ERIC Number: EJ984366
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 7
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1040-1350
EISSN: N/A
Content Standards: High Stakes Anti-Differentiation
Schroeder-Davis, Stephen
Understanding Our Gifted, v24 n1 p8-14 Fall 2011
Currently, American schooling, driven by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and standardized tests, emphasizes development of intelligence. Because of this, teachers must heavily emphasize acquisition of foundational information (facts) in lectures, assessments, and of course, time-consuming test preparation, at the expense of intellect, that constellation of thought processes teachers are being told will be necessary in the 21st century. In this article, the author contends that standardized tests and state standards are content-based, and therefore cannot effectively prepare students for their future, even without NCLB's flawed timetable and proficiency expectations. If schools are to prepare students to thrive beyond high school, they will have to reconcile two of the most powerful and counterpoised contemporary educational initiatives: (1) rigid content standards that assume all students need to know the same things at the same time to the same degree of proficiency; and (2) differentiation, which promotes the idea that students have markedly different readiness, interest, and learning style profiles. Standards are the wrong answer to the question, "What do our students need to succeed in their future?" The author doesn't think education can succeed until teachers are allowed to go beyond content standards and focus on the thinking processes that will allow students to succeed in whatever future awaits them. Standards wouldn't determine what to teach, but what teaching should produce: vibrant, curious, creative, entrepreneurial, problem-seeking and problem-solving critical thinkers.
Descriptors: Cognitive Processes, State Standards, Teaching Methods, Standardized Tests, Cognitive Style, Language Proficiency, Federal Legislation, Test Preparation, Intelligence, Profiles, Futures (of Society), Success, Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Creativity, Entrepreneurship, High Stakes Tests, Educational Attitudes
AppleCore Communications. P.O. Box 40, Tamworth, NH 03886. Tel: 603-662-8252; Web site: http://www.ourgifted.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: No Child Left Behind Act 2001
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A