Comments on: Standards and sausage http://www.joannejacobs.com/2009/06/standards-and-sausage/ Thinking and Linking by Joanne Jacobs Fri, 10 Feb 2012 04:51:22 +0000 hourly 1 By: allen http://www.joannejacobs.com/2009/06/standards-and-sausage/#comment-47519 allen Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:43:46 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/?p=9714#comment-47519 In a word, no. Over at Jay Greene's blog I quoted Mark Twain about the law and sausage: <i>Those that respect the law and love sausage should watch neither being made</i> Since any national standards will emerge from the political process what those standards look like will bear a strong resemblance to those most influential in its creation but even with that unpromising birthright it'll still be a political compromise which bodes to make the results even less appealing. That does play into the hands of the defenders of the educational status quo since they're inherently opposed to any measures of accountability. A terrible, politically-driven standard that measures nothing worthwhile and draws the ire of everyone who does value education could easily poison the idea of standards as far as the public's concerned. In a word, no.

Over at Jay Greene’s blog I quoted Mark Twain about the law and sausage:

Those that respect the law and love sausage should watch neither being made

Since any national standards will emerge from the political process what those standards look like will bear a strong resemblance to those most influential in its creation but even with that unpromising birthright it’ll still be a political compromise which bodes to make the results even less appealing.

That does play into the hands of the defenders of the educational status quo since they’re inherently opposed to any measures of accountability. A terrible, politically-driven standard that measures nothing worthwhile and draws the ire of everyone who does value education could easily poison the idea of standards as far as the public’s concerned.

]]> By: Darren http://www.joannejacobs.com/2009/06/standards-and-sausage/#comment-47518 Darren Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:26:22 +0000 http://joannejacobs.com/?p=9714#comment-47518 I wonder if it would be possible to do with national standards what teachers in our math department do with "common assessments"--that is, we come up with a set of, say, 15 questions in a chapter taht we all will give to students, and then we individually add whatever else we want to. In other words, the "common" part is a core, upon which each teacher builds a test. I wonder if it would be possible to do with national standards what teachers in our math department do with “common assessments”–that is, we come up with a set of, say, 15 questions in a chapter taht we all will give to students, and then we individually add whatever else we want to.

In other words, the “common” part is a core, upon which each teacher builds a test.

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