Published Online: August 2, 2012

Commentary

Give the Standards Back to Teachers

By John Ewing

Good article that you should read in its entirety:

"After two decades of standards, we still wring our hands about student declines, unfocused curricula, and dreadful textbooks. There is little evidence that previous standards substantially improved education, and the fact th

at we continually replace old standards with new does not suggest success.

Why have previous standards failed? I think the answer is simple and evident: Standards failed because everybody owns them—politicians, administrators, teacher-educators (not to mention policy experts, publishers, and others)—everybody except the people who actually have to implement them, who have to use them as guides for the real work of instruction, and who have to determine whether the standards really are “statements about what is valued.” Teachers have never owned standards.

Politicians take ownership of standards before any other group" 

Is this heresy?

"Teachers themselves must become the leaders when implementing the standards. Those who have mastered the ideas and content must mentor their peers. Those who are challenged must work with their colleagues; those who are indifferent must become engaged; those who are cynical must be won over. Teachers must shape both the standards and their assessments as educational tools rather than data-gathering instruments. "

Read on here.