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standards documents are nothing if not orderly. Keep that contrast in mind and you will not be surprised to see how much damage those documents can do in real classrooms.

making sure students are actively involved in designing their own learning, invited to play a role in formulating questions, creating projects, and so on. But the more comprehensive and detailed a list of standards, the more students (and even teachers) are excluded from this process, the more alienated they tend to become, and the more teaching becomes a race to cover a huge amount of material.

Howard Gardner

"The greatest enemy of understanding is 'coverage.'"

If the goal is to cover material (rather than, say, to discover ideas), that unavoidably informs the methods that will be used. Techniques such as repetitive drill-and-practice are privileged by curriculum frameworks based on a "bunch o' facts" approach to education. Of course, that kind of teaching is also driven by an imperative to prepare students for tests, but no less by an imperative to conform to specific standards.

Some people sincerely believe that to teach well is to work one's way through a list of what someone decided every nth grader ought to know.

hosen according to whether they lend themselves to easy measurement.

"specific, measurable standards" suggests a commitment not to excellence but to behaviorism.

Concepts like intrinsic motivation and intellectual exploration are difficult for some minds to grasp, whereas test scores, like sales figures or votes, can be calculated and charted and used to define success and failure.

meaningful learning does not always proceed along a single dimension, such that we can nail down the extent of improvement.

Linda McNeil

"Measurable outcomes may be the least significant results of learning."

Sandra Stotsky,

"Explore isn't a word that can be put into a standard because it can't be assessed." This assertion is obviously false because there are plenty of ways to assess the quality of students' exploration -- unless, of course, "assessment" is equated with standardized testing.

it is much easier to quantify the number of times a semicolon has been used correctly in an essay than it is to quantify how well the student has explored ideas in that essay.

he more emphasis that is placed on picking standards that are measurable, the less ambitious the teaching will become

one-size-fits-all model of education.

his rigidity about both the timing of the instruction and its content creates failures unnecessarily by trying to force all children to learn at the same pace.

Bullying reaches its apotheosis with high-stakes testing, the use of crude rewards and punishments to make people ratchet up the scores.

"The beatings will continue until morale improves."

to do things to educators and students rather than to work with them.

Orwellian word now in widespread use is "alignment"

"Alignment" isn't about improvement; it's about conformity.

Standards-as-mandates also imply a rather insulting view of educators—namely, that they need to be told what (and, by extension, how) to teach by someone in authority because otherwise they wouldn't know.

the use of control leads to poor implementation of the standards (which, come to think of it, may not be such a bad thing). Others, including some of our best educators, will throw up their hands in disgust and find another career.

Pro-standards groups such as Achieve Inc. (a group of corporate officials and politicians) tend to give poor ratings to states whose standards aren't sufficiently specific, measurable, uniform, or compulsory.

The tests arguably constitute the most serious and immediate threat to good teaching, such that freeing educators and students from their yoke should be our top priority.

What troubles me is the rarity of such discussion, the absence of questioning, the tendency to offer instruction about how to teach to the standards before we have even asked whether doing so is a sound idea.   Copyright © 2001 by Alfie Kohn.

ree or reduced price meals

poverty and mobility, coupled with the lack of teacher stability, necessary instructional control, and effective behavior management put essentially the entire student population at risk for developing emotional or behavioral disorders.

replacing the principal, other building administrators, and about 80% of the teachers

student- and family-centered support services were aligned and located in the school.

two years

students worked collaboratively in classrooms

fun and rigorous learning environment where respect for all is evident everywhere.

common language of respect

learn social skills along with academic content. The day begins with the Morning Meeting during which the children sit in a circle to hear a message about the day’s events or topics of study and they hold an informal conversation in which everyone participates. A set of rules for behavior is posted in every room and hallway along with the systematic and universal steps for regaining self-control and turning around problem behavior.

everity from “take a break,” to “fix it” plans, to dismissal from school. The consistency with which the system is implemented by every adult in the school is remarkable. It has produced demonstrable changes in student behavior and conduct, with students taking responsibility for their behavior, and dismissal from school a rarity. The model also involves “buddy classrooms.”

Teachers work together to assess and reflect on their performance and provide each other with constructive feedback regarding their interactions with students

identify alternative strategies for interacting with the student and monitor progress in terms of reducing conflict and strengthening the relationship between the teacher and student.

emotional/behavioral disorder (EBD)

“Collaboration is key to our teachers finding creative ways to grow at their craft and help our students exceed the standards”

The common policies and procedures used across regular and special education classrooms promote academic and behavioral success for all students.

The importance of social skills instruction is equal to that of academic success for all students. The academic success that regular and special education students at Dayton’s Bluff experience is largely a product of the individualized instruction all students receive. Individualized assessments are conducted with each student to determine the specific instructional needs of each across the content areas. Instruction in reading, writing, and math is conducted in “workshop” style that involves a “mini-lesson” of approximately 5-10 minutes followed by a period of time during which students receive guided practice and feedback on applications of the mini-lesson. Data are regularly collected and analyzed

score

All students experience the same consequences for misbehavior, including those students who have a history of significant behavioral problems in school, and all students are provided multiple opportunities to correct their own behavior within the systematized program.

chance to see fairness in how everyone is treated alike, that they will not be condemned for making a mistake, and will be encouraged to succeed by everyone.

he high level of consistency with which the staff members implement the program builds trusting relationships between students and adults in the building. It is much more common for students to be sent to the principal’s office to read something they’ve written or share an accomplishment in math than to face disciplinary action

he staff members approach the problem as a partner with the student to understand and solve the problem rather than as heavy-handed, controlling, punitive authority figures. This approach promotes mutual respect, responsibility, and pride, and reduces the incidence of learned helplessness.

intensive training as well as ongoing “booster” sessions tailored to their individual needs. Th

academic success

every reason to believe that these students will stand alongside their regular education peers in leading productive, successful lives.

investment in “people-power” that prioritizes small class sizes and strong professional development programs over cutting-edge technology has resulted in successful primary and secondary prevention that supports the tertiary prevention resources provided by the district for students identified with EBD

Jennifer McComas is associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota. She may be reached at 612/624-5854 or jmccomas@ umn.edu. The article was authored in collaboration with Von Sheppard, principal at Dayton’s Bluff Elementary School, St. Paul, Minnesota. He may be reached at 651/293-8915 or von.sheppard@spps.org.