, 2000). This increased responsibility has placed a tremendous amount of pressure on teachers, which in turn places a tremendous amount of pressure on the students as well.
However, even with the negative issues that have come with education reform, it has been shown that discarding certain traditional teaching methods may be a positive step for education especially in the math and science departments. Hands-on lab exercises have begun to dominate the landscape of science classes, replacing the traditional methods of passive-student lectures. True experimentation and exploration of scientific principles is encouraged and highlighted in many classrooms and seem to be much more effective than the traditional "recipe"-driven lab experiences. These interactive approaches have, so far, been proven to be far more effective teaching techniques than the traditional ones. However, even through these techniques the scoring on standardized tests are still disappointingly low in America especially in comparison to students of other industrialized countries (Hake 1998).
Though education reform has clearly changed the methods and general nature of education in this country, it is becoming clear that these changes are simply the beginning. Consistent...
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