I'd also like to extend a very warm welcome, to Wisconsin, to our special guests today...columnist Debra Saunders from the San Francisco Chronicle...one of the foremost experts in enviromental education, Dr. Michael Sanera...and a special welcome back to Wisconsin to Dr. Hawthorne Faison... who was acting superintendent for the Milwaukee Public School System at one time.
I want to thank the parents and all the others in attendance here today as well ... for giving up your time on a weekend to take part in this learning experience. And how about a round of applause for PRESS president Leah Vukmir ... who devotes so much time and energy to promoting educational excellence and reform in our schools ... and Andy Friesch, the vice president of PRESS ... and the members of the PRESS board of directors, Sally Hoy, and Dr. Jeffrey Jones, who have worked so hard to put this conference together.
We have a good group here today, I see ... parents, teachers, school board members ... your concern is evident, and more than that ... your willingness to become involved in the issues of education is laudable ... and necessary.
One of the issues I'd like to focus on specifically today, is various efforts by the state to set standards and assessment policies.
Most people won't disagree with the notion that we need to set basic academic standards for our children ... everywhere I go, I hear the same complaint ... from parents, from business owners ... even from teachers ... too many children are not being challenged to develop a solid academic foundation in the basics ... English, Math, History, Science, Geography.
According to a recent USA Today/ CNN/ Gallup Survey, six in ten Americans say academic standards are too low ... and children are not expected to learn enough. Eighty-seven percent of those surveyed said students should not be allowed to graduate from high school if they cannot pass an academic examination.
The problem is becoming more and more obvious. How many of us in this room have encountered the check-out clerks who can't make change ... or the receptionist who can't spell ... or the recent high school graduate who can't identify well-known historical figures. This, from high school graduates. People with diplomas. I am concerned and appalled. If our public school system does not produce educated young people ... we are headed for disaster.
The need for BASIC ACADEMIC STANDARDS which are knowledge based, not process oriented ... is indisputable, and there is movement toward establishing standards. For instance, in January of this year, the governor established a task force on education and learning, with a subcommittee on standards and assessment. One of our goals is to recommend a means to establish basic academic standards and model assessments that will help guarantee graduates have the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in life after high school.
The Department of Public Instruction has issued their version of statewide standards ... and is even now in the process of promoting them across the state. In other states, standards have either been adopted or are being developed. But, here's where we have to be careful. Setting statewide standards is a huge undertaking, fraught with controversy.
As a state ... we have to make sure these model standards are focused on basic academics, and not, as some of these versions are, on outcome based education principles. We have to make sure that when we go through a similar process to establish ASSESSMENTS, we stay away from performance based assessments, until we have better answers to some of the questions surrounding these types of tests.
We need to focus on the core academic subject areas, with assessment practices that are tried and true. And again, this goes back to the bottom line in education ... and the essence of my beliefs. Our kids must have the basic skills and knowledge to go on successfully to post-secondary school, or to enter the work force. The more we focus on vague, nebulous, feel-good O.B.E.... the less time we have to spend on real academics.
I'd like to illustrate the difference between the two ... William Spady, the father of outcome based education, says O.B.E. emphasizes BROAD, ATTITUDINAL, AFFECTIVE, MOTIVATIONAL, AND RELATIONAL QUALITIES OR ORIENTATIONS RATHER THAN PARTICULAR KINDS OF KNOWLEDGE OF INFORMATION.
I'm still not sure exactly what that means, but I know what it doesn't mean ... It doesn't mean focusing on basic academics ... like writing, reading, math, science and geography.
As I mentioned, our Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction has released their set of standards. I was paging through it, looking for the standards they had set for history. I couldn't even find a section called history. Finally, I decided, history must be what they are now calling, "Time, Continuity, and Change." Students will be expected to , and this is a quote ... "reinterpret the past" ... and "explain that historical interpretations may describe the same event in different ways." Are we going to re-invent history, or revise it, to meet new politically correct guidelines?
Contrast that with the clear, solid expectations set out in Virginia's Standards ... which read in part, "the student will analyze the historical developments of the renaissance, including artistic, literary and intellectual creativity, by studying DaVinci, Michelangelo, and Shakespeare, as contrasted with the Medieval Period."
Here's another example of DPI's standards ... under the Civics section of DPI's standards ... it says "by grade eight, students will be able to compare how the rights, roles and responsibilities of individuals change, depending on their gender, age, education and income levels ... " WHAT? How do your rights change depending on your gender or age?
DPI's version of standards must not be seen as the final version of statewide standards in the State of Wisconsin. People need to understand they don't have to accept this package ... There are other options for better, and clearer, standards with a focus on academics. It's going to take public involvement. Most people aren't aware that there are more than one set out there ... that it isn't this or nothing. With nothing to compare this to, it's going to be difficult. That's why we all need to become better informed ... and we need to find out what else is out there... It's not easy to persuade the Department of Public Instruction to change. I'll give you another example.
I've been trying to work with DPI on another issue as well ... setting membership for a panel that will review and approve a state education improvement plan, that will include standards and assessment strategies. The need for this panel goes back two years, under the federal Goals 2000 legislation. Under the law, the governor and state superintendent of each state are to work together to approve this plan. Governor Thompson's office tried for 18 months to agree on panel membership ... and were stymied at every turn. Three months ago, the Governor turned this issue over to me...and I can't tell you how frustrating its been. Superintendent Benson and I have gone back and forth, and back and forth over membership on this panel. The heart of the problem is this ... DPI wants the panel made up of it's representatives ... people they can control, and count on to support the current system, and proposals contained in the Goals 2000 application. I want a group which asks critical but constructive questions ... I want parents, business representatives, education reform experts and authors on this panel. Real people who look at the system from a different perspective than an insider or lifelong bureaucrat.
I believe our education system needs careful, and thoughtful, examination and discussion, with the views of all represented. We don't need a panel that will simply rubber-stamp D.P.I.'s agenda. The bottom line is this ... the status quo in the educational establishment is very used to getting what it wants ... either by strength of numbers, or by delaying tactics. As a result, change will only come about when we are equally determined and committed. As I mentioned before, Governor Thompson and I have both made education reform efforts, including the development of academic standards and a high school graduation test prioritites. In response, Superintendent Benson and the Department have mobilized their constituencies and developed their own set of draft standards. This is of course, all building to the upcoming legislative session ... when policy decisions are made, and funding either provide or denied for implementing items like standards and assessments. Your continued involvement in these issues is absolutely critical. We have to act now - - or live with the consequences of someone else's decisions!
Thank you ! ! !