THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 1, 1994 TAG: 9407280009
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
Once again, someone who knows nothing about true Outcomes Based Education bashing OBE. Last time it was editorial page editor John Barnes linking OBE to self-esteem; now it's Bill Thomas referring to it as student appeasement (``We fail our children by demanding too little of them,'' Another View, July 22). OBE is none of those.
Ironically, if OBE were implemented the way it was meant to be, it would accomplish exactly what Mr. Thomas wants.
Somehow, Virginians were led to believe that OBE was part of the self-esteem, ``feel good'' movement. It is not. It is currently practiced in 42 states (not in Virginia, as Mr. Thomas seems to think).
OBE is a simple concept: Civic leaders, parents, teachers, business leaders, career experts and school administrators decide what it is that students should learn. If the student does not learn the desired outcome and cannot demonstrate that he or she has learned it, the student does not pass or graduate.
Traditionally, we have based curricula on what we thought we should teach, ignoring the obvious approach of what we think a student should learn.
OBE is zero based. You start with a clean slate and build a curriculum based on what the leadership within the community thinks the students need to learn to be successful in this life. Without assessment, it is impossible to know if learning is taking place. In today's public schools, the only truly accurate assessment is attendance.
ROSS A. WORD
Virginia Beach, July 22, 1994 by CNB