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November 16, 2009

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Letter: Creativity of kids may be casualty

Thursday, Dec. 2, 2004 | 9:05 a.m.

Is the No Child Left Behind Act really changing education? It is evident in local schools that teachers are being micromanaged to prepare their students for standardized tests. Test score results are increasing, but is this really changing education for the better?

We may produce students in the future who will be able to successfully answer factual questions on tests, but will they be able to think and apply what they know to different situations? Standardization and rote memory of facts, formulas or other bits of information does not produce citizens capable of thinking and functioning in a creative manner.

Will standardization and micromanagement of every aspect of teaching a curriculum subject produce the kind of creative citizen that has made this country great? Or, will the result be an automaton type of citizenry with memory banks full of standardized information but lacking the ability to think creatively and function with initiative and inventiveness?

VIRGIL A. SESTINI Editor's note: Virgil A. Sestini is a retired biology teacher.

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