by AFT President Sandra Feldman
April 1999

When kids are
behind, they need
help, not the
'just-do-it' approach

For several years now, states have been working to introduce more rigorous academic standards for K-12 students, and standards-based reforms are beginning to get promising results. We're seeing upward trends in reading and math, especially in high-poverty schools, where standards-based reform is a condition of receiving federal Title I funds. To cite just one encouraging statistic, the reading level of nine-year-olds in these schools improved by nearly one grade level between 1992 and 1998.

This is good news. And it provides support for what the AFT has been saying all along--that setting higher standards and making schools and students accountable for reaching them will raise the achievement of all our students.

Teachers have always supported higher standards, but recently I've been hearing concerns about how some of the standards-based reforms are being handled. A number of teachers' criticisms seem well founded.

Too Big a Leap

For example, the New York State Regents exams have been a high standard for years, but since they were not required for graduation, many students did not elect to take them. (Only 42 percent of graduating seniors received the Regents diploma in 1997.) By 2003, all New York high school students who want a diploma will not only have to pass five Regents exams in core subjects; they will be taking new, tougher versions of these exams.

This could be a good idea, but there's a wrinkle. For some students--those already doing well--this double leap will be a challenge, but not a major problem. But how will students who would not have passed the old Regents meet this new and more difficult requirement? They need extra help and plenty of it--tutoring and Saturday and summer classes--and they need it now. The price tag may be high, but if the resources can't be found to bring these youngsters up to speed, the new standards won't help the students who need help most; they'll make the kids' prospects far worse.

It Takes Sustained Effort

New York City's District 2 shows one way of helping students meet high standards that works. For about eight years, District 2 has implemented a successful literacy program that provides sustained, high-quality professional development for teachers and individualized help for kids who need it. It has gotten excellent results with all children but especially with those who were having big problems becoming proficient readers. Preparing underachieving students for the Regents--and enabling them to succeed--will require similar ingredients; it will take time and plenty of extra help for the students (and their teachers).

No Overnight Success

Another success story is North Carolina, where all students, especially low-performing students, have made significant gains on both state and national tests--without leaving disadvantaged children behind. Reformers made sure that curricula and textbooks are in line with the standards for what students are supposed to know. Exams were closely linked with those standards. And the state made additional resources available to schools with a high percentage of disadvantaged students.

None of this happened overnight or without a struggle--it has taken nearly ten years of sustained effort in which successive state administrations, both Republican and Democrat, have participated. North Carolina isn't done yet: Standards are not yet adequate for some grades and subjects. But the results, thus far, speak for themselves. Similar efforts to raise standards have met with some success in Texas as well.

America's public schools are on the move; they're demanding more of students, and many kids are meeting the new challenges. But it's not enough to set tougher standards and tell students, "OK, now meet them! Sink or swim!"--which is what seems to be happening in some places. That "just-do-it" attitude might work for youngsters who are able to shape up on their own. It's a recipe for disaster with students who are having a hard time meeting the old--and less demanding--standards.

Time to Get on Board

Teachers are saying plainly that they, too, need help--more and better training, extended instruction time for students, a sustained effort that they and the children and their parents can count on. Some states have built this help into their standards programs, and some individual school districts are responding as well; but everyone needs to get on board, including the U.S. Congress.

A few weeks ago, Congress voted down funding that would assist schools in providing summer and after-school programs, as well as other forms of help. That was partisanship rearing its ugly head again. The standards movement is a reform that's working. Members of both parties need to get behind it.