Education

Governors Stress Curricular Reforms As Linchpin of Restructuring Efforts

By Peter Schmidt — September 27, 1989 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The nation’s governors, in the latest of a series of reports on education reform, last week urged educators to link curricular improvements with the school-restructuring efforts under way in more than half the states.

Structural reforms “ultimately will matter little if what is taught and how it is taught remains unchanged,” Governor Terry E. Branstad of Iowa, chairman of the National Governors’ Association, said in releasing Results in Education: 1989.

The report is the third of five such studies the governors’ association has pledged to issue as a follow-up to its influential 1986 document on school reform, Time for Results: The Governors’ 1991 Report on Education.

The new report, based on a 50-state survey, says that 27 states have adopted or are implementing initiatives to promote restructuring at the school or district level. These states, it says, “are generally starting small and using a limited number of strategies,” typically in a small number of schools or districts chosen on a voluntary basis.

The initiatives undertaken by states include such features as school-based management and waivers of state regulations for participating schools.

But, the report emphasizes, “few reform efforts have yet touched on the heart of the educational process--what is taught and how it is taught.”

Addressing the issue of curricular reform is necessary, it argues, because “there is mounting evidence and a growing consensus that the curriculum most prevalent in American schools is significantly flawed.”

"[F]rom elementary reading and mathematics to history and high school science,” it says, “subjects taught in U.S. schools are often highly fragmented and repetitious and emphasize narrow skills over deep understanding and isolated facts over cohesive knowledge.”

The report calls on states to establish goals that focus on learner outcomes, emphasize higher-order skills, and lead to the development of more appropriate curricula and student assessments.

Leadership Issues Slighted

In other areas of education, the NGA survey found that:

  • The education community lacks a consensus on the role of administrative and leadership positions and how best to prepare candidates for such jobs. With few exceptions, the report says, leadership issues have been slow in finding their way onto education-reform agendas.
  • The cost of needed school maintenance has increased by 64 percent since 1983, and the anticipated cost of needed construction and renovation nationwide stands at some $84 billion.
  • Through assistance for beginning teachers, career ladders, and financial incentives, 32 states are improving teacher recruitment and retention.
  • Forty-one states have new, expanded, or proposed policies for increasing parental involvement in schools.

Copies of the report may be purchased for $12.50 each from the National Governors’ Association, 444 North Capitol St., Washington, D.C. 20001-1572; telephone: (202) 624-5300.

A version of this article appeared in the September 27, 1989 edition of Education Week as Governors Stress Curricular Reforms As Linchpin of Restructuring Efforts

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: February 21, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 7, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: January 31, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education Briefly Stated: January 17, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read