"Trying a few new ideas... wouldn't be so harmful if it weren't for the fact that tried-and-true methods, such as phonics-based instruction to teach reading, or basic skills emphasis in all other elementary school subjects, are often abandoned along the way."

-- Craig Schulze, an instructional resource coordinator in the Baltimore schools, commenting on his more than two decades of watching public-school officials adopt one unproven reform tactic after another.

Pub Date: 6/07/98