Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 26, 1995 TAG: 9503270079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
It hasn't worked out that way.
The proposed new standards have created controversy, bringing charges that political ideology has influenced the process.
Gov. George Allen's Commission on Champion Schools has come under attack from social studies teachers, for instance, for changing the proposed new standards for that curriculum.
This week, parents and teachers are expected to turn out in force as the state Board of Education begins a series of public hearings across the state on the new standards. In the Roanoke Valley, a hearing will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at William Byrd High School in Vinton.
Rob Jones, president of the Virginia Education Association, has urged teachers to attend.
"Ask the tough questions. To do less is to shirk our professional duty and our duty to the future of our commonwealth," said Jones, who has sharply criticized some of the standards.
Some of the Standards of Learning have not been revised for five years or longer.
The standards define what the students should know and be able to do at each grade level. They identify the subject matter, skills and knowledge that the student is expected to master in each grade.
New standards have been developed for math, science, English and social studies.
The goal was to develop standards that were to be "academic, rigorous, measurable and free of jargon," said William Bosher, state superintendent of public instruction.
"This is an effort to lift academic expectations," Bosher said. "It's a tremendous undertaking with significant consequences for the young people of Virginia."
The revised standards were developed through the leadership of four school systems - Newport News (social studies), Virginia Beach (English), Prince William County (science) and Fairfax County (mathematics).
Teachers from across the state worked with the committees that drafted the standards. Parents, special-interest groups and professional organizations also have participated. Bosher said more than 4,000 people have been involved in the revisions.
State education officials had hoped that using school systems to guide the process and the wide participation by different groups would lead to a consensus.
That has occurred with the new math and science standards, which have caused little conflict. But not so with the social studies standards and, to a lesser extent, the English proposals.
Social studies teachers charge that the proposed standards are inappropriate for early elementary pupils, redundant for middle and high school students and overemphasize rote learning.
The teachers are incensed that Allen's Commission on Champion Schools and the state Department of Education made broad changes in the standards that the teachers had drafted. Some have suggested that conservative politics were behind the move to emphasize ancient history and rote learning in the social studies standards.
"If we want to develop analytical and critical thinking skills, we have a problem with these standards," said David Wymer, supervisor for social studies for Roanoke County schools.
Bosher denies that politics was a factor in the changes. Revisions were made to make the standards more measurable, one of the goals in drafting new ones, he said. Some would not have not met the measurability criteria, he said.
Jones, who heads the teachers' group, said the standards suggested by the state focus on lower-order thinking skills.
James Jones, president of the state Board of Education, said the changes by the commission caused concerns, but he hopes that teachers and parents will put that issue behind them.
"The issue now is: What are the best standards? What changes should be made?" he said.
The English standards also have come in for criticism for emphasizing isolated skill instruction, lacking adequate connections between reading and writing and requiring phonics for all children before some are able to master them.
There have been complaints that the list of suggested sacred writings in the English standards include only "Meditations" by John Donne and "Brian Wildsmith's Illustrated Bible Stories" by Philip Turner.
The state board will make the decision on the standards, which in turn will be the basis for an assessment program that will determine how schools are doing.
The assessment proposal has teachers worried because they don't know how it will work or what the penalties will be for schools that fail to meet the standards.
The Department of Education has begun work on the assessment program, but it is not expected be finished for a couple of years.
"We are developing the assessment program, but we need to develop the standards first," said Lewis Nelson, a member of the state Board of Education from Roanoke.
The VEA has not endorsed the proposed new standards, saying it needs to know more about the philosophy behind them.
"We are told that the assessment will lead to report cards for schools. And we are told that the report cards determine accreditation of schools," Rob Jones said. "What we don't know is how the state will treat schools which are not accredited."
Although the VEA has not backed the new standards, Bosher said he believes that the state's teachers support the move to develop them.
James Jones, the president of the Board of Education, said there is a feeling among board members and education reformers that "there ought to be consequences" for school systems that fail to meet the standards. But he said it has not been determined whether the standards will be used in accrediting schools.
The Allen administration wants the new standards to become regulations. The standards now are merely guidelines - not mandatory.
A bill was defeated during the recent General Assembly to make the new standards mandatory, but the issue is expected to be back before the legislature next year.
Even if the standards are mandatory, Nelson said, school systems still would have leeway in determining how they would meet them.
"We would set the standards and then the schools could decide their schedules, teaching techniques and approaches," he said.
"I see this as an answer to charter schools. Principals and teachers could use whatever practices they choose to get an end result," Nelson added.
by CNB