These complaints have merit. Drilling specific, testable facts in preparation for rigid, standardized tests doesn’t promote learning. Rather, science shows that learning demands open-ended exploration that allows students to reach beyond their individual limits. In a series of studies involving middle school and high school math classes, students who were forced to struggle on complex problems before receiving help from teachers outperformed students who received immediate assistance. The authors of these studies summarized their findings in a simple yet elegant statement: Skills come from
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