Hosted by The Center for
Education Reform
Hosted by The Center for
Education Reform
BLUEPRINT FOR EDUCATION REFORM
By Lisa Graham Keegan
Tucson Citizen, February 5, 2001
In his education proposal released earlier this week, President Bush has outlined a blueprint for education reform that will undoubtedly improve the quality of public education in the US. My confidence in the efficacy of his agenda is based, in part, on our experience here in Arizona.
The President's first priority is closing the achievement gap between poor and minority students and their more affluent and Anglo counterparts. Regardless of their disadvantages when they start school, we know that all children are capable of learning if they are taught a rigorous curriculum.
This philosophy is central to the President's call for high academic standards for all students - the same philosophy that underlies Arizona's Academic Standards. As the standards have been implemented for all students in schools across the states, we are beginning to see a narrowing of the achievement gap, as measured by the Stanford 9 Achievement Test (SAT 9), and Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS).
Which brings me to another element of the President's plan - assessment. It is crucial that we assess student progress. Without testing, the standards become mere suggestions and we have no idea how well students are learning, or whether our reforms are working.
Certainly the accountability that accompanies assessment is important, and the President is right to use test results as one criterion to identify and improve underperforming schools. Equally important, however, is the information available to teachers when we test our students. Academic gains, areas of strength and weakness and avenues for intervention can all be identified through AIMS and the SAT 9. Rather than view tests solely - and often punitively - as accountability mechanisms, we need to use the rich data they provide to improve instruction.
We also share President Bush's desire to emphasize early literacy. Reading is the foundation of academic achievement, and we know that children who do not read proficiently by third grade often encounter difficulties as they move to middle and high school, increasing their risk of dropping out. We must identify those students early, and intervene immediately. For this reason, Arizona will institute a statewide reading test in first grade this year, allowing more opportunity for remediation.
Any gains in student performance and closing the achievement gap are dependent on having high-quality teachers in our classrooms. I am pleased to see President Bush is also placing a priority on strengthening our teacher corps by allocating federal money for teacher development.
Research by Dr. William Sanders at the University of Tennessee demonstrates that the largest single factor in student achievement is teacher quality. Children who experience mediocre teachers for three years in a row in elementary school may fall behind their peers in high school as much as 50 percentage points on standardized tests. Clearly the President is correct to focus on developing excellent teachers. And states need to step up to the plate to ensure adequate resources to financially reward excellent teachers.
Arizona is also ahead of the curve on another of the key components in the President's plan, increasing parental choice. Despite our best efforts, we still have schools where children are not adequately challenged, and where test scores decline annually. No parent wants to send her child to a school that provides an inferior education. In Arizona children are not consigned to the closest school, regardless of its quality. Parents can exercise a wide range of choices - magnet programs, charter schools, inter-district open enrollment - to find the school that best meets their children's needs. To provide parents with the kinds of information they need to make these choices, the President proposes publishing school report cards, which have been produced annually in Arizona for the past four years.
Other elements of the President's education proposal, such as more flexibility in the use of federal dollars, bonuses for those who improve and sanctions for those who do not, will also enhance our efforts to improve the academic performance of our students. For us, in Arizona, that has always been the bottom line.
Much has been said about the appropriate role of the federal government in education, which is generally considered to be a local issue. Under President Bush's proposal, the federal role is to give states the incentives and the freedom to improve student achievement. In Arizona, we intend to do exactly that.
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Lisa Graham Keegan is Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction.
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