"Despite rapid
progress in the right direction, the program of the average elementary
school has been primarily devoted to teaching the fundamental
subjects, the three R’s, and closely related disciplines…
Artificial exercises, like drills on phonetics, multiplication tables,
and formal writing movements, are used to a wasteful degree. Subjects
such as arithmetic, language, and history include content that is
intrinsically of little value. Nearly every subject is enlarged
unwisely to satisfy the academic ideal of thoroughness… Elimination
of the unessential by scientific study, then, is one step in improving
the curriculum."