
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, May 15, 1994                   TAG: 9405170047
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

STANDARDS

EDUCATORS ON the cutting edge these days are on to a profound new concept in the lexicon of school reform: more time doing rigorous work on hard subjects. Talk about a revolutionary development!

Consider:

Education Goals 2000, a measure recently signed by President Clinton, sets out national benchmarks for developing standards, monitoring academic progress and holding schools accountable.

The New York City school system recently made far tougher its graduation requirements for math and sciences. Three units of each now are required, instead of the old minimum of perhaps one accounting course and a smattering of biology.

A National Commission on Time and Learning reported the other day that American students spend less than half the time in school that students in Japan and Germany spend. Slowly, school systems around the country are beginning to respond to this fact, extending the school day or school year. (Except in Virginia, of course, where you need the General Assembly's special permission to start school before Labor Day.)

An argument often heard against tougher academic standards and longer schooling is that they are unfairly elitist. What will happen to the kids who can't keep up, especially poor children who begin at a disadvantage?

Well, we know what's happening to many of these kids now. They're treated to dumbed-down curriculum in short-attention sound-bites. Expectations are low, and the students often meet these expectations.

Is that doing them any favors? Why not demand more of everyone, and help them accomplish it? Why not let self-esteem flow from achievement? The surest impact of varying local education standards is a good education for the elite and poor outcomes for the poor.

Another argument heard against higher standards and longer hours is that tests and time are not the same as learning. True enough. But some accountability and measuring are needed. Better testing can show mastery of skills, not just memory of facts. And, surely, spending only half as much time in schoolwork as competitor-nations' kids must be having an effect. Is it not preposterous to suggest that perseverance and rigorous effort are incompatible with creativity?

A successful nation these days has to expect more of its schools and students. They, in turn, have to expect more of themselves.

by CNB