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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Philosopher who wrote (45077)	3/2/2002 12:56:16 AM
From: epicure	Respond to of 82486

I just wrote a brief note to someone else on standards and benchmarks (and of course standardized tests play into those standards and benchmarks.) I like testing, but I think the test results should be quickly available (in our state we get them at the end of the year- now what good does that do the student?) And there should be plenty of remediation available for students who need it. Here is what I wrote about standards and benchmarks: Standards and benchmarks are important in order to ensure that all educators are on the same page educationally, and they are also important as a PR tool, to prove that schools are trying to aim for literacy in basic subjects. Standards and benchmarks (hereafter S & B ) can help educators refine and reform education. They can help educators focus attention on core ideas and skills deemed essential. Rather than having scattershot efforts at reform, standards and benchmarks allow for cohesive and coherent reform. S & B can help educators make meaningful connections between grades. With rational S & B educators can make sure the proper skills are taught in the lower grades to support work in the upper grades. S & B therefore, can provide a framework for a more coherent educational system. S & B can help teachers by somewhat limiting the range of curriculum decisions. With so many choices of curriculum, it is efficient to restrict the field of instruction somewhat. S & B provide a logical way to do that, in a rational manner, and hopefully with the input of the best minds in any particular field. S & B are a valuable public relations tool that communities will understand. Well thought out S & B show the educational establishment's commitment to excellence, something we need to prove to the "consumers" who are more and more skeptical of public education and its ability to deliver a good education to all.