Staying with the Standards Movement (1997)

Next to children can learn at high levels, most frequently heard phrase in education reform these days seems to be This, too, shall It has most often been attributed to teachers, whose answer to wave after wave of faddish clamoring that they do things indeed, everything - differently has been to dig in, close their doors, and wait for hype to die down. Considering suspect quality of some of ideas and programs that have washed over schools in recent years, teachers' patience in playing this waiting game has probably been quite sensible. However, a remarkable switch is taking place. Now teachers and principals in many places are staying course and holding steady in desire to set higher standards for students. It is politicians-turned-reformers who act as if they want it all to pass. A recent headline in Week warned that standards movement is in trouble, but article also pointed out just how much federal officials have been waffling in their efforts to carry out intention of Goals 2000 to support reform through higher standards and new assessment systems. Whatever states have wanted to do - no matter how much it violated original intent of standards legislation or how much it became mired in political rather than professional issues - states have done, with blessing of (or at least with no demurral from) federal officials. In some states controversies have erupted, and open processes have turned into closed-door decision-making sessions about what students should learn. The reason? Politicians, including governors and state board leaders, decided that they knew more than anyone else. Meanwhile, Congress killed technical assistance process. which would have created a council to develop voluntary criteria for standards and so might have helped some states avoid acrimony. A year ago this month, second Summit ended with great enthusiasm over an agreement between governors and business leaders to establish an ongoing effort to keep standards and accountability on everyone's agenda. As I write this, Achieve - name at long last given to this effort, once known as the entity - still did not have a director and had no more money than $5 million that had been pledged immediately after Summit. At winter meeting of National Governors' Association, Achieve was mentioned only briefly as an item of current business. At Summit governors pledged to establish internationally competitive academic standards, assessment tools, and accountability systems within two years. Time is running out. With their revolution having pretty much run out of steam, House Republican leaders have abandoned their pledge to do away with U.S. Department of and are seeking to carry out their agenda incrementally, according to staff members. All of this will take place in a spirit of bipartisanship, they hasten to add. Yet first bipartisan action out of gate took form of field hearings to shape education legislation. These hearings, labeled Education at Crossroads: What Works and What's Wasted, are set to focus on parent involvement, basic academics, and ways in which money gets into classrooms. Meanwhile, Democrats are concentrating their legislative efforts on help with capital expenses, literacy programs, and technology. Congress approved a generous amount for Goals 2000, but leadership now deems focus on standards-based reform as worthy of only routine notice as one item in a long list of programs that are up for reauthorization, In addition, President Clinton's continued rhetoric about reform through higher standards probably just strains veneer of bipartisanship even further. This is his agenda, not theirs, leaders of Republican Congress seem to be saying. Sen. James Jeffords (R-Vt.), chair of Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, seems more interested in finishing up work on programs that have expired, while Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss. …