Putting it into Context: The Standards Debate

One of the most important questions every teacher answers is: How do we define and measure standards? It will help you to consider your options to this question in the context of national discussions on the topic. Click on the links associated with various terms to learn more. (Note: Writing a personal statement on this topic can be an important part of a teacher portfolio.)

Dating back to publications like A Nation at Risk (1983), and even before, the national discussion on education reform has been framed in terms of standards and accountability. As one of his first acts in office, President George W. Bush, with both houses of Congress, passed the No Child Left Behind Act. As a result, all students are required to take standardized tests developed by the state. Poor performance on such tests could mean that students do not graduate or that administrators lose power.

While types of test questions vary, many educators complain that standardized tests take away the teacher’s ability to determine the focus of study and force teachers to sacrifice depth of inquiry in order to cover all of the required material. One intellectual underpinning for an approach to accountability based on memorization of specific facts can be found in E.D. Hirsch, Jr. and his Core Knowledge Foundation. Hirsch has published books such as Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know. More in line with the "progressive education" tradition of John Dewey, The Coalition of Essential Schools expresses an alternative conception of accountability.

A lot of BCS program literature attracts students by offering an alternative to the overly standardized school system. Nonetheless, choosing exactly where you stand philosophically is a decision that you will make and remake every time you plan for or step into the classroom. As Colombia professor Stephen J. Thornton says, after all decisions are mandated from above, you, the teacher, are the curriculum-instructional gatekeeper.





We need to challenge the soft bigotry of low expectations. If you have low expectations, you're going to get lousy results.
-President George W. Bush addressing the NAACP regarding No Child Left Behind





Cafeteria-style education, combined with the unwillingness of our schools to place demands on students, has resulted in a steady diminishment of commonly shared information between generations and between young people themselves.
-E.D. Hirsch, Jr.

A possibility of continuing progress is opened up by the fact that in learning one act, methods are developed good for use in other situations. Still more important is the fact that the human being acquires a habit of learning. He learns to learn.
-John Dewey

Freddy: Um, are we going to be goofing off like this every day?
Dewey: Uh, we're not goofing off, we're creating musical fusion.
Freddy: Well, are we going to be creating musical fusion every day?
Dewey: Yeah, get used to
it.
-School of Rock