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Bill Bosher
Richmond Times Dispatch
(Reprinted with Permission)
Sunday, January 16, 2000
Standards of Learning
The Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) was approved by
the Board of Education in June, 1995. As the cornerstone of
a four-pronged approach to K-12 education reform that included
standards, assessment, report cards, and consequences, the
initial draft of proposed standards drew more than 5,000 comments.
With modifications based on public reactions, school divisions
were asked to begin implementation in September, 1995. In
January, 2000, parents and educators continue to criticize
the standards.
Detractors always have questioned its history. In existence
since the ’80s, the SOL was revised in 1994 with the help
of teachers from across Virginia and the Champion Schools
Commission. There were four criteria for the development of
new standards: rigorous, academic, measurable, and comprehensible.
Although some still argue that the standards were conceived
and developed by those who oppose public education, each standard
and test item was reviewed by a team of teachers who were
proficient in their subject areas. Indeed, the process included
extreme positions, but none of these positions prevailed.
Although subject to review and change, the Standards of Learning
represents what most of Virginia’s taxpayers want: higher
academic expectations for more than 1 million students.
Higher expectations will foster the potential for greater
failure. Parents must be prepared to confront and weather
the incremental setbacks that will precede achievement. For
those who are concerned about pressure, it may be minimal
when compared with outside activities that occupy the demanding
schedules of childhood. Parents should protect their children,
first and foremost; however, they should not shelter them
from the positive pressure that drives stronger academic performance.
WHAT IS different about Virginia’s SOL? The standards have
received exceptional marks from national organizations. Teachers
and administrators already can see improvement in student
performance. Teachers know what the targets are and, when
given adequate training and sufficient time, will meet them.
It takes years, perhaps as many as 13, to implement fully
and evaluate the impact of reform. The curriculum of a school
must be aligned with the standards. Teachers have to be trained.
Incentives must be created to motivate students, and teachers
and administrators need to use test results. These steps are
works in progress. Although the standards movement will endure
longer than many would have thought, full implementation also
may take longer than the designers envisioned. Because ownership
by parents and professionals is critical to the success of
the SOL, there are two concerns that need immediate attention:
The first comes with the General Assembly session that has
just begun. Despite pressure from parents and educators, legislators
must resist the temptation to become a super school board.
As currently provided under the Standards of Quality, accreditation
and academic standards should be the responsibility of the
Board of Education.
Second, reformers must not only determine the ingredients
of change but also gauge its pace. What is the rate of change
necessary to ensure success? Parents and teachers want to
be sure that students have a chance to cover the required
material before they are tested. The test must reasonably
be given several times to guarantee that its results are suitable
for individual and institutional consequences.
WHILE resounding in the halls of the Capitol, these concerns
might be simply addressed with time. From the perspective
of one who firmly believes in the reform structure and is
seldom patient, our greatest enemy may be the potential of
political expedience overriding practical prudence. Politics
and best practices do not always run by the same clock.
We need to hold faithfully to the standards in English, math,
science, and history and continue to test students for proficiency.
We should keep the review of consequences alive, but freeze
the implementation schedule until the Board of Education has
gained assurances that teachers are prepared, students have
been taught, and tests have been consistently administered.
When results of student performance are released, the public’s
conscience will be the first consequence.
The greatest challenge to educational reform in Virginia
may not be the concerns of parents and professionals, but
simply the pace at which healthy and lasting progress is expected.
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