The norm-referenced competitive environment of our schools is difficult for the below-average student. These students could achieve at higher levels if our educational system changed to one in which an individual is evaluated against identifiable standards of excellence. Below-average students would be motivated to increase their efforts and less…

Demoralized by disappearing dollars and omission of the arts from national education goals, the arts education community has formed a consortium of professional organizations to write standards and address related issues, such as balance among the arts and multicultural and technological concerns. To anchor the arts firmly in the curriculum, they…

A seventh-grader explains why the Virginia Standards of Learning tests unfairly pressure her and her teachers. She wants her free reading time restored and wishes politicians would worry more about students understanding--not just memorizing--facts. She praises teachers who go beyond the SOL. (MLH)

Teaching portfolios are not just scrapbooks of random assignments and student work samples, but represent teachers' evolving reflections and analyses measured against rigorous standards. Thoughtful reflection, not a color printer, is the key to portfolio success. Tips on assembling suitable "artifacts" and handling anxiety and time…

Discusses the concept of double alignment, where the curriculum, instruction, and assessment are aligned to both state standards and the needs of students. Describes curricular, instructional, assessment, and administrative features of double alignment. (Contains 10 references.) (PKP)

Thoughtfully constructed standards provide valuable direction for curriculum and instruction. But to bring about significant improvement in education, standards must be linked to students' learning experiences and to classroom assessments. The author describes the table of specifications, a planning tool for analyze standards for instruction and…

The globalization of economies, the digitization of work, pressing health and security issues, and changing demographics have dramatically changed our world. Unlike previous generations, U.S. high school graduates will routinely buy from the world, sell to the world, work for international companies, manage employees from other cultures and…

In response to recent nostalgia about education's past, the author reviews the reality of educational history. In the 1950s schools were affected by disruption and violence. In the 1930s declining standards were cited. In the teens there was a 50 percent dropout rate. In the 1900s problems of student boredom and violence were documented. (MD)

Regulation and legislation make the role of the classroom teacher more bureaucratic. Legislators can contribute to the improvement of education by policy analysis and by making teacher salaries more competitive with the alternatives available to competent people. (MLF)

The only way to improve schools is to ensure that faculties judge local work using authentic standards and measures. Concrete benchmarks are needed that obviate both eccentric teacher grading and simplistic standardized testing. A school has standards when it adopts high, consistent expectations of all learners in all courses. Includes 11…

Early evidence indicates that, contrary to what many educators fear, current efforts to raise standards are having a beneficial effect on at-risk students. (Author/TE)

In December 1992, the National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment (NCSESA) discussed preliminary working documents addressing Science for All, an ambitious plan to develop comprehensive science education standards by 1994. The science standards will define the understanding level that all students--regardless of background,…

Recent research shows that an achievement gap exists between U.S. and Asian students. One reason is that U.S. students, their parents, and their teachers maintain unnecessarily lower performance standards than their Chinese and Japanese counterparts. Even with higher standards, longer school days, and new curricula, academic achievement will not…

A Michigan teacher involved her fourth-grade class in developing effective writing criteria by providing students with interesting writing samples and challenging them to select "plus" sentences from their own work to read in class. This modeling technique helped students recognize good writing and gain appreciation of the standards for…

Society's pervasive negative attitude about disability--which the author terms ableism--often makes the world an unwelcoming and inaccessible place for disabled people. An abelist perspective asserts that it is preferable for a child to read print rather than Braille, walk rather than use a wheelchair, spell independently rather than use a…