This issue is now only available on-line. Expanding upon the first issue, this edition updates news from MFE Partners and NCAS national projects. About School Voucher Experiments New Resources by Partners in Mobilization for Equity Issue III - Standards NCAS supports setting high standards for what schools should be expected to teach students and the need to ensure equal access to high standards for all students. Enormous challenges accompany any large-scale school improvement effort. Complex implementation problems arise from the profound differences in quality between well-resourced schools and poorer schools serving disadvantaged urban and rural communities, which are often characterized by crumbling facilities, a lack of books and basic supplies, and poorly trained teachers.
High standards are a double-edged sword for children already at risk for academic failure.
While high standards provide the hope that all children will be granted full access to a high-quality education, they also present the danger that children in many schools will be expected to master subject material they may never have the opportunity to learn. This issue of Mobilization For Equity takes a look at the promises and pitfalls of high standards with a special focus on helping parents and teachers think about how standards should be implemented to ensure equal access for all students. Any reform strategy that offers an education of differing quality to students in different circumstances is a direct challenge to the historic promise of equal educational opportunity that lies at the heart of the nation's public schools. As parents and policymakers consider adopting school choice programs, they should be mindful of the ways in which such programs may undermine the basic values of the U.S. public education system. Reformers who overlook or ignore these values risk losing them forever.