Standards-based reform: It works

A recent report by a prominent nonprofit research institute shows that standards-based education reform works, and it works best in combination with class-size reduction, strong prekindergarten programs, a stable teaching corps and adequate teaching resources.

The RAND study, "Improving Student Achievement: What State NAEP Test Scores Tell Us," analyzes results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress administered between 1990 and 1996 and ranks the 44 states that participate in NAEP not only by raw test scores and gains but also by cross-state comparisons of students from similar families. The study, released this summer, also seeks to identify which policies and programs led to substantial interstate differences in achievement.

Elementary students nationwide showed significant gains in math in the 1990-96 span, and scores rising much faster than they had in the previous two decades, the study shows. The gains made across states by students with similar family and demographic backgrounds are substantial--a variation of as much as 12 percentile points.

The top performers came from states that took aggressive action to lower pupil-teacher ratios, expand public prekindergarten participation and, based on teacher reports, did a better job of providing resources for teaching.

"Overall, the results paint a more positive picture of American public education than is commonly portrayed," the study finds. "Our results certainly challenge the traditional view of public education as 'unreformable,'" concludes lead researcher David Grissmer.

The report also urges a long-term view of reform, observing that some improvements in the classroom can take years to show up as student achievement gains.

"The tendency for policymakers to blame or to take credit for these achievement results should be tempered," the study authors warn, because some of the 1990-1996 gains can stem from policies and practices adopted in the early 1980s.

In the case of a top-performing state like Texas, for example, efforts to lower class size and expand preschool in the mid- 1980s now seem to be paying off, Grissmer said. Those reforms were instituted prior to the administration of current governor and GOP presidential nominee George W. Bush, who took office in 1995. In contrast, California, a state that fared relatively poorly in the RAND study, might be expected to perform better in the future since it has taken aggressive steps of late to institute many of the most effective reforms cited in the study.

The report also calls into question the effect of higher salaries on effective reform.

Researchers found little evidence that paying teachers more was an effective means of boosting student gains. The report points out that salary differences may have a bigger impact within states than among states (teachers may be more willing to move from district to district based on salary than they are to move from state to state).

American Federation of Teachers, AFL•CIO - 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW - Washington, DC 20001