Standards-based reform

: My county (Duval) has begun to move to one of the major reform
: movements of standards-based education. It is supposed to serve
: all except thosr most severly disabled and promotes inclusion.
: Readding anf writing blocks are in 2.5 hr. blocks. Supposedly it
: is sucessful in Texas. Is there a cowboy or two to respond?: Thank youStandards-based reform, in my opinion, puts the horse before the cart. It assumes the problem is that teachers are teaching the wrong thing. It assumes that if you tell teachers what to teach, and then test their students to make sure it’s been learned, then everything is fine.If only it were that easy. Standards-based reform draws a line in the sand and then insists that teachers have their children walk up to that line.That your writing and reading will in block form now has nothing to do with standards-based reform. That’s a different matter.Schools need to have the tools to be successful as well as the defintion of what is success. Ask your state for a copy of its standards. Then try to read the thousand page document they’ll send you. Ask yourself if any teacher has time to read it much less teach it.But yes schools will see to it that their scores on the tests rise every year. Whether the kids are actually any better off or not is another question.

: My county (Duval) has begun to move to one of the major reform
: movements of standards-based education. It is supposed to serve
: all except thosr most severly disabled and promotes inclusion.
: Readding anf writing blocks are in 2.5 hr. blocks. Supposedly it
: is sucessful in Texas. Is there a cowboy or two to respond?: Thank youStandards-based reform, in my opinion, puts the horse before the cart. It assumes the problem is that teachers are teaching the wrong thing. It assumes that if you tell teachers what to teach, and then test their students to make sure it’s been learned, then everything is fine.If only it were that easy. Standards-based reform draws a line in the sand and then insists that teachers have their children walk up to that line.That your writing and reading will in block form now has nothing to do with standards-based reform. That’s a different matter.Schools need to have the tools to be successful as well as the defintion of what is success. Ask your state for a copy of its standards. Then try to read the thousand page document they’ll send you. Ask yourself if any teacher has time to read it much less teach it.But yes schools will see to it that their scores on the tests rise every year. Whether the kids are actually any better off or not is another question.