The Need For Federal Government Involvement In — страница 2

formulas to be memorized.” The National Science Teachers Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science quickly launched independent attempts to identify standards in science. Efforts soon followed in the fields of civics, dance, theater, music, art, language arts, history, and social studies, to name a few. OUTCOME BASED EDUCATION MOVEMENT The decade of the 80s brought numerous education reforms, but few of them were a dramatic shift from what has gone on before. Outcome-based education (OBE) is one of those that is new, even revolutionary, and is now being promoted as the panacea for America’s educational woes. This reform has been driven by educators in response to demands for greater accountability by taxpayers and as a vehicle for breaking with

traditional ideas about how we teach our children. If implemented, this approach to curriculum development could change our schools more than any other reform proposal in the last thirty years. The focus of past and present curriculum has been on content, on the knowledge to be acquired by each student. Our language, literature, history, customs, traditions, and morals, often called Western civilization, dominated the learning process through secondary school. If students learned the information and performed well on tests and assignments, they received credit for the course and moved on to the next class. The point here is that the curriculum centered on the content to be learned; its purpose was to produce academically competent students. The daily schedule in a school was

organized around the content. Each hour was devoted to a given topic; some students responded well to the instruction, and some did not. Outcome-based education will change the focus of schools from the content to the student. Three facts drive this new approach to creating school curricula: * Fact 1: All students can learn and succeed, but not on the same day or in the same way. * Fact 2: Each success by a student breeds more success. * Fact 3: Schools control the conditions of success. In other words, students are seen as totally malleable creatures. If we create the right environment, any student can be prepared for any academic or vocational career. The key is to custom fit the schools to each student’s learning style and abilities. The resulting schools will be vastly

different from the ones recent generations attended. Yearly and daily schedules will change, teaching responsibilities will change, classroom activities will change, the evaluation of student performance will change, and most importantly, our perception of what it means to be an educated person will change. Common Arguments in Favor of Outcome-Based Education * Promotes high expectations and greater learning for all students. * Prepares students for life and work in the 21st Century. * Fosters more authentic forms of assessment (i.e., students write to show they know how to use English well, or complete math problems to demonstrate their ability to solve problems). * Encourages decision making regarding curriculum, teaching methods, school structure and management at each school

or district level. Common Arguments Against Outcome-Based Education * Conflicts with admission requirements and practices of most colleges and universities, which rely on credit hours and standardized test scores * Some outcomes focus too much on feelings, values, attitudes and beliefs, and not enough on the attainment of factual knowledge * Relies on subjective evaluation, rather than objective tests and measurements. * Undermines local control. NATIONAL STANDARDS Both the “Standards” movement and “OBE” movement have particular strengths and weaknesses. Their means and methods are different however, their objective is the same — To improve the education of future generations. We all remember the profound statements our parents repeated to us as we grew up. One of my

favorites was, “You can’t get anywhere if you’re not moving”. Years can be spent arguing if “OBE” is better then “Standards” and vice versa. They both are heading toward the same destination so let’s get moving and we’ll argue on the way. It is time for the Federal Government to take the lead and start the nation down the road. One of the fundamental principles of our nation should be the paramount concern of this Government body. EQUALITY! In this case equality is achieved through standards. STANDARDS IN EDUCATION General standards in education have existed formally for over a century but as time went on, local school systems have expanded their curriculum to meet the needs of the local community. National standards must be established to alleviate variances