First , the initial study we did in 1994. It's an agenda that calls for safe, orderly, and disciplined schools that are capable of delivering the basics to every student and basics now includes computers as well as the three R's. These features are far more important to people than curriicular reforms, heterogeneous groupings and other innovative teaching techniques to which educators are attracted. As a consequence, there is a gap between the priorities of the general public and those of educators that creates a stumbling block to reform in local communities. In Public Agenda's study of students' attitudes, three-quarters of the teenagers surveyed said students should have to learn more and to pass tests before they could graduate.
Students seem to yearn for some discipline and structure and for being held accountable.
Kids were telling us in every possible way that no one was holding them accountable, not their parents, certainly not society, and not even their teachers. The study, Getting By , dramatically captured in teens' own words how easy it is to get by in school, how little one has to do to simply move from grade to grade. They are very aware of the fact that, if asked to do more, they would produce and that, if held to higher standards, they would achieve more. While there is virtual consensus among all groups that we studied about the need for higher standards, it's very important that we make that goal real and concrete in all the messages that we deliver to our kids each day in every single classroom. We must also make it clear that there are consequences for students regarding their achievement of standards and that they will be held accountable by their parents and others in the community.