Knowledge-Based Education vs. Process-Based Education a5 But she, too, added: “We do need accountability.” Accountability must play well in Peoria because every politician is for it. Accountability must mean to voters, I assume, that teachers will be measured by how well they teach their students. Political candi- dates, always willing to hop on an uncontroversial point of view, are all quite certain that the voters know what they are talking about. No matter how stupid NCLB is, no matter how mean spirited, no matter how awful for both teachers and students, its very horror rests on the premise that no one seems to be disputing that the federal govern- ment has the right to tell the schools what to teach and to see whether they are indeed teaching it. How is this premise wrong? e It assumes that all schools should teach the same subjects. e It assumes that some subjects are more important than other subjects. e It assumes that all important subjects can be easily tested. e It assumes that seeing who did better than whom in school is an intrinsic part of the educational process. e It assumes that all children have the same educational needs, Let’s take them one by one. ALL SCHOOLS SHOULD TEACH THE SAME SUBJECTS Why is this wrong? First, it is wrong because subjects aren’t what should be taught. But even if one follows the view presented in this book that the issue is cognitive processes and not subjects, cognitive processes need to be applied to actual domains, that are relevant to the life of the student.. Kids in New York come from, and will live in, a different world than their compatriots in New Mexico. In New Mexico, I was asked whether we could teach casino management and land use. Yes, we could, but not if there is federal accountability about algebra and 20 other sub- jects that make it impossible to fit these subjects in. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023831