A Skeptical Perspective on the Adequacy Conception

Abstract

Although this article is sympathetic to the philosophic goal of developing a conception of adequacy, it is skeptical as to whether this goal is feasible in the near future for anything but the very earliest primary grade levels (K-2). The problem is that the reform ideas suggested as the basis for delivering adequate instruction are really a grab bag of untested, nonoperationalized ideas. Indeed, little substantive progress has been made in designing effective large-scale learning environments for educationally disadvantaged students during the past 30 years. Experience from the Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) project, a successful large-scale intervention for educationally disadvantaged students, is used to indicate just how difficult it is to develop actual, effective large-scale learning environments. This experience is also used to indicate why it is unlikely that the kinds of interventions that have the potential to consistently deliver adequate education will emerge in the next decade despite the brave reform rhetoric. At the same tine, a focus on adequacy is important for focusing people's attention on the need for more powerful learning environments.