Higher Standards (NCTM)
There has been a tremendous push and a great deal of exposure recently
for higher standards in education for American students. In general I
am quite supportive of these endeavors. We were well ahead of the game
in mathematics because the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
had already worked for ten years on producing a document stating the standards
for students of today. These standards are pretty much being adopted by
states in their quest for higher standards because they are sound. They
are quite challenging, but I believe American students are capable of accomplishing
them.
We need to be careful, though, before we buy in to most of the media
hype and political rhetoric having to do with higher standards, especially
when the issue of accountability is mentioned. So far, in the State of
Florida for instance, most accountability issues have to do with classroom
teachers, individual schools, and school districts, which already have
the least control over funding or standard practices. Legislators do not
seem very concerned with a myriad of problems their mandates produce for
educators. Instead, they seem most concerned with finding reasons to cut
funding to schools to enhance their chances for reelection. This is understandable,
but sad. There are all sorts of "stakes" for teachers and schools, but
none for students, other than retention, which I have already mentioned
as unrealistic and counter-productive. Businesses complain about the caliber
of the education of their entry-level workers, but they continue to hire
them without any concern for transcripts or diplomas.
There is a general and misleading perception in the public arena that
the educational system is highly inefficient. Education-bashing appears
to be a popular pastime these days. Business leaders and politicians constantly
point to abuses within the system as an excuse for dismantling it. The
truth of the matter is that most businesses having five thousand plus employees,
as our district has, have many of the same problems. In many of these
business there are "Fat Cats" at the top, making outlandish salaries, middle
management, who are constantly in fear for their jobs, and the lowly worker,
who has the least input and the most responsibility for production. Sounds
like the school system to me. Please don't get me wrong, we also have
some very supportive business leaders who are doing a great deal to help
in reorganizing the system to make it more efficient. It's just that the
other group is just so "vocal." I keep hearing business leaders from this
group, along with politicians, bemoan the fact that our school system does
not prepare students to enter the work force. So what's new? It never
did. Twenty-five years ago when I prepared to graduate from college I
was told that I was not prepared completely to enter the business world.
I was told that any business willing to hire me would probably count on
taking at least a year to train me in their way of doing things before
I would be considered a contributing employee. It does not sound so different
from today to me.
We in the school system are also often compared to other countries,
sometimes fairly and sometime not. As an example, the Japanese system
of education is often praised, and rightly so. They are very efficient,
and their students appear to be very bright by almost any standard. However,
to compare American teachers to Japanese teachers is hardly equitable.
Japanese teachers spend only about forty percent of their time in classroom
instruction. Sixty percent of their time is spent in preparation, consultation
with colleagues and parents, and one would assume training and self-improvement.
Compare this to the American teacher, who spends eighty-five to ninety-five
percent of the time in direct supervision of students. It's hardly a fair
comparison. I do think we can learn things from observing the practices
of Japanese teachers. Some of my instructional practices are modeled after
what I see as effective strategies employed in Japan, but I do not feel
it's fair to directly compare the two systems for efficiency until we are
on equal footing.
I am convinced that higher standards can be accomplished by American students.
I find my students just as capable as any in the world. We all have to get
together, however, and stop laying blame. If we are committed to higher standards,
like the NCTM "Standards," and if everyone involved has high stakes for seeing
that the standards are reached, our students will respond by meeting them.
If my experience as a classroom teacher has taught me anything, it is that students
will accomplish whatever standards you truly expect them to accomplish. I very
much believe in my students' potential for production. They have not let me
down in the past, and I don't believe they'll let me down in the future.
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