American Educator Addresses Gaping Hole in State Education Standards
Magazine explores 20-year, unfulfilled educational reform pledge to build
a well-aligned, standards-based education system

WASHINGTON, D.C. – "It would take nothing short of magic for high academic achievement to come from students who have been deprived of a coherent academic curriculum," says E.D. Hirsch Jr., professor emeritus at the University of Virginia. But such magic is exactly what policymakers seem to expect: State standards are vague and repetitive—much too weak for teachers, curriculum writers, textbook and assessment developers, and professional development providers to have a shared understanding of what students must learn in each grade. The spring issue of American Educator is devoted to drawing attention to the critical need for clear, specific and content-rich standards.

As testament to the problems caused by vague standards, a second-year teacher, whose name and school district are withheld to allow her to speak frankly, laments her lack of direction in her first year in the classroom: "Instead of asking myself, 'How will I teach this concept?' I must begin by asking, 'What is an appropriate concept to teach?'"

The magazine features a proposal by E.D. Hirsch Jr. to bring more content into the literacy block and make reading comprehension tests more equitable. Heidi Glidden, of the AFT's educational issues department, presents the union's latest review of state standards, which finds only one state meets the AFT's criteria for strong standards in English, math, science and social studies. An essay by Michigan State University professor William H. Schmidt looks to high-achieving nations around the world to find ways to improve math standards. Rounding out the topic, Paul R. Gross, professor emeritus at the University of Virginia, critiques science standards.

The spring issue of American Educator also offers examples of content-rich, detailed standards from states, as well as from the International Baccalaureate and Core Knowledge programs.

American Educator will be online at www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator on
March 13.

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