What Are Standards?The following are answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) about what is being and can be done at the state and local level to encourage districts and individual schools to provide better education services and be more accountable. The answers to these FAQs are intended to provide only an introductory overview of key issues. Links are provide to take you to areas with additional information.
Raising Standards
What Are Standards?
There are 2 kinds of standards, (1) content and (2) performance. The first is the most important. Good content standards are clear expectations for learning and teaching. They clearly identify what is information and concepts are important to the students, teachers, parents, test-developers, and text authors.
How are States Responding to the
Demand for Higher Standards?
The National Education Commission on Time and Learning’s 1994 report Prisoners of Time accentuates an important point. For years the modern secondary public education wrongly emphasized time rather than mastery. We lacked a standards-based education.
As the public and policy makers have become increasingly aware of the problem, states have been scrambling to create/copy content-rich, demanding, and rigorous standards, and there has been some progress. For example, Virginia created solid standards for every child in the core areas of math, history, English, science, and social studies. Other states such as Florida, Arizona, and Massachusetts drew heavily from Virginia and elsewhere to create their own standards, but much work remains. By January 1998, 38 States had drafted academic standards in core subjects (English, math, science, and social studies) and 34 States used standards-based assessments of math and English. But scholars engaged by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation found that only 1 state had truly rigorous and clear standards in English, 1 in history, 3 in geography, 3 in math, and 6 in science. Failing grades were earned by state standards as follows: 12 out of 28 in English, 19 of 38 in history, 18 of 39 in Geography, 16 of 48 in math, and 9 of 36 in science. The work to develop quality standards continues, long overdue.
For more information visit Academic Standards and Curriculum Research and Resources. See also The American Education Diet and ELC's The Standards Primer.
Raising Teacher Quality
What is the Condition of Teacher
Quality Today?
Studies show that too many teachers are un- or under-qualified and that teacher colleges are out of step with working America. Teacher certification is defined as the process through which teachers become recognized by the state as expert teachers. But certification does not equal qualification. According to the National Center for Education Statistic’s report America’s Teachers: Profile of a Profession, 1993-1994, about 93%of teachers are fully certified in their main assignment fields (the number is slightly less in public schools where over 40% of the students receive free or reduced price lunches). This, however, does not imply any expertise since over one third of teachers lack the training they need in the subjects they teach. Fully 39.5% of science teachers had not studied science as a major or minor; 34% of mathematics teachers, 25% of English teachers, and 55% of history teacher were teaching "out of field." The problem of unqualified teachers is particularly acute in schools where 40% or more of the students were from low-income homes. In these schools, nearly half the teaching staff was teaching "out of field."
Regarding teacher colleges, the Public Agenda’s 1997 Different Drummers: How Teachers of Teachers View Public Education found a tremendous disconnect between the priorities of education schools and the priorities of working Americans. In sharp contrast to the concerns expressed by typical Americans in earlier Public Agenda studies, small percentages of education professors feel maintaining discipline and order in the classroom (37%), stressing grammar as well as correct spelling and punctuation (19%), and expecting students to be on time and polite (12%) are "absolutely essential" qualities to impart to prospective teachers.
What Has Been Done to Improve Teacher
Quality?
In an attempt to lure highly qualified teachers and upgrade the workforce
most states boosted teacher pay during the 1980s. On average, inflation-adjusted
teacher pay rose by 20% during the 1980's. In some states, the increases were
extraordinary: New Hampshire (36%), Virginia (35%), Connecticut (52%). By
virtually any measure, the pay of teachers relative to other occupations rose as
well. This, however, did little to improve teacher qualifications because the
pay raises were across-the-board and did not consider merit. The result was a
lower quit-rate and jobs became more difficult to find. This did little to
discourage poorly qualified candidates since their lack of qualifications would
limit other job options. But highly qualified prospective teachers took
attractive options outside of teaching. In addition, recruitment of better
teachers has been further impeded by the fact that public schools, on the whole,
show no preference for applicants who have strong academic records.
The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF) is spearheading
a wide range of activities intended to "professionalize" teaching by
creating professional regulatory boards. While it's agreed that everyone wants a
"professional" teacher, there is much debate as to whether these
regulatory boards can actually provide quality teachers. The crux of the matter
is about control. Under NCTAF’s plan, teacher accreditation, preparation and
licensing examinations would be overseen by independent professional boards
whose members would be drawn, not from the public's elected representatives, but
from organizations of professional educators – particularly those from schools
of education and teacher unions rather than school level administrators. Will
they provide the teacher quality that is presently absent? Critics claim that
such a policy will claim to raise earnings by luring better-qualified
applicants, but that the earning will really rise by restricting access to the
occupation. By their nature, professional regulatory boards are controlled by
incumbents in the profession (as well as approved suppliers of licenses), who
stand to gain by restricting supply or otherwise restraining competition. This
type of producer control rarely serves the public interest.
See also PERFORMANCE CONTRACTING: High Stakes Hiring and CER's Education Forum.
For More Information on What's
Happening with Local and State Reform Efforts, see CER's EDUCATION
REFORM OVERVIEW. For more information on how you can get involved, see THE
SCHOOL REFORM HANDBOOK: How to Improve Your Schools.