What now?

Americans seem to have come to the conclusion that standards and testing are very necessary, but not enough by themselves to fix our education system. In new research released today, “Reality Check 2006: Is Support for Standards and Testing Fading?” Public Agenda finds that parents, students, teachers, principals and superintendents value standards and testing and majorities support the sometimes controversial elements of their implementation, such as high school exit exams. In fact, just handfuls of teachers and parents say schools should return to the policies of the past. But standards and testing are not enough, polling of these key constituencies seem to say.

Has the public left No Child Left Behind behind? 

“We’re ready to move to the next stage of education reform,” parents, students, teachers, principals and superintendents seem to be saying in unison. 

So, what should we focusing our attention on now? The research report today provides some important thoughts to consider: 

“..the judgment among most parents, students, teachers and school administrators [is] that standards and testing are not the be all and end all of school reform. They see other issues as equally pressing. Not surprisingly perhaps, educators say funding is a higher priority, but they are not alone. About four in ten (39%) parents say that it’s a “very serious” problem in their community that “schools are not getting enough money to do a good job.” Among black (49%) and Hispanic parents (52%), the numbers are substantially higher. 

Similarly, all groups cite problems related to student behavior, motivation and cooperation as more urgent than low standards. This focus on discipline and school climate is not new. Public Agenda’s “First Things First” report in 1994 outlined the broad belief that unless schools are safe, calm, respectful and purposeful, teaching and learning are unlikely to thrive.  Most teachers give schools good marks on discipline issues, but 76 percent say they could teach more effectively if they didn’t have to spend so much time dealing with disruptive students; 85 percent say the school experience of most students suffers at the expense of a few chronic troublemakers. Among parents, 73 percent say that the most pressing problems in local high schools are social problems and kids who misbehave. Just 15 percent say low academic standards and outdated curricula are more urgent. Since the standards movement, with its strong emphasis on academics and testing, touches on these concerns only peripherally, it is not surprising that people are beginning to yearn for something that addresses them more directly. 

So if the push for higher standards and testing is leveling off or reaching maturity, how do we go about addressing these other issues that core constituencies say are so important? What else deserves major attention? And if we turn our attention elsewhere, do we risk undermining the progress on standards that we’ve made so far? Is there a danger that we check “standards and testing” off the list too soon. 

And if, as many parents, teachers, and administrators indicate, money and small classes are more urgent issues, how can we, realistically, address this perennial problem? Are there successes in this area that we can point to as best practice for adequate school funding? 

And what about classroom behavior? We’ve raised this question many times before in our research and in our commentary. Is anyone at the local level or at the national policy level moving this issue forward? 

What else? Smaller class size seems to be a priority for many? Is this simply a function of more money for schools, or can this happen with the resources we have? 

We’re going to start publicizing this blog, so this is your chance to weigh in and have your thoughts contribute to a growing national conversation. 

What do you think? What’s next for education reform? 

Comments

[Nancy]

We see vitually no interest in standards as a discussion topic. We did use your video for one community it but it got a disappointing turnout.

Seeing more interest in alcohol and substance abuse at the moment.

[Kevin R. Kosar]

At the federal and state governmental levels there has been very little action on the discipline issue. Few districts have special schools to which persistently disruptive children may be sent. As schools feel the pressure to get all children learning at a proficient level, they likely may attempt to find new means to contend with students who inhibit the learning of other pupils. (On this, see http://www.educationnews.org/Commentaries/Culture_Discipline_and_the_No_Child_Left_Behind_Act.htm .)

One reform little discussed is teacher training. To put matters bluntly, teachers colleges do not well train teachers the skills for handling children with behavior issues. All too often, such students run over teachers. Such teachers shouldn't be blamed; dealing with difficult children is very challenging. Teachers need intensive training that enables them to set an authoritative environment in the classroom; schools, meanwhile, need to provide these teachers with support. Children who refuse to obey a teacher should be removed from the classroom.

If you have watched the show "The Dog Whisperer," you have seen dog owners who are dominated by their pooches. So it often is with teachers in classrooms.

Cheers,

[Julie Stroeve]

All those comments are right on. But my personal focus is on students who won't or can't demonstrate socially accepted behaviors because they create the environment in the classroom that makes it so damn hard to teach. I know there are people like Marva Collins (who is hated by public education mainstream) and others who write, correctly, that black kids in public middle schools are teaching each other to fail because "it's white to be educated." Now, if public education is really confronted with a cultural anti-education norm, there's nothing I can think of to "make class fun." If today's kids come to the classroom with their parents' failures foremost in their minds, how in the world can public eductaion counter that cultural certainty?

There's no doubt about it...imperical data says if you're poor, you're probability of failing in public school is many-fold the probability of a white kid in a public school. We aren't adressing the disparity between educating poor kids and educating affluent kids and that's the task of public education -- to education the masses.

I've not seen many bad teachers in public education; but I've seen a whole boatload of kids that don't understand what socially acceptable behavior is. That's a parent's job. and like it or not, public education's turnaround lies on bringing in parents and students to the solution. It's not an external thing. It's a social justice safety net thing; when parents and kids know that their community, their city, their county, their state, and the country are behind them to ensure that kids get educated and don't repeat the previous generations mistakes, THEN we will make great progress at the big table of public education policy making.

there's no public education system without a social safety net sytem.

J. Stroeve, Minneapolis

[Michael A. Lesniak]

I've worked in elementary schools in the United States, and I currently live in South Korea. Let me tell you, it is amazing what kids can do if there are standards set for them. Kids here are performing mental math division of large numbers in a way you would find on late night TV in the United States.

I think standards are important. We have long been without them in the US, rather we have found a decline in real education. They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, well our education system is a testament to that. While we try to please everyone, most of our kids are falling behind in core subjects.

We do excel in some areas, and they are important. American kids are more creative in general, and are willing to form their own opinions. It is remarkable that we have fostered such an environment.

However, we need stadards for two important reasons. First, there needs to be a re-standardization of core education. Truths should be told that reflect the wide diversity of American life and history. Columbus, for example, was a mass-murderer. The historical reasoning behind reparations. The truth of the term 'melting pot,' as it described Anglosaxonizing Poles and Czecs in the early 1900's.

Our standards need to be reset in Mathematics perhaps more than anywhere else. Most international students in American universities are shocked by the level of incompetence of most American students in terms of mathematics. Mathematics is a fundamental skill, and most be emphasized.

The second reason for standardizing, accountability. Schools are underfunded, but there is no way to hold a school accountable for funding. Standards allow responsibility to fall on the school, and the government. If a school's students consistantly fall below standard, the Federal Government (who has impossed that standard) then must be responsible for that school's failing. It can step in and correct the school by providing more funding, or new management.

Currently our school system is anything but. It is a mix and mash of countless ideals and and experimental theories. Well, we have some enviable developments, but why not combine those benifits of enhanced creativity, awareness of student needs, etc, with benefits of organization. A standard would provide our school system with just that, and with organization could come accountability. We all would see a much brighter future.

[thebizofknowledge]

Because I am an educator myself, I am drawn to any discussion of educational reform. I found your comments here really insightful and thought provoking. It is clear that you care deeply about this issue. Let's hope that the people in power start listening and start taking the steps necessary to ensure that no child really is left behind!