The most recent edition of Jewish Action Magazine published by the Orthodox Union is dedicated to the subject of Chinuch with a number of excellent articles. The online edition is available here:
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www.ou.org]
One common theme that seems to come across in these articles is the need for a systematic rethinking of Jewish day school curriculum. There is a painfully obvious need for defined learning objectives, a school wide systematic approach to skill building, standardized assessment tools and the need to create a more engaging Judaic Studies learning curriculum.
In a discussion about "The Illiteracy Epidemic" which took place on this board a little over a year ago, many educators acknowledged that our day school system is broken if after twelve years of schooling students can't read a posuk of Chumash (of the more than twenty five responses not one educator suggested that this is not the case).
The question I pose to the readers of this forum, will these articles just inspire another round of discussion about the need to do something or will something actually get done? This is such a fundamental need in Jewish day school education, that it is a shame nothing substantial has been done to date. Although I believe Lookjed is a great place to raise the larger issue, I don't think that is where the problem will get solved. We need a group of individuals who are committed to putting their heads together and willing to figure out a solution to this problem.
Money is obviously a big issue...but perhaps if we brainstorm we can come up with an idea to make it happen. Please feel free to post your thoughts here and if there is enough interest perhaps we can arrange a conference call or meet as part of a social networking group to discuss this issue sometime after Pesach. If enough people express interest I'll do my best to put something together.
Please forward!
Tzvi Daum
tdaum@torahskills.org
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www.torahskills.org]
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opensourcecurriculum.blogspot.com]
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twitter.com]
