Teachers and Standards: Sauce for the Goose ..

By Charles Mojkowski

Responding to public criticism about teaching, state legislatures, boards, and education agencies are scrambling to raise their standards for teachers. Just this past summer, for example, the New York state board of regents adopted stricter standards, requiring all teachers to obtain a master's degree within their first two years in the classroom and all new teachers to complete 175 hours of continuing education every five years. ( "N.Y. Regents' Panel Proposes Stringent Teaching Standards," June 24, 1998.)

While efforts to raise standards for teachers are laudatory, the specific provisions of these new policies bring into sharp focus the contrast between the learning systems reformers are trying to establish for students and those they require for teachers. In effect, the policies ordain a teacher-learning system that lacks elements considered essential for children's learning.

Think for a moment about the principal features of current reform efforts focused on student learning: high, measurable standards linked to future roles as citizens and workers, and high-quality, challenging, and motivating learning experiences, leading to and incorporating authentic assessments focused on performance. The focus on results is prominent at every...