Doug Reeves Leads Panel on Weighing National Standards

By Lynn Strang, APR

A panel of educators led by Doug Reeves, founder of the Leadership and Learning Center in Englewood, Colo., discussed the impact and practicality of national standards during a Thought Leader session on Friday afternoon.

One panelist, Terry Thompson, superintendent of the Metropolitan School District in Indianapolis, Ind., raised concerns about the impact of national standards on creativity and innovation. Contending that what is tested is what is taught, he said he fears the country will lose its creative strength.

Daniel Domenech, AASA executive director, said he believe core standards will happen, but are not a burning issue for most educators today who have too much else to worry about.

He also believes there is a basic misconception about a national push for common standards.

That misconception was addressed by Chris Nicastro, Missouri’s commissioner of education and a former district superintendent in the state. She believes the effort is seen as voluntary among 48 states to get a “common” core, not a “national” core.

Any effort to create national standards is considered an imposition, Nicastro added. However, common core standards are “gaining legs” because the movement is driven by individual states.

Ed Massey, an officer on the governing board of the National School Boards Association and a local school board member in Boone County, Ky., believes educators will focus on common principles or methods but cannot give up local control. Standards are important, but an assessment that propels students to higher levels is more essential, he said.

Advantages of adopting common core standards as identified by the panelists include being able to save teacher time from creating assessments on the local level; creating common criteria for evaluation; and focusing on a single standard, not 50, to compete globally.

Disadvantages are creating a “cookie-cutter” assessment that doesn’t take the individual or local issues into consideration; fitting it in to an already packed school day or year; and testing only for certain classes instead of all classes.

A question about whether there should be standards for teachers and leaders initiated a lively discussion. All agreed that standards should exist, but resources need to be allocated for the professional development to help teachers and leaders achieve the standards.

Nicastro agreed, but insisted that it must be connected to student performance and there has to be adequate university preparation. “We need to rethink how we prepare teachers and leaders,” she said.

Said Massey: “Accountability makes people shudder. Teachers worry that it will be used as sanction. They need to know that we want to help.”

Facilitator Reeves summed it up by saying, “We don’t need to speculate about what makes good teachers and good leaders. Formative assessment leads to better achievement. I think adults should be as accountable as we expect students to be.”