The Saturday schedule encouraged even greater parent participation, she says, with more than 200 parents picking up report cards compared to fewer than 70 when the conferences were held on a teacher work day during the week. To Robin Cordell, a parent at Hill, the communication about standards-based instruction has been seamless from elementary to middle school, and she believes the district's efforts to inform parents have been excellent. Because we are looking at student work closely, we are looking at ourselves. In the teachers' lounge, the talk is about how kids are learning, not what they're doing. Still, Hurley believes teachers are becoming more and more comfortable with the standards approach as it becomes a more integral part of the school's operations.
Parents also feel more at ease with the standards lingo.
When that kind of talk becomes commonplace in every neighborhood, the Long Beach community will know that standards-based education has truly taken hold.