The Whole Language/OBE Fraud: The Shocking Story of How America Is Being Dumbed Down by Its Own Education System

In September 1993, Americans were stunned to learn that half the adult population -- some 90 million Americans -- have such poor literacy skills that they can scarcely cope with the demands of our high-tech economy. How could so many Americans emerge from their education so poorly equipped in basic literacy? Blumenfield answers that question in his no-holds-barred examination of the decline of literacy in America and the deliberate dumbing down of its people. He puts the blame squarely on the shoulders of the educational leaders who decided early in this century to change the purpose of education from its traditional academic function to a radical social one. High literacy was an obstacle to their progressive agenda, so the teaching of reading had to be changed to produce a more socially desirable result. The results for the nation have been disastrous. Whole Language is the latest manifestation of that progressive plan. It adds a whole new dimension to the reading process: subjectivism and deconstructionism. In addition, it has become an integral part of Outcome-Based Education, Thus, it is a far more lethal form of pedagogy than anything that has preceded it. For all intents and purposes, whole language is a way of preventing children from becoming fluent, accurate phonetic readers. It is a new way of creating reading disability, academic confusion, and learning frustration, a new way of crippling a child's linguistic development. This is a book that parents, concerned with the education of their children, must read if they are to avoid putting their children at risk in an academic system that has completely lost its moral and academic bearings. The sad truth is that public education has destroyed the American dream for countless numbers of young people by preventing them from acquiring those academic skills needed to achieve success. Once you read this book, you'll never be fooled by the educators again.