Advocacy: The Campaign Against the One Right Answer

Sandra N. Kaplan

There is no argument about the need to educate students to seek and value the right answer. Yet, there is a need to challenge the academic and personal consequences of teaching all students, and particularly gifted students, to believe that seeking the right answer is the only purpose of an education and the most significant means to achieve success at school. The concern to teach “for” the right answer has further negative ramifications than the well-expressed concern for the overemphasis placed on teaching to the test.

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