Reprinted with the permission of the American Federation of Teachers
http:/www.aft.org
        Welcome to the AFT's Defining World Class Standards Series
In 1989, a historic meeting took place in Charlottesville, Virginia. The
nation's governors and the President came together to collectively address
the need for fundamental changes and improvements in our schools. The
result was a commitment to a set of six national education goals that would
propel our education system into the 21st century. Two of those goals
indirectly called for the setting of rigorous, "world class" academic
standards for our students, standards that would drive everything else we
do in our schools.
Why the emphasis on making our education standards "world class"? The
President and governors fully recognized the link between students'
performance and success in school and the contributions they will
ultimately make to their communities and the nation as a whole. In order
for the United States to remain internationally competitive - and for
American families to raise their standard of living - businesses must be
able to hire youngsters with the knowledge and skills necessary to compete
in today's global economy. And, increasingly, youth without these skills
will find it difficult to get and keep jobs that pay decent wages. It is
imperative, therefore, that our schools help students learn and achieve at
levels comparable to those reached by students in our competitor nations.
Unfortunately, international comparisons over the years have clearly shown
that we are not bringing our students up to those levels.
There is another reason, as well, to look at and be informed by
internationally competitive standards. If we don't, there is a danger that
those of us who have been involved so long in the struggle to raise student
achievement will become prisoners of the status quo, unable to imagine
youngsters achieving at higher levels than we are accustomed to. In this
sense, our own experience can be limiting. The current emphasis on world
class standards is designed to free us from these limitations and biases,
and encourage us to learn from the experiences of other countries. By
looking at what students in other nations are capable of accomplishing, we
may aim higher when judging the potential of our own youngsters.
Since the Charlottesville Summit, much attention has been paid to the
challenge of setting world class standards. With the support of the Clinton
Administration (and the Bush Administration before that), the U.S.
Congress, the nation's governors, professional associations and the
business community, some of the nation's most highly respected educators
and scholars have begun to develop national standards for what students
should be expected to learn in the core academic subjects. In addition,
educators at the state, district and school levels are simultaneously
organizing their own efforts to set world class standards for students.
But what is a world class standard? Despite the frequent use of the term
and the references to high achievement in other lands, there is,
unfortunately, not much available to apprise us of what is actually
expected of foreign students in particular subjects. How much do students
in other countries learn? In what subjects? At what ages? How broad or
narrow is the curriculum? What curriculum do elementary school students
follow and what levels are they expected to reach to enable them to
progress through the system? What requirements do high school students have
to meet in order to graduate? What exams do they take? Are there different
standards for college-bound and work-bound students? How do those
expectations differ, and what portion of the student population is expected
to meet each?
These are just some of the questions that need to be answered if we are
ever to understand what is expected of students overseas and thereby become
informed judges of the standards now being developed in this country.
In an effort to help fill the information void, answer some of the key
questions, and better define what we mean by world class standards, the AFT
is launching a new publication series. The Defining World Class Standards
series will translate and make available to all who are interested the most
revealing materials from countries where expectations for students are
among the highest. The series will publish student assessments, curriculum
materials and any other foreign documents that may help to illuminate what
a world class standard is and bring substance to the current
standards-setting discussions and activities. Over time, we hope to cover a
variety of subject areas and grade levels, and we intend to focus on
standards for both work-bound and college-bound students. The countries
covered in each volume may vary, but we will always endeavor to choose
those where the standards for students are rigorous. In addition to the
primary source materials, our goal is to provide important contextual
information that will help define the roles that the translated documents
play in each country's education system.
The materials and information we will publish in this series should serve
as a valuable resource to anyone involved in setting or evaluating academic
standards for students, whether at the national, state, local or school
level. All of us will be wiser, more informed participants in discussions
about standards if we are aware of what is demanded elsewhere. But it is
our hope that the Defining World Class Standards series will serve an even
wider audience. We expect that educators will want to use the materials to
compare their expectations for their students with those of their
counterparts overseas. Parents will also be interested in making similar
comparisons. Business leaders will want to know what other countries expect
of high school graduates and how well prepared they are to enter the
workforce. Higher education faculty will be interested in the standards for
college-bound students.
In the end, we hope that this book and the others that will follow will not
only be a resource, but a clarion call. Our goal is to generate broad
awareness among educators and the general public that we are expecting too
little of our students and that we need to work together to enact the kinds
of reforms that will enable our schools to help all youngsters reach their
maximum potential.
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Chuck Beams
Fidonet - 1:2608/70
cbeams@future.dreamscape.com
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