National Standards for Education

It's been awhile, and I haven't had time to write openly about education. I thought, considering the high volume of media surrounding Arne Duncan's speech at Columbia and the race toward national standards for education deserves some attention. As a classroom teacher and a current graduate student in a curriculum and instruction program, I like to think I know a little about planning lessons for reading and writing and helping students to pass tests, like the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, which we know is highly important to the well being of our country and our children.

For those of you who are uneducated in education, I thought you might like to know a little bit about why I think national standards are a good idea. Here are my 10 reasons why I support national standards:
1. We all know students in rural Alabama need to learn the same skills for success as students in New York City. It doesn't matter if they live in Alaska or Florida, kids are kids everywhere, after all, and we should hold every American child to the same high level of academic achievement.
2. Because kids are kids everywhere, we know they all bring to school the same life experiences including preschool, good health, and a loving and supportive home, so a good teacher should be able to bring her entire classroom of 22 students to proficiency at the end of the year. Whatever that proficiency is won't matter-- the good teachers will always succeed. Especially if they're paid more.
3. We need standards so we can test every student and measure them all with the same tool. Tests are invaluable to the American public, so they are aware of the failures of the public school system.
4. Testing based on national standards will reinforce white power. We need more white power.
5. According to Duncan, "every student has a gift," and we all know it's an academic gift-- we just have to hold every American student accountable to their blessing.
6. Every American child should attend college, so they need a basic framework of knowledge to enter colleges and it should be the same for everyone. The current recession (depression) has proven that a college education equals a well-paying job with benefits like health care and a safe, stable retirement plan. You will also be able to afford a mortgage, multiple credit cards, student loans, car loans, extravagant vacations, and all the debt you can manage. Ah, the American dream.
7. Knowledge and skills can always be measured empirically, so national, measurable standards in the core subjects just makes sense. We know that reading, writing, and social studies are rarely, if ever, subjective. Science and math are entirely objective. It is reasonable and logical to set objective, measurable goals for our children.
8. All children speak English in America. And anyway, not speaking English is not an excuse for not being able to be academically proficient.
9. Testing is a noble industry. The College Board and ETS know best, and we should support their aims in providing reliable and remarkably accurate measurements of children's knowledge. By allowing representatives of The College Board, ACT, Inc., and Achieve write our core curriculum standards, we keep them in business. What good Americans we are!
10. Finally, teachers really don't know their students best. A strong core curriculum will ensure that every teacher provides exactly what their students need-- a strong set of skills and an acceptance of the knowledge needed to be a good citizen of this great country.