Sunday, July 5, 2009

Governors say: We Need New Standards!

What are the most frequently used words in marketing? New and improved.
And that's what were about to get from the The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). A new set of National Standards in English and Math, all by December.
(These must really be the brightest kids in the room!)
Yay.
More standards.
Cool.
And they'll be new.... and improved.
I'll bet there will be some more tests too.
You know, if I were a test maker, say Pearson, The College Board, Holt and Reinhart, I'd be sure my people were having lunch with their people.
Check out the list of participants. Looks like The College Board and ACT got the memo.
And, finally, with a new set of standards those silly teachers will be able to see that line in the sand and make sure they get their kids up to it - or else.
And just to make sure those teachers don't get any crazy ideas about suggesting other options, there's not a classroom teacher in sight when it comes to these new and improved discussions.
Here's a news flash: when I work with students I can find out pretty quickly who's on target, who's way ahead and who's waaaaay behind. It's that last group that challenges me as a teacher and keeps me awake at night. Sometimes, frankly, I don't know how to make the needed gains in the time I have.
I could use some help.
Not to worry.
There will likely be a new round of tests so we can see just how far we have to go....
Now won't that be an improvement?

No comments:

Post a Comment