Posted on: Friday, November 26, 2004
ISLAND VOICES
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By Dave Rolf
To some, it probably looked like Noah's Ark, sitting out there in the middle of the display floor at the auto show — seemingly unrelated to the hundreds of polished new vehicles. The 84-foot long "Wall of Words" display was meant to contain key words and concepts that every student should know — from the Pythagorean theorem, to the code of Hammurabi to facts on Babe Ruth.
Like a giant sculpture of modern art, it depicted the extensive curriculum taught in many high-performing public schools across the country.
The Hawai'i Auto Dealers Association paid for and assembled the Wall of Words to make a point: Rigorous, research-based curriculum, such as the Core Knowledge program created by E.D. Hirsch, Jr. of the University of Virginia and currently used by at least 600 schools around the country, can help improve student verbal reasoning skills.
Why was it on display at the auto show? Because dealers here recognize that verbal reasoning is a key component in the skill set needed by automotive technicians, not to mention other professions throughout the country.
The association, comprised of owners of franchised new-car dealerships in Hawai'i, learned that two schools in Hawai'i had been using the rigorous research-based curriculum, and had achieved much success.
Out of the 100 schools in Hawai'i with significant numbers of lower-income families, two — Solomon Elementary and Kauluwela Elementary— were the first to achieve annual progress four years in row.
Observing the success at those campuses, the association helped draft HB-2353, the bill to facilitate SAT9 testing in grades 3-8 and one year in high school. With the help of all of Hawai'i's legislators, the testing measure was passed in 2002 by unanimous vote in both House and Senate and then signed into law by the governor.
Now the SAT9 is part of the Hawai'i Content and Performance Standards testing given every year to students in those grades.
We learned that SAT9, and the College Board's SAT test, are predominantly based on vocabulary skills. But that's what public schooling is. Thirteen years, from kindergarten to 12th, of learning words and concepts.
No standardized curriculum exists in Hawai'i. The state's tests were often testing the students on material that had not been taught in the classroom. A world-class rigorous curriculum would help solve that problem.
Legislators and Board of Education members attending the previews at the auto show over the years began to take notice. And the District Teachers of the Year, who all received use of cars compliments of various auto dealerships and auto dealer associations, had agreed to staff the education display and explain the curriculum to passers-by.
With the new funding flexibility from Act 51, and by employing some of the best of the new research-based curricula, like Core Knowledge, America's Choice, Success For All, Direct Instruction and High Schools That Work, Hawai'i could climb from our current position in the lower third of public education performance to the top, in 72 months.
Honowai Elementary's principal, Curtis Young, brought in America's Choice and watched the school's SAT9 scores improve dramatically.
The successes of other schools, using curricula like Core Knowledge and Direct Instruction, point the way for establishing a hybrid research-based curriculum throughout the Hawai'i school system.
It would take an enormous combined effort to create a new curriculum, and auto dealers along with a growing number of legislators, Board of Education members, and educators believe it will be worth the effort.
Hawai'i's kids are about to embark on a river of learning. It's time we all pitched in to provide the research-based curricula and great textbooks needed for that joy-filled journey.
David H. Rolf is executive director of the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association.
