Will National Standards Help Kids?

President Clinton’s effort to establish national education standards to ensure that American schoolchildren master fundamental skills has drawn mixed reaction from California educators and parents.

The testing plan is the centerpiece of the Clinton administration’s education reform agenda. It calls for uniform tests in reading for all fourth-graders and in math for eighth-graders.

The plan has won support from 15 major school districts, including Los Angeles Unified, New York City and Chicago. It has encountered opposition from political conservatives and some minority lawmakers. Some African American leaders contend that a national test would diminish the self-esteem of urban children who may fail to perform well on the examination. Some Latino lawmakers are concerned about the veracity of reading test results from non-English-speaking students. Republicans say the plan is federal intrusion on a state’s right to establish its own education standards.

Opponents engineered a compromise in Congress in November that effectively puts the measure on hold until 1999.

KARIMA A. HAYNES asked several community members whether national standardized tests should be used to assess academic achievement in local school districts.

JULIE KORENSTEIN

Los Angeles Unified School District member representing parts of the San Fernando Valley

If all states had comparable education programs and funding for education, then a standardized test would be a good test to have because there would be validity in the comparison. Unfortunately, education does not work that way. Some school districts, like New York City, spend $9,000 per student. Alaska spends $11,000 per student, and Los Angeles spends $5,400 per student--and we don’t teach the same courses.

All children should have equal opportunity for excellence in education. When that happens, then you can have testing like this.

SUE SHANNON

Manager, Annenberg Grant to promote literacy among students in Francis Poly Tech-North Hollywood cluster; former principal, Lankershim Elementary School, North Hollywood

I think it’s an excellent idea for us to establish national academic standards to bring about consistency in education and to set forth expectations for the curriculum that is offered to students.

We want to make sure that students are at a place in their educational life where they are ready to be tested. If the testing is handled correctly--and all differences among children are taken into consideration before we begin assessing them--then it should work. Ultimately we want all children to meet national standards.

HOWARD KARLITZ

Headmaster, Meadow Oaks School, Calabasas

I have no problem with a national standardized test. I don’t think it is a bad idea for one state to see how another state’s students are doing and use that information to structure your school’s curriculum, if there is something they are doing right.

I think that with any national test, the most important thing is not only gauging how your child is doing vis-a-vis other students, but how that test is used to improve instruction in your own school. The heart of any valid testing program is that you want the test results to be fed back to teachers and administrators so that they can tailor individual programs for their students. If that could be done on a national level, I’m all for it.

RACHEL GULLIVER DUNNE

Former parent member, Van Nuys High School Shared Decision-Making Council

I don’t see the national standards as a solution, but I am open to the possibility that they may be able to focus attention and generate support for the programs that are really needed to bring our education accomplishments up to a level that we expect.

Theoretically national standardized tests show children’s academic deficiencies and strengths. In reality, however, they more often reflect local social and economic demographics. More affluent communities with well-educated parents will have more high-performing schools than low- and middle-income communities with less educated parents who are working two and three jobs just to make ends meet.