Posted on: Friday, September 17, 2004

BOE designates 'essential' standards

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

KAPA'AU, Hawai'i — The state Board of Education last night took a step to help teachers sort through the vast educational requirements listed in the Hawai'i Content and Performance Standards by designating which material is "essential" and which is merely "desirable."

Teachers reported that the original array of required standards "were too numerous to address relative to the amount of time in the school day and the school year," according to a report submitted to the board.

"What they're doing is they're trying to teach the whole thing, and in doing that we're missing the depth to go into the standards to make sure that the students fully understand and are able to perform at that level," Schools Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto said in an interview.

That problem led to an effort to sift through the standards to identify the most important information students should be taught. Education officials reasoned that would help teachers structure their lesson plans to make sure the essential areas are covered.

Hamamoto said the "essential" standards are the facts and concepts students must master before they can advance to more sophisticated, higher-level work.

Hamamoto said she "absolutely" expects that giving teachers clear direction on which standards are most important will help to boost standardized test scores, and said she is confident students won't lose anything by focusing on some material more than others.

If time allows, the "desirable" standards material would also be incorporated into the lessons, according to the report to the board.

The board in February set out which standards are essential and which are desirable for language arts and mathematics, and last night made the same distinctions for science, social studies, career and life skills, educational technology, fine arts, health, physical education and world languages.

The standards were all reviewed with the help of primary and secondary school teachers, according to the proposal submitted to the board.

In other business, the board deferred action on a proposed dress code policy for teachers and other adult public school employees after a representative from the Hawaii Government Employees Association objected to the idea.

Board members plan to meet with union representatives to discuss their objections.

The proposed new policy was partly driven by complaints by students and parents, and partly by a desire on the part of the public school system to have its employees demonstrate proper behavior for the students, Hamamoto said.

"We talk about what is appropriate in the workplace, what is appropriate presentation, and with that, we need to model it," Hamamoto said.

Public school students have long been subject to dress codes on some campuses, and Hamamoto said some students have been complaining about their teachers' attire.

The proposed new policy would have required that the dress, grooming and personal hygiene of each department employee "be appropriate to the work situation," and be safe.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.