by Leah Vukmir and William G. Durden, Ph.D.
Wisconsin's educational system has been improving. But the rate of change has not been sufficient to ensure that state's children will be educationally prepared for the demands of the 21st century. As we enter the new knowledge-based century, we must take additional steps to bring the educational system up to the level required. Many steps must be taken to sufficiently change the system. But that change should begin at the beginning, the goals set for the system. Wisconsin should debate and adopt new, rigorous, concise, jargon-free, easy-to-understand, specific educational standards.
Educational standards are simply a series of statements about what it is that students should know and be able to do. The standards describe the knowledge and skills that schools are expected to teach and students are expected to learn. They are a measureable, academic description of what a student should know after a particular grade or course is completed. Standards include both substantive knowledge and process skills for utilizing that knowledge. Standards also include means of measuring the progress made.
A cursory debate on educational standards for Wisconsin has been started by the state Department of Public Instruction (DPI), with the release in September 1996 of its Discussion Drafts of Wisconsin's Academic Content and Performance Standards. The DPI has narrowly circulated a draft of some proposed educational standards for Wisconsin and engaged in modest discussion of their contents. This is a step in the right direction. But the standards being proposed and circulated are deficient in many ways. For example, they apply to only three grades. They cover 12 different subjects. They range from being very brief, vague statements to being extremely verbose, overly specified statements. The majority err on the side of inarticulateness. Educational standards are intended to give clear direction to students, teachers, and parents. The current DPI versions fail in this regard.
We strongly recommend a continuation of the development of educational standards for Wisconsin. We cite 10 reasons why this should occur. But the place to start is with the initial adoption of the standards developed in the state of Virginia. These standards have been developed over several years, with most of the effort occurring during the last two years. They reflect much public debate, as well as considerable professional input. They have been endorsed by the American Federation of Teachers and business associations. They include only core content areas, but they have specific contents for each grade, kindergarten through 12th. They are rigorous, concise, easy-to-understand statements of what it is that students should learn at each grade level in the core subjects.
The process that we recommend for adopting these standards is different from the one being used by the DPI. We propose that an independent commision be established to oversee the process. That commission should start with the adoption of the Virginia standards. Those standards should be changed modestly to reflect such elements as the inclusion of Wisconsin, rather than Virginia, history. Then, the proposed standards would be sent to every library and school board in the state. Each school board would be asked to hold a hearing on the standards. The commission itself would schedule additional hearings. After much public input, the commission would write the final version of the standards and publicize them statewide. Furthermore, it would oversee the creation and operation of an Institute of Validated Education Research to distribute "best-practice" research findings to the teachers of the state, so that they could achieve more quickly the success that the standards would demand.
Well-stated and appropriate educational standards are a critical ingredient in the prescription for Wisconsin's educational system. The adoption of appropriate standards is not a sufficient step for change, but it is an extremely necessary and important step. It is one that should be taken immediately. Wisconsin should adopt the rigor of Virginia.