In general, we already do not have enough time or money to do what we, as teachers, know needs to be done in a classroom. So standards, which most states have tied to testing as a means of ranking kids in their state to those in another state or country, is ridiculous. More of the limited time and finanacial educational pots will be plundered away so some politician can point to what is wrong in education. Of course, he will not be able to do anything about it, because - guess what?- classrooms do not have enough time or money already, and to fix any problems the tests highlight, we would need lots of time and money. Where do you take the time from? science? math? reading? or how about phys ed, so our kids can get even plumper and require the state to teach more health ed so our kids don't drop dead. We also need more money from our already limited budget. (Where do we take the money from? fewer teachers? fewer classrooom aids? fewer administrators? lower all ed salaries? fewer supplies and extras?-who needs books? or, my favorite, drop all school sports from the budget?) Votes: +0

National standards can reduce our tendency to reinvent the wheel in every state and increase competition among content publishers to do things that really help in the classroom. It won't limit teacher freedom and creativity, any more than using the "food pyramid" affects the meals I prepare. It will give us a common language and structure around which to share best practices.

4 approaches to doing this were laid out two years ago in a report by Fordham (http://www.edexcellence.net/doc/National Standards Final PDF.pdf). Whatever you think of Fordham's "politics" around standards, they're right about the direction we need to take and, in truth, most state standards documents are evolving in a common direction anyway. Let's speed it up, and free those state education department curriculum experts up to spend less time rehashing the same debates and more time helping schools enact good curriculum and assessment. Votes: +0

I am a new teacher and there is a state achievment test,"ISAT", which
I think is kind of below standards. I am a 6th grade teacher and the
test askes 4th grade questions. It is so wrong. Right??? Votes: +1

I agree to this Votes: +0

I don't believe that standards work, as they are trying to fit all students into the same category. Not all kids learn at the same rate, even within grade levels. Asynchronous learning occurs throughout, with some kids ready to learn math at earlier ages that others, some reading, etc. You can't just say all kids need to be able to do X when they're 13 years old. Not every 13 year old is in the same place academically, physcially, or emotionally. Votes: +0

There are some National Standards in place - Art has national standards, and all areas were to have them in place already. If we are going to have National Standards, are we going to have national testing also? Votes: +1

So if we move towards national standards, are we moving towards an educational system like Japan? It should be noted that Japan is currently undertaking a massive redesign of their own system to make it look more like the American system. Votes: -1

During the Olympics I am able to recall any athlete wearing a state or city uniform. Even the "Redeem" team failed to wear their own jerseys during the game. So then it is possible to have a national standard without losing the individual characteristics of each state. The National Standards should would reflect standards that are not localized but are a set of standards that represent universal truths. So then maybe National standards should be global standards, and states are held accountable for ensuring that the resources are available for teachers to teach so that principles are learned. If a student today is going to be successful in a globalized society then it is imperative that we eliminate the need for each state to show that there standards are better than the others. Let Microsoft and Apple do that. Votes: +0

So, how do we begin to move towards a single standards framework? Votes: +1

Edward,

Considering the United States Constitution leaves educational decision making to the states, how would you recommend beginning to change the system to have a single standards framework? Votes: +1