Working to Improve Our Kids' Schools
The purpose of this Advocacy Brief is to inform parents
about the exciting education reform that is taking place in this state. It will discuss
why it is necessary, how it will look, and how your children will benefit from it. But
first, a brief summary of how it got started:
Goals 2000: Educate America Act
The Goals 2000: Educate America Act was passed by
Congress and signed by President Clinton in March 1994. It is based on the American 2000
program initiated by the National Governors' Association and the Reagan and Bush
administrations, truly a bipartisan and national grassroots piece of legislation. The U.S.
Department of Education intends to use state improvement plans as the umbrellas under
which all federal education programs will operate and be evaluated in the future. That
means that we will only need one state plan and one school plan for all federally funded
programs. If this direction continues, it will truly be a revolution in federal-state
relations.
The Goals 2000: Educate America Act formally adopted the
eight National Education Goals originally developed under America 2000. The National
Education Goals include:
- All children in America will start school ready to learn.
- The high school graduation rate will increase to at least 90 percent.
- All students will leave grades 4, 8, and 12 with competency in core subjects and
prepared for responsible citizenship, further learning, and productive employment.
- The nation's teachers will have access to programs for the continued improvement of
their professional skills and the opportunity to acquire knowledge and skills needed to
educate all students for the next century.
- U.S. students will be first in the world in mathematics and science.
- Every adult American will be literate and will possess knowledge and skills necessary to
compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
- Every school in the U.S. will be free of drugs, alcohol, violence, and firearms, and
will offer a disciplined environment conducive to learning.
- Every school will support partnerships that will increase parental involvement and
participation in promoting the social, emotional, and academic growth of children.
The Principles Behind Education Reform in Washington State
- Expect More...Get More. All children deserve an equal chance to meet
much higher academic standards. Our children are up to the challenge. If we expect more,
we will get more from our students.
- The Basics...Plus. The "basics" --- reading, writing,
communication, and mathematics are the foundation to learning. If students are to be
better prepared for the future, schools will need to teach them to develop a much stronger
set of skills in the basics as well as to be independent, complex thinkers able to solve
problems and keep up with the latest breakthroughs.
- The Public: Our Essential, Valuable Partner. The reality is that no
single law, commission, or advocacy group will be able to affect change of this magnitude
without the support and involvement of people who are the primary customers of education:
families and communities. Success comes when citizens are equal and valued partners in the
education of all our children in this state.
The Washington State Comprehensive Plan for the Improvement of Student
Learning: A Framework for Excellence
Washington State is far ahead of many states in planning
for education improvement. The process began with the Schools for the 21st Century (1988),
found voice in the Governor's Council on Education Reform and Funding (1991), and
culminated in a series of education reform legislation (1992-1996).
By the fall of 1997, the Commission on Student Learning
intends to have the standards and assessments available for school districts to implement
on a voluntary basis. The law calls for full implementation by the year 2000.
The Washington State Comprehensive Plan for the Improvement
of Student Learning integrates high academic standards with new ways of assessing student
learning, new teacher certification requirements, state and federal education programs,
and plans that support better workforce training and comprehensive services for families
in need.
The plan was developed by a coordinating council of
representatives from educational boards and commissions, higher education, education
organizations, and educators representing minority communities. These planning activities,
administration of the grant funds, and assessment development are supported by 10 percent
of the Goals 2000 funds Washington receives.
The other 90 percent of the Goals 2000 funds are used for
grants to support local district and school planning, staff development, and teacher
training programs. Goals 2000 student learning improvement competitive grants have been
awarded to almost 200 school districts for planning and implementation and to a consortia
of schools and colleges to improve teacher preparation. Schools and educators will be
better prepared to meet the challenges of the state's student learning goals.
The Washington State student learning goals are:
...to provide students with the opportunity to become
responsible citizens, to contribute to their own economic well-being and to that of their
families and communities, and to enjoy productive and satisfying lives. To these ends, the
goals of each school district, with the involvement of parents and community members,
shall be to provide opportunities for all students to develop the knowledge and skills
essential to:
- Read with comprehension, write with skill, and communicate effectively and responsibly
in a variety of ways and settings.
- Know and apply the core concepts and principles of mathematics; social, physical and
life sciences; civics and history; geography; arts; and health and fitness.
- Think analytically, logically, and creatively, and integrate experience and knowledge to
form reasoned judgments and solve problems.
- Understand the importance of work and how performance, effort, and decisions directly
affect future career and educational opportunities.
Washington State's plan for reaching these goals is based
on three fundamental concepts:
- Performance-Based Education: Increasing student achievement by setting clear standards
and by holding both students and schools responsible for reaching higher levels of
performance.
- Opportunities to Learn: Working with communities to ensure that all students come to
school ready to learn and that they receive instruction appropriate to their stage and
style of learning, so that they will be able to succeed in the new performance-based
system.
- Career Preparation: Making education more meaningful by connecting academics with the
community and by introducing students to a variety of career options.
Seven elements interconnect the plan's three fundamental
concepts: alignment with state and national goals, assessment and accountability,
educational technology, parental/community participation, professional development and
certification, orderly learning environments, and locally-based decision-making. These
criteria lay the groundwork for systemic improvement.
Why is it important to reform education?
The quality of education impacts us all --- parents,
businesses, senior citizens, and especially the students themselves as they prepare to
move America into the 21st century.
It is the anticipation of the 21st century that led to the
statewide effort to improve Washington's education system. Communities of parents,
educators, business leaders, and legislators have been examining a number of issues over
the last few years:
- Until about twenty years ago, there were plenty of family-wage jobs in
our economy for those who did not have much education. But with each passing year, the
educational requirements of the job market have risen. Now, nearly all jobs that pay good
wages require both a stronger foundation in reading, writing, mathematics, and specialized
technical or professional skills that require education or training beyond high school.
- Employers are demanding to know more about what job applicants can do.
A high school diploma tells that a graduate sat through all the required courses, but it
does not reveal whether the graduate can actually apply the skills that were included in
the curriculum.
- Many of the jobs that will be available in the 21st century have not yet been
created. More than ever before, our graduates need a strong academic base that
can be transferable to a variety of occupations and life situations.
- Beyond the world of work, other challenges face today's students. They
will live in a more multicultural country, in a more crowded and complex world, and they
will live in the midst of constant technological and global change. Successful community
members and parents in the 21st century will need to become lifelong learners who know how
to find, evaluate, and use new knowledge throughout their adult lives.
How will education restructuring look?
- Essential Academic Learning Requirements. Clear and specific
expectations and standards will define what students should know and be able to do as they
progress through school and before they receive a high school diploma. These standards
will be approved by the Washington State Commission on Student Learning.
- Statewide expectations, but local control. While it is important for
citizens to have skills that enable them to be successful anywhere, good schools are the
products of the people who reside in each community and who are responsible for supporting
students as they work to achieve these high standards. That is why Washington's school
improvement plan leaves local schools and communities free to decide how their students
will reach these goals. This increased flexibility at the local level is important to
meeting the specific needs of each community and is happening in a variety of ways.
Many schools throughout Washington State are beginning to
make more decisions at the school level and are including teachers, parents, and community
members in these decisions. Often referred to as site councils, they operate on the
expectation that good decisions come from good information. This is especially important
because schools will have to find new and improved ways to help students master essential
skills if all students are going to reach these higher standards. Bringing together all
stakeholders from the school community enables those who know the students best to make
decisions about things such as how classrooms are organized and which instructional
methods are most effective.
Another element of Washington's school improvement plan that
supports local control comes through state resources called student learning improvement
block grants. These grants give school communities the ability to discover what new skills
are needed to improve student learning and some resources to acquire those skills.
While the state will not be making decisions about how local
schools operate, a critical piece of the state plan is a new assessment system that will
let them know whether or not students are learning.
- Accountability through assessment. Accountability is a key component to
school improvement, and Washington State's plan also calls for the development of new ways
to measure whether students are meeting these higher standards. These new measures, called
assessments, will supplement existing reporting systems and will offer important
information to students, parents, schools, and the state as to why students have or have
not achieved higher standards. They will also indicate whether or not students are able to
demonstrate that they understand what they have learned and know how to use the knowledge
and skills they have gained. Once these assessments have been developed, all schools will
be required to report to the public on how well their students are measuring up to these
higher expectations.
- Technology: a driver of the future. An Education Technology Advisory
Committee was established to create a statewide plan for the use of technology in our
schools. The plan calls for resources, teacher training, curriculum development, and other
services necessary to bring technology into the schools. In the coming years, many of
these things will become operational in our classrooms: computers enabling students and
teachers to store and retrieve information; access to telecommunications that bring the
world to the school; interactive television that makes it possible for students and
teachers all over the state to talk and see one another --- even conduct classes;
multimedia technology that will add new dimension and new understanding to ideas; and
perhaps most important, technology that has not even been imagined.
- High school: transition to adulthood. Washington's school improvement
plan will offer all students career choices by ensuring that every student meet the new
educational standards. High school students will be held accountable for mastering the
skills and knowledge spelled out in the essential academic learning requirements in order
to earn a certificate of mastery at about age sixteen. The certificate of mastery will
verify that they have high levels of competence in reading, writing, math, science and
other academic subjects. In the past, students have been able to earn high school diplomas
by simply attending classes, regardless of whether or not they learned the subject matter.
Beginning in the year 2000, students will need a certificate of mastery in order to earn a
high school diploma.
The certificate of mastery will not be the only
requirement for graduation, however. After students demonstrate mastery of essential
skills and knowledge, they will most likely enter a more specialized training program that
will either prepare them for college entrance or to enter the working world after
graduation.
Why is it important to market education reform to parents and the community?
Today's students need higher standards, higher levels of
skills and knowledge, and higher expectations --- and they need them now!
As PTA leaders, it is important for you to get out there and
market education reform to parents and the community. Without broad community support of
education reform legislators may be tempted to repeal the education reform legislation.
For more information...
Speakers available
Contact your local Educational Service District for a
speaker to come to your PTA meeting and talk about education reform.
Commission on Student Learning (CSL)
The CSL maintains a site on the World Wide Web which
provides instant, 24 hour-a-day access to the Commission's work. Anyone with access to the
World Wide Web can view and download Essential Academic Learning Requirements, sample
assessment tasks, short research summaries, and other information. In addition, the CSL
website allows people to sign up for the Commission's mailing list and to submit questions
or comments. The address is: http://csl.wednet.edu
In addition the phone numbers are: (360) 664-3155 and (206)
439-3700.
Link Up with America Goes Back to School Online
All the information you need to launch an America Goes
Back to School: Get Involved! partnership is available through the U.S. Department of
Education's home page. The full text of the Partners' Activity Guide, with useful tips on
how to involve community partners in your efforts, can be accessed via the World Wide Web
at http://www.ed.gov/Family/agbts.
If you already have a back-to-school event planned, contact
us online so we can tell others about your activities. You can access a sign-up sheet from
the World Wide Web address above, add your information, and e-mail it back to
agbts@ed.gov.
America Goes Back to School is a year-round commitment to
improve learning. For more information, call 1-800-USA-LEARN. |