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

DATE: SUNDAY, April 2, 1995                   TAG: 9504110014
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: G-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JAMES P. JONES
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WHY STANDARDS OF LEARNING IN VIRGINIA?

The Virginia Board of Education is required by law to develop standards of learning for use by local schools. These standards attempt to set goals for each grade level and each subject. The standards are not a lesson plan for each day of class, but a statement of what a child should know and be able to do at the end of each year. For example, what should a 3rd-grader be able to do in math by the end of the year? What should a 10th-grader know about history and geography at the end of that year?

The present standards have not been revised since the 1980s. In keeping with a campaign pledge, Gov. Allen recently proposed revised standards of learning in math, science, English and social studies. The state Board of Education has scheduled public hearings around the Commonwealth to hear comments about these new standards. Following the public comment period, the board will approve the standards, either in part or in whole, or suggest that they be revised further.

Standards are controversial, and the present revisions are no exception. Some teachers have complained that the proposed new standards are unrealistically demanding, particularly in the lower grades. The 3rd-grade history standards, for example, require children to "identify major events in the history of England from 1215 to 1688 that contributed to the development of parliamentary democracy." One local school superintendent was quoted as saying that he felt such a topic was more appropriate for high school students, rather than 3rd-graders.

Some critics charge that the standards were politicized by the Governor's Commission on Champion Schools, which extensively rewrote the English and social-studies standards. It has been pointed out, for example, that any direct references to slavery and segregation were removed from the proposed history standards, perhaps in an effort to make sure that the standards were not unduly "politically correct."

Other attempts at developing standards, at other times, have been criticized as being too politically liberal. Lynne Cheney, the former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, has repudiated voluntary national history standards, which she originally helped fund, on the ground that they fell under the influence of left-leaning college professors. Closer to home, the Wilder administration's "Common Core of Learning" - an earlier attempt at state standards - was derailed in 1993 by the opposition of conservatives who contended that the standards were not academically rigorous.

In spite of this controversy, the difficulty in arriving at acceptable standards should not deter us from the task itself. Standards applicable to all children in Virginia are an essential element in improving our public schools. Without an agreed-upon standard of achievement, we cannot make sure that children reach acceptable levels of knowledge and skills, nor can we be sure that our schools are held accountable for their successes or failures.

If we are to demand more of students and schools in order to meet the challenges of the modern world, we must have some understanding of what accountability means. Standards that are both demanding and realistic, and written in such a way as to be understood by parents as well as teachers, are the only way to make sure that we can reach our goal of better academic performance.

James P. Jones, of Abingdon, is president of the Virginia Board of Education.