Jay Evensen and John Florez, columnists for the Deseret Morning News, have both written recently about the need to reform public education. It is becoming increasingly clear to them — and many others — that the No Child Left Behind law is a counterfeit reform. It is based on a false goal. All government "reforms" since the "Nation at Risk Report" in 1983 have been based on this goal: student achievement in curriculum.

Why is student achievement in curriculum a false goal? To be more specific, why should student achievement in reading, writing and math, or any other discipline, not be the primary goal and purpose of public education? Several reasons. First, it calls forth unsolicited direct instruction, a kind of teaching that is counterproductive. Direct instruction that is not requested is like giving instruction in talking and walking before the child is ready. We don't usually give babies direct instruction in these things. When parents do it, it is in response to a demonstrated need on the part of the child. Children learn how to talk and walk, without formal instruction, when it is time for each one to do so.

Now what happens when a child starts school? It's time for direct instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic. This is usually done, not in response to a child's need, but in response to an adult's need for the child. Direct instruction is complicated by the fact that a few children start school already knowing how to read. They learned how to read the way everyone learns how to read — they teach themselves — the same way they learned how to talk and walk.

The second major reason why student achievement in curriculum should not be the major goal and purpose of education is that it diverts attention away from what should be the primary purpose: developing great human beings to be contributors — not burdens — to society. With this purpose teachers focus on developing a full range of human potential, not merely on reading, writing and arithmetic. They put more emphasis on the "why" and "what" of reading than they do on "how" to read because they know that reading, like talking, is a private matter that takes place in a child's brain and is controlled by the learner himself. There are many smart crooks in our jails who are skilled in reading, writing and arithmetic. Why have they not used these skills to contribute? Is it because our school system has failed to convey the true purpose of education?

Authentic reform of education can occur when we adopt a true, authentic goal and develop the attributes, skills and attitudes that make for contributive behavior. These can be characterized by seven dimensions of human greatness: identity, inquiry, interaction, imagination, initiative, intuition and integrity. We found that students achieve more in reading, writing and math when they are taught as tools of inquiry than when they are taught as ends in and of themselves.

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Lynn Stoddard, of Farmington, is a retired public school teacher and administrator.