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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Zoltan! who wrote (10163)	1/6/2000 12:05:00 PM
From: PROLIFE	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Interesting article in this mornings DMN. dallasnews.com Report praises Texas schools' high standards Only 8 states set right example in 5 core subjects, foundation says 01/06/2000 By Terrence Stutz / The Dallas Morning News AUSTIN - Texas is praised as one of only a handful of states that hold public schools responsible for meeting high academic standards in a national study to be issued Thursday. The report by the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation said 42 states still have mediocre or inferior expectations for students despite several years of education reform efforts. The study evaluated both the academic standards in each state and whether it holds schools accountable for meeting those standards. "The shocking news is that 11 years after the nation's governors embraced the standards-and-accountability strategy [to improve schools] . . . most states have not successfully completed even the first step. Their standards are mediocre or worse," said Chester E. Finn Jr., president of the foundation. "The dismaying reality is that tens of millions of American kids are still attending schools in places that lack one or both of these essentials [high standards and accountability]." The report says just eight states - including Texas - have set academic standards that earn an "honors grade" across the five core subjects: English, math, history, geography and science. Of those states, only five - Texas, Alabama, California, North Carolina and South Carolina - "combine solid academic standards with strong accountability systems," the report said. The foundation study graded the standards of each state in the five core subject areas and also listed an overall grade for each state. Texas received an overall grade of B, the same mark it received two years ago when the Fordham Foundation did a similar evaluation. The U.S. average was C-, up slightly from the D+ of two years ago. By subject area, Texas received an A in geography; B's in English, math and history; and a C in science. "This study is further evidence that Texas is a national leader in setting high academic standards and demanding results for our children," Gov. George W. Bush said in response to the study. "We have set clear goals, held schools accountable, and teachers and students have risen to the challenge with improved student performance across the board for every subject and for students from all walks of life," he said. Michael J. Petrilli, co-author of the study, said the analysis calls into question the assertions of leaders in politics, business and education that academic standards are rising across the country. "At the same time that states are flunking more kids in the name of high standards, they are taking credit for reforms that are more illusion than reality," Mr. Petrilli said. "Not many parents would be happy with a child who only improved from a D+ to a C- over a two-year period. I don't see why we should settle for such a poor performance from the states, either." The study noted that four of the five states on the "honor roll" are from the South. "Why have Southern states embraced standards and accountability with more enthusiasm than others?" the authors of the study asked. They suggested that the answer may be "early recognition (in the mid-1980s) by a number of Southern governors that prosperity would come to their states only when education reform preceded it." In Texas, former Gov. Mark White led the way in passing a massive school reform law in 1984 that included such provisions as expanded student testing, smaller class sizes and the no pass-no play rule. Mr. Bush was a key backer of another major school reform law passed in Texas in 1995. That law allowed more local control of schools and established a zero-tolerance policy for violent or disruptive students. Mr. Finn said it is also "a fact that many Southern states have been less smugly complacent about the performance of their public schools, and politically speaking, are sometimes less beholden to the forces of the 'education establishment' that wield so much clout" in other states. The study also credited the Southern Regional Education Board, a consortium that shares educational innovations and information among Southern states. "The easy answer is for states to emulate the several fine models highlighted in the study, and I hope they do so," Mr. Finn said. "But we should not assume that standards-based reform is a silver bullet for our ailing education system. "For the kids' sake, the system also needs the stimulus of other achievement-boosting reforms, including such market-based initiatives as charter schools, open enrollment and school choice." Mr. Finn is a longtime proponent of school choice as a way to spur improvement in public education. Twenty-one states, including Arkansas, received the worst ranking and were labeled "irresponsible states" with inferior standards and weak accountability in their schools. "Their academic standards are vague, vapid and misleading. Their education systems rarely punish or reward schools that produce bad or good results," the study said. "They have a lot of work to do."