Posted on: Tuesday, November 27, 2001
Island Voices
Education standards gaining
By Patricia Sasaki
Coordinator, Strategic Plan for Standards-based Reform
Standards-based education is predicated on the notion that every student can reach a higher level of achievement if those levels are clearly defined, if students know in advance the criteria for meeting them, and if teaching, learning and assessment are tailored to support the achievement of students who work hard.
In line with that notion, Hawai'i made content and performance standards for students both state law and Board of Education policy.
In 1998, however, a Performance Standards Review commission convened by law to assess the effectiveness of the performance standards reported:
• There is no overarching vision of performance standards as the central driving force to improve student learning.
• There has been no systematic implementation plan for the Hawai'i Content and Performance Standards.
• School-level implementation has been haphazard, resulting in uneven quality and effort.
• A statewide assessment system is lacking.
Commissioners asked educators how they were using the 385-page book containing the standards. One honestly replied, "Oh, I use it for a paperweight."
So what has happened since 1998?
Paul LeMahieu.
As superintendent, his mantra was, "All children can learn to high standards. Standards will be at the core of everything we do."
He showed us that standards are not the latest bandwagon project or another flavor-of-the-month program. It's a way of thinking, an attitude, a belief system.
All children can learn means no child fails — it's our responsibility, all of us, to see to that. Once we begin to implement standards, naturally, we need to measure or assess how well we're meeting them, and then be accountable for the results.
Furthermore, common sense dictates that we can't expect teachers and schools to implement standards without reforming the environment they work in, which has been oriented toward traditional education (remember the bell curve? Twenty-three percent are expected to underachieve or fail), for over 100 years.
Since 1998, we've made progress to implement standards on several fronts:
• The Hawai'i Content and Performance Standards have been revised. They're more user-friendly, incorporate national standards, and have met the test of rigor by an external expert contracted by the office of the state auditor.
• Over 50 percent of the statewide assessment now includes items that measure student achievement standards. Twenty-six school assessment liaisons throughout the system assist teachers with classroom assessment of the standards.
• The Strategic Plan for Standards-based Reform outlines 126 action items — tasks and strategies needed to change the Department of Education system from traditional to standards-based. As of October, 91 have been completed or are in progress, 19 are delayed, and the rest have future deadlines.
• A Standards Implementation Design engages whole school communities in integrating their curriculum, instructional strategies, training and use of resources to ensure that all of their students meet the standards. Every school will have its Standards Implementation Design completed by December.
But implementation of the standards is not uniform. In the sea of standards, some teachers, students, parents, administrators, even whole schools are demonstrating that they are nothing less than Olympic-quality contenders. Others resemble the steady and sure progress of long-distance swimmers. Many are treading water and struggle daily to get the hang of it. Some have just recently waded in.
The miracle of Paul LeMahieu is that we're all at the same shore, looking in the same direction, sharing the same attitude, and envisioning the same destination for all of our students. Since 1998 we've moved the standards from paperweight to pilgrimage. We'd be failing the children and ourselves if we turn away from this journey now.
