Letter to the Editor
by Roseann T. Mesheau
CIT-0609-GR1 (51032)
Special Topics in Curriculum Design I
Nova Southeastern University
June 6, 2009
As I read the article “46 States Commit to Common-Standards Push” by Michele McNeil published by Education Week (www.edweek.org) on June 1, 2009, several concerns came to mind.
Okay, I thought, this will be a great thing. Teachers would be able to teach in any state. One licensure means a teacher can move to any state and teach. Online high school courses could now provide accredited courses for all high school. They would than be able to fill any high school need because every state would have the same standards. High school student’s grade from all the high school would be based on same curriculum standards.
Then, I
thought. How is it being assessed? The
current MCAS test in my state is already in place to assess basic skills. There is serious debate that these
state-mandated tests are not valid assessment for the ESOL and other
students. There has been a lot of
lobbying by the National Education Association to reauthorize the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), (www.nea.org). How can one standardized test assess a
student’s ability in one subject when every student has a different learning
style, and may have difficulty expressing their knowledge in the form provided
by the state?
The article
mentioned that the group that will be providing a standards list will be the
companies that product the SAT, ACT, and the
The impact that preparing for the state mandated test is overwhelming now. The student would need all year to prepare for the test. I hope that their high school diploma is the prize at the end of the tunnel. And who are the common students that the standards address? What is considered a random sampling of the national student body? A mixture of ethnicity, background, talent, socioeconomic background, English language proficiency, and the school district free lunch recipient percentage are a few combinations that must be addressed in the common standards.
I am just
finishing my master in teaching and learning. There has not been one time that
I have been asked to teach my student to fill in the dots to check their
understanding of any topics we are addressing.
Respecting all the different people in my classroom, providing different
opportunities for them to express their understanding of the material, and
assessing them in a variety of ways allow me to make a good judgment of the
students understanding of the topic.
In conclusion, I am not strictly opposed to a common standard, but tread lightly on how my students, they work very hard and need a fair chance to show it.
