Posted by:
Kathryn Chval
Posted on: May 18, 2001 at 5:31 PM
Message:
You are right. We have found that each person brings meaning to the term "Standards-based" teaching. Early in the process, we ask groups of teachers to define it. The variety of responses continues to amaze us. Many teachers and administrators have never witnessed a problem-based approach where students are encouraged to think and communicate their ideas. We begin with demonstrations of such lessons. The natural questions that follow are "Why is this approach better?" and "How do I do this?"Our bottom line: We want students to experience mathematics. We want an instructional program that makes sense for students. Unfortunately, in today's climate of accountability, the testing issue cannot be ignored. In our district, the students' scores on ITBS determines if the children are promoted to the next grade level. Some teachers believe they should spend 100% of their instructional time preparing their students for this particular test. We have used the test scores to demonstrate the success of using a challenging curriculum. We have also used the test to discuss appropriate issues of assessment. Using this test for these reasons was not our intention at the beginning of the project. Thank you for your thoughtful comments.
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