Crescent-News.com - Uniform curriculum nationwide under study

By JENNY DERRINGER

Work is underway to develop uniform education standards nationwide -- to make material content taught in one state's classroom the same educational content taught in classes in all states.

The Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association are preparing for the proposal under which, for example, a student taking trigonometry at Defiance High School would learn the same curriculum as a student in Billings, Mont.

With comparable curriculum in classrooms across the country, proponents say money could be saved if one uniform assessment was developed and administered as opposed to each state coming up with its own testing.

To date, 46 of the states have jumped on the band wagon. Those not on board with the plan as of yet are Alaska, Missouri, South Carolina and Texas.

And while most states are leaning toward the uniform standards, individual school superintendents may not be in agreement.

"It is a terrible idea and to do so to save money is even more disingenuous than the idea," said Dr. Steve Switzer, superintendent of Pettisville Local Schools.

"First, it would create a nationalized system of education that would likely foster a 'politically correct' version of all curriculum. And second, I can think of little -- if anything -- that the federal government does in a cost-efficient manner," he added.

Jim Roach, superintendent of Northeastern Local Schools, believes that "State by state, in my opinion, is probably the best way to go. Legislative-wise, states have individually taken care of their own educational system. Our legislators are very actively involved to regulate and maintain the system."

He believes that the state legislators place a high priority on education, giving it a lot of attention.

Despite that, he noted there are only so many textbook companies nationwide -- basically the same four or five companies publishing the majority of the textbooks.

Seeing the silver lining to the possible trend in education is Ian MacGregor, assistant superintendent of Defiance City Schools.

"In general, I would favor having nationwide education standards in all 50 states," said MacGregor. "We are close to this right now, because with No Child Left Behind, states were required to adopt standards in language arts, mathematics and other content areas and develop statewide assessments to measure student achievement in elementary grades and at least one grade at the high school level. Most states developed their standards in a manner similar to Ohio.

"In Ohio, the academic content standards in language arts, mathematics, social studies and science were all developed after reviewing national standards in these content areas," explained MacGregor. "For example, Ohio's language art standards were developed using the National Council of Teachers of English and International Reading Association Standards for English Language Arts."

He added that Ohio's math, science and social studies standards were also developed using national standards. Concerning textbooks, publishers develop their products based on the national standards, he pointed out.

"So, I do not believe that there is a large difference in the standards set by the different states," stated MacGregor. "One area where I believe flexibility is needed is in the area of local and state history. For example, Ohio's fourth-grade students study Ohio history. I'm sure that other states study their own state's history and this is very appropriate."

MacGregor did note, however, that even though the states might have very similar standards, the assessments used vary widely from state to state.

"If the nation moves to national standards in our core academic areas, national assessments (end-of-course exams) should also be developed," he said. "Then when students from different states take the same exam, their scores can be compared just as the SAT and ACT scores are compared for college admission."

These scores would aid in placing students in certain courses when they relocate to other states.

"As a teacher, I have had many students who moved into Defiance from other states," added MacGregor. "For most of these students, they could be placed into a Defiance High School course that was similar to what they had been taking in their former state. However, some states cover the same material in a different order so the incoming student might have been behind or ahead of where Defiance students were."