The State Board of Education has taken a first step in revising school standards. Yesterday, the board presented a draft of new rules that make sweeping changes. They include requiring districts to offer kindergarten to giving students credit for learning outside the classroom. But as New Hampshire Public Radio’s Amy Quinton reports, some educators have major concerns.
Some of the changes proposed by the State Board of Education have most educators, teachers and parents excited.
For example, all school districts will now have to offer Kindergarten classes by 2007.
Education Commissioner Nick Donahue, speaking on NHPR’s The Exchange, said the fact that Kindergarten is not offered in some school districts is an embarrassment.
DONAHUE 3 (I’m the one that gets to go around and remind folks that there are only 15 districts in the nation that don’t have public Kindergarten, and all 15 are in New Hampshire, so I’m glad the board has taken a position on this.)
Other changes make sense to most educators as well.
New Hampshire math requirements have lagged behind the rest of the nation.
The changes would making high school students take three years of math instead of two.
But probably one of the most talked about changes, is the idea School Board Chair Fred Bramante calls Real World Learning.
The policy would allow students to get credit outside the classroom.
Bramanti1 (I mean if a student goes to France for the summer and comes back speaking French and can prove to the French teacher that they have demonstrated the mastery, then why shouldn’t they get credit for it)
For the most part, teachers agree with the concept.
But Karen McDonogh, President of the New Hampshire’s National Education Association, worries that not all students will have the same opportunity to earn outside credit.
Karen1 (There’s some concern about the students that have versus the students that don’t have, we don’t want to create a system where students that can afford to go to France to take private ballet lessons, or art lessons would have such a big advantage over those students that don’t have those opportunities)
That’s an issue that still has to be worked out, says Education Commissioner Nick Donahue.
Donahue 09:34 (The equity issue is a big one, we have to make sure that these kinds of opportunities are available to everyone, does it mean that everybody needs to have exactly the same opportunities, no. But it can’t be a system that divides the haves and have nots, so there’s an issue there and we haven’t resolved that)
The draft rules also make teachers develop personal learning strategies for students.
The thinking is that all students learn differently.
And teachers should develop a teaching strategy that allows the student to succeed.
Some teachers already do this.
But Theodore Comstock with New Hampshire’s School Board Association says the change may force another layer of bureaucracy on teachers and administrators.
And Comstock is concerned about implementing Real World Learning.
Comstock2 (It’s all well and good to say we think music can be done by guitar lessons, but we do have standards and we should have standards for what the child is getting from that, so there’s going to have to be significant oversight as to whether the guitar lesson in fact is worthy of receiving credit, some may be and some may not be.)
Both the teachers’ union and school boards worry that the oversight and implementation will cost more money.
And Comstock says district’s are already being forced to do more with less.
Comstock1 (right now the state is providing less money to schools than it did several years ago and now there appears to be an expansion of responsibility under the revisions, we’re expected to that with less money than we’ve had before.)
But Fred Bramante, Real World Learning’s biggest cheerleader, says the changes could result in some cost savings.
(For example, if sports teams now qualify to get gym credit and you’ve got 30-percent of kids in the state participating in sports teams, then you’ve just had a significant reduction in that particular area)
Not everyone is convinced of that savings will materialize. And there’s not yet been a cost analysis. But Education Commissioner Nick Donahue says the state has a lot to gain if it takes this new path.
Donahue1 (If we can make a proposal where our schools are delivering better results for our students, so they’re more competitive in the workplace, so they go to college more, and they succeed, I think they’re going to want to see this implemented. Lots of challenges, hard thing to do, lots of risk, right thing to do and long overdue.)
The State Board of Education will hold hearings on the school standards this fall. The state legislature may also make changes. The new rules won’t become final until next year. For NHPR news, I’m Amy Quinton.
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