The Standards are Ready

Next week, three separate joint resolutions over the new math and English/language arts standards – two in the House, one in the Senate – may be heard and advanced. If any of the three make it all the way to Governor Fallin’s desk – and she signs by the 24th – then we have another delay in implementing them.

This morning, as I was leaving the grocery store, I noticed that this drama was placed above-the-fold for all the world to see on the front page of the Oklahoman.

Since we know newspaper subscriptions are down, we can assume that many people will only read the headline in passing. Here are some quotes from inside the story:

“Overall, the people who spent an enormous amount of time on this did a great job…none of us are trying to play standards experts. But there is room for improvement in an otherwise good product.” – Rep. Jason Nelson

Honestly, I can’t find of fault with Nelson’s statement. These people did work hard. It is a good product. There is room for improvement. There always will be. You won’t find a single member of the standards writing teams – math or ELA – who wouldn’t like to tweak a thing or two. It was committee work. They received thousands of pieces of feedback. This is the shaped work of their experiences, effort, and input.

Where we differ is what should be done with that feeling. I’m ready to move forward. So are the standards writing teams. So are our teachers.

“This is not an indictment of teachers…the process and editing and how these things were assembled broke down at the state Department of Education.” – Sen. Josh Brecheen

Maybe it’s worth noting that Brecheen’s mother worked for the previous state superintendent and was set to lead the standards revision in 2014 when Janet Barresi lost her re-election and the State Board of Education decided to wait. It should also be noted that Brecheen was probably the loudest critic of the suggested titles that came as an Appendix with the Common Core. He’s not going to compliment the SDE – ever.

“Now these are being criticized for being too vague…we want to give flexibility to teachers.” – Sen. Ron Sharp

Sharp is a former teacher, so he gets it. First the standards were too specific (although the Common Core reading list only suggested titles, not dictated them). Now the standards are too vague.

“You would never know these standards were written by Oklahomans for Oklahoma. They could have been written by people on Mars for Martians. There is absolutely nothing in these standards that has an Oklahoma touch, and you want students to end high school knowing something about the state in which they have lived and where they may go to college or do something else as citizens.” – Dr. Sandra Stotsky, University of Arkansas

Dr. Stotsky has never lived in Oklahoma. She has, however, helped author standards in Massachusetts. With that in mind, she should know the difference between standards and curriculum. While I would see nothing wrong with the state suggesting authors and titles to match the standards at each grade level, I wouldn’t want them to dictate those choices to my teachers in my schools.

By the way, I find it interesting that our legislators can’t seem to find any bills written by Oklahomans. For that, as Rob Miller pointed out last night, they turn to ALEC.

Woodward Public Schools Superintendent Kyle Reynolds, another Oklahoman from Oklahoma, also weighed in on the standards battle this morning on Facebook.

His point is that whatever we do, there are some legislators who are just going to fight us. There are detractors in the public who are just going to fight us. Some people, for whatever reason, just want public education to suffer and fail.

This did get me thinking, however, about some famous Oklahomans and their words that we could introduce to our students:

“America would be a better place if leaders would do more long-term thinking.” – Wilma Mankiller

“America is woven of many strands. I would recognise them and let it so remain. Our fate is to become one, and yet many. This is not prophecy, but description.” – Ralph Ellison

“I knew I was right, because somewhere I read in the 14th Amendment, that I was a citizen and I had rights, and I had the right to eat. Within that hamburger was the whole essence of democracy. If you could deny me the right to eat, you could deny me the right to live or work where I want.” – Clara Luper

“Any writer who gives a reader a pleasurable experience is doing every other writer a favor because it will make the reader want to read other books.” – S.E. Hinton

“History is full of really good stories. That’s the main reason I got into this racket: I want to make the argument that history is interesting.” – Sarah Vowell

“The characters I’ve played, especially Bret Maverick and Jim Rockford, almost never use a gun, and they always try to use their wits instead of their fists.” – James Garner

“There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.” – Will Rogers

I think that’s a pretty representative cross-section. I could turn any one (or several) of those quotes into a lesson plan. Having taught middle and high school English, I could take any one of those and adapt it for multiple grades. I don’t need Dr. Stotsky, the Legislature, the SDE, or some fringe group telling me how, either.

Trust our teachers. Trust Oklahomans. Pass the standards now. On that note, I’ll leave you with the words of Oklahoman Hoyt Axton and a song to go with it.