The Dekko Foundation identifies effective education as “Changing traditional learning environments so
that they become more closely aligned with children’s developmental needs. Traditional learning
environments focus on adult needs. Effective education shifts that focus to a concentration on children’s
needs.”
Several years ago, a Gates Foundation published a study titled: High Schools for a New Millenium. In
that study, which surveyed high school dropouts, they concisely identified critical components of effective
education, to be the new 3 R’s: Relationship, Relevance, and Rigor. Recognizing that good education for
children takes place in the context of relationships, that learning is far more powerful and sticky when it
has immediate relevance in the life of a child, and finally, rigor provides the healthy challenge of
mastering something new. This accomplishment brings great satisfaction and provides new motivation for
learning.
Currently, nearly one in five students drop out of high school. The reasons they give for dropping out are
that they were bored, they were not good readers, and they saw little relevance to everyday life in what
was being taught. These are serious concerns as literacy rates continue to drop in most states.
When we think about literacy, we may envision classroom instruction in verb conjugation and sounding
out words and letters. These technical aspects of literacy are less significant in the early years when
children learn about language, about stories, and their experience of books. An excitement in telling
stories and listening to stories is far more powerful in engaging children in learning to read than lessons in
phonics. There is no avoidance of the techniques, the strategies and the literary tools needed to become
competent readers. However, younger children can become excited and engaged in the language of
stories, in ideas, and in their ability to create their own stories. When this develops, these children are
nurtured and cultivated, the same way we prepare the growth medium for plants we want to grow, to
blossom and to flourish.
Forgetting the basics results in a haphazard result. We want more for our children and for our country.