In principle, it is now believed that the traditional emphasis on passive learning through lectures and textbook methods of instruction are far less effective than active methods of academic instruction. Whereas modern educators have been pushing for public education systems to move away from passive learning methods, the NCLB creates the exact opposite incentive: to waste classroom modules memorizing information for the test and practicing test-taking instead of learning (Darling-Hammond, 2004; Murray, 2006).

Similarly, modern education theorists have been suggesting that the traditional educational emphasis on reading, writing, and arithmetic are already too narrow a focus because that method neglects the needs of many students. Human intelligence represents so many different types of talents and abilities that the range of subject matter and teaching styles should be increased rather than decreased even further to accommodate the need to drill students in specific areas for the express purpose of representing their...
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