[1] That organization, which eventually became the National Paideia Center, formulated a Declaration of Principles: We believe... Adler stressed that the proposal is much more than just a return to the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic.

He proposed a curriculum framework within which each state or school district could pluralistically vary constituent areas of study.

Adler placed the least value on this form of knowledge, arguing that it generally fades away with time, asserting for example that he had forgotten almost all of the information imparted to him in this fashion.

Coaching is performed so that the student may acquire the skills of learning, such as reading, writing, speaking, listening, calculating, problem-solving, estimating, measuring, and exercising critical judgement.

In the vertical dimension, the teacher would provide and order questions aimed at the development of understanding ideas (not for covering predetermined ground).