• Home Delivery
• Customer Services
• Contact Us

Print | Email |

Higher school standards will pay off in the long run

The report cards for Tennessee’s schools offer something of a mixed bag, and that’s to be expected. The state is in the process of fundamentally changing the way it computes achievement scores for schools, which also has an effect on the letter grades awarded.

The changes are all part of a much needed reform of Tennessee’s K-12 curriculum known as the Tennessee Diploma Project, which seeks to boost standards and align the state curriculum with a national benchmark.

As a practical matter, the move toward a more demanding curriculum and more rigorous testing means that many schools that might have uniformly received A’s in former years might now receive lesser grades. But that doesn’t mean those schools have suddenly become academically deficient.

To the contrary, Tennessee schools are being tasked as never before to produce graduates who must contend with a workplace that their parents and grandparents could scarcely have envisioned.

The common assumption behind the national Diploma Project, embraced by the National Governors Association, and the changes to Tennessee’s high school curriculum is that greater exposure to higher-level math and science courses (as well as English and reading) will increase the chances that students will be prepared for higher education and the work world.

The perceived need for that more rigorous curriculum can be summed up in one number: 18. That’s the percentage of Tennessee students in the class of 2009 who met or exceeded all four ACT college readiness benchmark scores — a number unchanged since last year. In practical terms, that means fewer than one in five high school seniors in Tennessee scored high enough on the ACT for the test company to predict that they were ready to earn a C or better in first-year college courses in English, reading, math and science.

Obviously, the lack of academic preparedness is something Tennessee needs to change. The problem is that while everyone favors strong K-12 academic standards in the abstract, when a parent’s own child feels the sting of high expectations, those strong standards don’t always sound so appealing. But we all know, instinctively, that nothing of real value is gained without hard work and dedication.

Tennessee’s educational attainment levels have long been a cause of deep concern. Insisting on higher standards, particularly in math and science, is essential in addressing that concern. In the short run, a more rigorous curriculum and tougher tests are likely to increase anxiety among many parents, students, educators and policymakers. But these changes, painful as they are, must be made.

The state has made a necessary first step in insisting on higher standards and a more candid and comprehensive way to evaluate student performance. While that process still has far to go, we applaud the state’s educational community for rising to meet this latest challenge.

But it’s also past time local districts reached out to their communities for support and help, not just from parents, but institutions like the business community.

Home | Login | Local News | Obits | Sports | Business | Opinions | Blogs | Classifieds| Business Profiles

Web Feeds/RSS | Contact Us | Customer Service | Privacy Statement | Common Questions | E-Edition | Subscriptions | Site Map

© 2009 Kingsport Publishing Corporation - Innovation by Times Digital Group