Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 15, 1993 TAG: 9308260236
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: WAYNE BRACKENRICH
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The next thing you know, you spy one of them in the frozen-food section. You rush home as your taste buds scream with anticipation of this wonderful cuisine. After popping it in the microwave you grab fork and knife in hand as the dinner counts down - 3, 2, 1, beep, and it is done. You rip off the cover of the delectable dinner, only to discover, to your disappointment, a small heap of shriveled vegetables, very dry rice, and, oh, yes, the dehydrated, tough entree that is supposed to be chicken ala something or other.
With much anger, you throw your meal and its packaging into the garbage, thinking that you are out only by way of disappointment and a few dollars of your hard-earned payroll check.
There is not a better analogy I know that describes the latest version of state-mandated education that is coming to Virginia from its Department of Education in Richmond for us ``consumers'' to swallow. It is called ``World Class Education'' or ``The Virginia Common Core of Learning,'' and it goes on sale very soon (1994) in your local area. Buyers beware!
This piece of goods is not a new concept at all. It is really called ``Outcome-Based Education.'' It is sometimes called mastery learning, restructuring, relearning, cooperative learning or global education.
OBE was developed by Theodore Sizer, William Spady and William Glasser and has been around for many years. In fact, J.L. Blair Buck wrote of a core curriculum plan he wanted implemented by the state of Virginia in 1932 that would revolutionize education in Virginia by organizing instruction around ``social and economic problems,'' a ``real-life'' educational program that blended social problems with conventional studies of English, math, etc. His model was soundly rejected in Virginia then, and needs to be looked at very closely by the people of Virginia today.
Consider these facts:
OBE is experimental. No long-term study has been done to confirm that these radical changes will result in any significant advancement in learning. In Chicago, for instance, black parents sued educrats for malpractice, charging that OBE had turned their elementary school into a ``factory of failure'' as test scores plunged with the implementation of this program.
Canada repealed its OBE, instituted in 1989, after two years of chaos. In Milwaukee, 60 percent of all ninth-graders did not complete high school, and of the 40 percent who stayed in school and walked across the stage to receive their diploma, only 10 percent could read. In this OBE public school system, 62 percent of the teachers and administrators refuse to send their kids to the public school system.
It changes the focus of assessment from objectives to outcomes. These outcomes are attitudinal and behavioral. They are performance-based assessments in which the answer is the behavior itself, rather than a description of it.
1. Personal well-being.
2. Interpersonal relationships.
3. Lifelong learning.
4. Cultural and creative endeavors.
5. Work and economic well-being.
6. Local and global civic participation.
7. Environmental stewardship.
On the surface they look desirable, but dig deeper and you will see a potential for indoctrination of the ``politically correct'' kind. I wonder who will define and set up these so-called ``outcomes''? Do you think it will be the parents of the state?
Teachers are going to go nuts with this program. It is estimated the average teacher of 30 children will have to give 2,000 or 3,000 outcome tests a year. And consider the time needed to teach reading, writing and arithmetic.
At Spring View Middle School in California, the OBE program instituted in 1990 was reviewed after just two years and it was found that only one book was read of a list of 14 cited for English. Also note that 40 percent of seventh-graders received D's and F's in math, and also note that fewer than 10 of 90 students in eighth grade passed the state-required constitution test on the first attempt.
The fact is that most OBE programs drop spelling as an actual course because of lack of time to teach it. In 1988, Minnesota did a legislative audit and found that 55 percent of class time was devoted to non-academic subjects. And, of course, think of the retraining needed. And the cost of it all.
I could go on and on, but I think you get my point. This ``World Class Education'' is nothing more than a Trojan horse slowly being pushed into your home town, city or county. Its proponents will be putting on a media blitz that will rival none, in hopes that we, the consumer, will buy this package.
The only thing they do not realize is that consumers like you and me are not consumers after all. We are the owners of this product called education, and we, the parents and grandparents and concerned citizens of Virginia, want a better product from our ``employees,'' f+inoto a product that, once bought and implemented, will cost more than simple disappointment or a lot of money, but will cost us the future in this great state of Virginia - our children's education.
\ Wayne Brackenrich, M.D. is a family physician in Rich Creek.
by CNB