Insight for Every Age

Insight for Every Age

New standards for the real world

In one typical science question being developed by the National Academy of Science's standards-setting panel, students are asked to predict how long a plant will live when planted in moist soil in a clear glass jar that is tightly covered and placed in a sunny window where the temperature is maintained between 60 degrees and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The directions call for students “to use relevant ideas from the life, physical and Earth sciences.”

And the intended answer?

There isn't a single correct one, actually. But the science educators hope that students in grades 5 through 8 will employ scientific concepts such as light, heat, and photosynthesis to analyze the problem, and that 12th graders will see the plant as a physical model of the Earth's ecosystem and view photosynthesis and respiration as complementary processes.

In another real-life example, intended to hone math skills of middle-schoolers, students are given the player statistics for four basketball stars in a National Basketball Association championship game. From the statistics, which include each player's points scored, assists, rebounds, field goals per scoring attempts, and minutes played, students are asked to find such things as the best percentage shooter in the game, and who snagged the most rebounds per minute.

As the panel of math experts stated: “A problem like this is ideally suited to the curious nature of middle school students and opens up a world of questions and investigations to them.”

Unfortunately, much of what the standard-setters say every student should know is likely to be far over the heads of their intended age groups.

Teachers have discovered that if children are encouraged to use invented spelling, they can start writing in kindergarten (Sandra Wilde, author of You Kac Red This!)

How many high school students, for instance, will be able to draw upon the ideas of religious groups such as the Virginia Baptists, mid-Atlantic Presbyterians, and millennialists, to assess how religion became a factor in the American Revolution? Which college students, for that matter, would be able to compare the power and significance of the Supreme Court in 1800 and 1820, although the question is rated a 7th-grade achievement in the history panel's report? Even a Washington Post reporter might find it taxing to explain to the panel's satisfaction the constitutional issues raised by the Watergate affair and to evaluate the effects of Watergate on public opinion. 

But these are voluntary goals that teachers are meant to use as guidelines. Parents can use the standards, too, to spark some healthy debates at home. They are not being proposed as tests questions to judge whether a student should graduate. The real test lies with textbook publishers, who must decide whether to rewrite their books to reflect the viewpoints and philosophy of the new standards.

As in the standards for other subjects, rote memorization is out and a focus on critical thinking skills is in. Students analyze a variety of sources, which might include their own family histories, draft records, or historical novels. Original documents ranging from the Declaration of Independence to the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 allow students to develop their own opinions. Key activities to replace memorization include constructing chronologies, creating a narrative, and reconstructing historical arguments.

Math: The math standards, developed in 1989 before standards became political hot potatoes, are regarded by many as the best and brightest model for others. They are clear, concise, and full of vignettes to illustrate their points. Their vital goals call for all students to learn to value mathematics; to learn to reason and communicate mathematically; to become confident of mathematical abilities; and to become mathematical problem-solvers.

In the 54 standards proposed for kindergarten trough 12th grade, math educators are advocating revolutionary shifts away from rote memorization to focus on understanding real-life applications of mathematics. Take the study of statistics. In kindergarten through 4th grade, students are asked to explore basic statistical concepts. They may gather data on lunch preferences, for instance, and then chart the trends and analyze them.

By 5th through 8th grade, students should be able to use statistcs in real-world situations to collect, organize, and describe data systematically; to construct, read, and interpret tables, charts, and graphs; to make inferences and convincing arguments that are based on data analysis; and to understand and appreciate the power that statistical methods can have in decision making.

By 12th grade, students should be able to interpret charts, tables, and graphs; use curve fitting to predict from data; understand and apply measures of central tendency, variability, and correlation; understand sampling; and design a statistical experiment to study a problem, conduct the experiment, and communicate the outcomes.