If someone in the Capitol were to suddenly lose his/her mind and say “Let’s put the ShortWoman in charge of the educational system,” I know what I would do.
My first day, I would call for a great conference to discuss High School Graduation Requirements. Specifically, I would assemble a small committee, maybe a dozen people, recruited to more or less equally represent parents, business leaders, community leaders, and front line teachers. These people would be encouraged to solicit a wish list from their peers before the first actual meeting.
The goal would be to come up with a list of knowledge and skills that most parents, communities, businesses, and teachers can agree every single high school graduate should have. This list would be broken into broad topics, but get very specific. For example, “Ability to read” would be followed by a list of the types of documents that any high school graduate should be able to read and understand (IRS instructions, newspapers, cookbook, etc.). “Broad understanding of Social Studies” would be broken down into specific requirements for History, Geography, Cultures/Customs, Economics, and the like. Some of the requirements will not be things that can be determined on a multiple choice test. Being able to reason through a multi-disciplinary problem can be that way. These requirements would then be compared to the entry requirements for state universities, with the goal of completely eliminating remedial college coursework after implementation.
Some people are coughing and sputtering that such requirements will make it more difficult for students to receive high school diplomas. Yes, yes it will. But at the end, it will be clear that someone who has obtained a high school diploma has accomplished something, and has a practical, minimum level of education which employers and the community can depend upon. Besides which, it turns out that many students want to be challenged and will surely rise to the occasion, given the opportunity. It will also change the meaning of the “dropout rate,” which currently means the percentage of kids who can be pushed through the system minus those who the school can pretend are attending elsewhere.
Once this comprehensive list was compiled, it will be broken down into age appropriate grade level requirements. So, at the beginning of the school year, Little Jimmy may come home with a bit of paper for his parents that says “Your child is in third grade. By the end of this year, as a prerequisite for continuing to the next grade, he will know the following….” Social promotions will stop, because it will be clear when a child arrives at the next grade unprepared. Summer school will continue to be an important piece of the puzzle, both for students catching up and brushing up, and for teachers who are learning valuable teaching methods. Teaching methods, by the way, will be measured against whether or not they actually work.
By way of follow-up, it turns out that Real ID (Good! Fight it in court!) and bus and train safety (Hello! London! Madrid!) are unfunded mandates. Other items to consider: FOIA reveals FBI has thousands of pages on peaceful groups, another opinion on the “shrinking” budget deficit, and two views on biofuels.