is a film that every parent, teacher, school administrator and politician should see! “Race to Nowhere” will open your eyes! It will help you protect your children from the current public school environment! It will give you insight into the great hidden dangers inherent in “No Child Left Behind” and Standardized Testing!

As parents, you will find valid suggestions you can use for your children’s benefit. In short, you will learn a lot.

John Merrow of PBS fame, scholar in residence at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching at Stanford, winner of two Peabody awards and three Emmy nominations has written:

“’Race to Nowhere’ spreads the blame around. No Child Left Behind, bubble tests, too much mind-numbing homework and – yes – parents who are more concerned with their own social status than with the health and well-being of their children. One counselor recalls hearing mothers at a mall boasting about how well their children are doing, adding that she knows better because she is treating their kids.

‘Race to Nowhere’ conveys important messages with power. Our obsession with test scores is dangerous and counterproductive. When parents and schools treat young people like automatons, they not only kill their childhood, but they are not preparing them to lead healthy adult lives. In what is almost a throwaway moment, one employer says that these young adults make lousy employees because they’re always waiting to be told what to do. Throwaway or not, it’s shockingly effective.

. . . I urge you to see it if it’s playing near you – or you can request and schedule a screening in your area. This film’s message should be taken to heart.”

In previous Blogs, I’ve addressed some of these issues – but neither as well nor as completely as you will discover for yourself — if you are fortunate enough to attend a screening of “Race to Nowhere!”

More on Thursday – – – – –

— Bill Walton, Founder, ITC Learning
e-Mail: bwalton@itclearning.com

“THE WORLD RELIES ON THE HANDS OF ITS MEN AND WOMEN”