A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

I. Key Facts

• High expectations and high standards bring out the best in students and schools. One of the ways that families, communities, and school personnel choose to work together to improve their schools is to help set high academic and occupational standards and help students work hard to meet them.

• Standards are best set at the state and local levels. Local schools and communities can get help in setting their own high standards by reviewing standards being developed by national organizations, states, and local communities. See "Where to Go for More Help" at the end of this section.

• Safe schools are a precondition for learning. Another way families, communities, and school personnel work to improve schools is to establish guidelines and standards for safe schools and disciplined student behavior. When children and teachers feel safe in their schools, teaching and learning are significantly improved.

• Increased performance in math and science is tied to standards. One explanation for improvements in math and science achievement in America over the past 10 years is that schools, states, and the federal government have promoted higher math standards and have encouraged students to take more rigorous science and math courses.

Areas that Need Attention. While states and communities have made much progress on developing high, challenging standards for all students, academic standards are still too low and many students still suffer from the tyranny of low expectations.

• Too many students take a watered-down curriculum. Many students are in the general track in high school, not preparing for college or occupations with a promising future. About 60 percent of students do not take the rigorous core curriculum recommended 10 years ago in the landmark study, A Nation At Risk.

• Schools are offering fewer choices. In budget crises, schools are reducing or eliminating gifted and talented classes, arts education, and extracurricular activities.

II. Ten Activities That Can Help Raise Standards of Achievement and Discipline

1. Families: Make sure your children enroll in challenging courses. Encourage high schoolers to take advanced placement courses and/or advanced technical and occupational courses. Be as involved as you can in your children's education each and every day. Show up at any event to reinforce your child's special interest. And always expect your children to learn.

2. Colleges: Share with teachers, parents, and students the type of skills and work habits needed to be successful in college work. Explain how taking advanced placement courses in high school is a great advantage when entering college. Tell them that taking advanced career preparation or tech-prep courses prepares students both to enter the workforce and for later college work.

3. Families, schools, community members, religious groups, businesses, and military organizations: Sponsor community discussion groups about the high standards needed for today's students to achieve. In partnership with local schools, develop statements of what students are expected to know and be able to do as a result of their education. Work with schools to develop clear, high standards of achievement for all students--those going directly to college and those in occupational or tech-prep courses preparing for careers. Make sure students have access to high-level instruction in all the core subjects--English, math, science, the arts, civics, geography, history, economics, and foreign languages--and in key occupational areas.

4. Families, schools, community members, religious groups, businesses, and military organizations: Convene an assembly, a discussion group, or after- school program to tell personal stories to students about how "Going the Extra Mile Made A Difference In My Life." These stories should reinforce the real benefits of having high academic, work, and personal standards that require discipline, extra effort, dedicated study, and persistence.

5. Students and schools: Encourage students to work hard to achieve the school's standards and their personal goals. Convene small groups of students from your school and ask them to put into writing what they expect to know and be able to do when they graduate. Ask them: What do they want to do after completing high school (further education, work, independent living) and what do they have to do to prepare for those activities? What knowledge and skills will they have to have to succeed? Share the results with school staff, the student body, and the PTA.

6. Students and schools: Develop an honor code for behavior in school. Convene a meeting in which students join with parents, teachers, principals, school board members, administrators, and community members to develop a list of behaviors that contribute to a positive school environment. Develop ways to implement the code. Elect a panel of parents, teachers, students, and community members to work with students who have trouble meeting the honor code standards.

7. Community groups and religious organizations: Conduct conflict resolution workshops that teach children how to respond without violence when someone is bothering them. Work with students on an anti-violence campaign.

8. Community and religious groups, businesses, law enforcement organizations, and members of the military: Offer mentoring and tutoring programs and homework centers to help children do well in learning their challenging coursework. Reinforce the basic American values necessary for good citizenship.

9. Community and religious groups, schools, law enforcement organizations, and members of the military: Organize a regular time during the week for parent/child sports, such as basketball, softball, volleyball, kickball, or soccer. Sponsor joint cultural events. Try to make the event an ongoing school activity with parents and children playing these and other games together, or create arts-and-crafts, music-and-dancing evenings.

10. Businesses: Adopt flexible employee leave policies that allow family members to attend school conferences or volunteer in their child's school. Encourage part-time student employees to attend school every day and to study hard. Ask to see transcripts and diplomas when high school graduates apply for jobs, and call teachers or principals to get job references. This will send students the message that achievement in school counts in the real world. Encourage those without diplomas or needed skills to go back to school or college. Share with the school and the community the skills that are needed for today's--and tomorrow's--jobs, and work with schools to help students learn those skills.

III. Where To Go for More Help

ORGANIZATIONS

Council for Basic Education
1319 F Street, NW
Washington, DC 20004
202-347-4171

National Alliance of Business
1201 New York Ave., NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20005-3917
202-289-2888

Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
634 South Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90014
213-629-2512

The National Urban League
500 East 62nd Street
New York, NY 10021-8379
212-310-9000

National Association of Secondary School Principals
1904 Association Drive
Reston, VA 22091
703-860-0220

The following associations and organizations are coordinating the development of voluntary standards:

Math
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
1906 Association Drive
Reston, VA 22091
1-800-235-7566

Arts
Music Educators National Conference
1806 Robert Fulton Drive
Reston, VA 22091
1-800-828-0229

Civics and Government
Center for Civic Education
5146 Douglas Fir Road
Calabasas, CA 91302
1-800-350-4223

Foreign Language
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
6 Executive Blvd.
Yonkers, NY 10701-6801
914-963-8830

Geography
National Geographic Society
P.O. Box 1640
Washington, DC 20013-1640
1-800-368-2728

Science
National Research Council
National Science Education Standards Project
2101 Constitution Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20418
202-334-1399

Occupational Standards-- Bioscience
Education Development Center
55 Chapel St.
Newton, MA 02158
617-969-7100

Occupational Standards--Chemical Process Industries
American Chemical Society
1155 16th St, NW
Washington, DC 20036
202-872-8734

Occupational Standards--Electronics
American Electronics Association
5201 Great American Parkway
Box 54990
Santa Clara, CA 95056
408-987-4267

Occupational Standards--Photonics
Center for Occupational Research and Development
601 Lake Air Drive
Waco, TX 76710
817-772-8756

PUBLICATIONS

Making Standards Matter: A Fifty-State Progress Report on Efforts to Raise Academic Standards. American Federation of Teachers, Educational Issues Department. Washington, D.C., 1995.

Reaching Standards: A Progress Report on Mathematics. Policy Information Center, Educational Testing Service. Princeton, N. J., 1995.

Student Portfolio Handbook. Middle School Mathematics. Field Trial Version. New Standards Project. Washington, D.C., 1994.

Teachers and GOALS 2000: Leading the Journey Toward High Standards for All Students. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, D.C., 1995.

"Considering Standards." Basic Education. Council for Basic Education. Washington, D.C., January 1995.

"Achieving High Standards," by Albert Shanker. American Federation of Teachers. Washington, D.C., July 1993.

"Struggling for Standards." Education Week. Special Report. Washington, D.C., April 12, 1995.

State Content Standards. Directory of state projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Washington, D.C., 1995.

"High Expectations: High Standards." (In progress.) U. S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Washington, D.C.

AUDIO-VISUAL AIDS

Goals 2000: A New Standard of Learning, with Shari Lewis. For all audiences. Also available in Spanish.
Goals 2000: Taking Action for America's Children, for education policymakers, public officials, and community leaders.
Goals 2000: Education is Everybody's Business, for business people.
Goals 2000: Strong Families, Strong Schools, for parents, family members, and schools.
Goals 2000: Every Teacher, Every Child, for teachers.

Videos available for two-week loans by calling 1-800-USA-Learn:

The U.S. Department of Education has available tapes of the Goals 2000 Satellite Town Meetings and other products that are available free of charge through a lending library. VHS videotapes are available on loan for a two-week period. The Goals 2000 Satellite Town Meeting is not copyrighted and viewers are encouraged to make copies and distribute them in their communities. If you plan to broadcast the Satellite Town Meeting and need a broadcast-quality 3/4" videotape, call 1-800-USA-LEARN. These videos include:

Satellite Town Meeting #15
September 28, 1994
Mobilizing Your Community to Achieve the National Education Goals

Satellite Town Meeting #11
March 15, 1994
Preparing World-Class Teachers

Satellite Town Meeting #10
February 15, 1994
Helping ALL Students Reach High Standards

Satellite Town Meeting #8
November 16, 1993
Transforming Kentucky's Schools: A Profile of Systemic Reform

Satellite Town Meeting #6
September 21, 1993
Reaching High Standards for All Students

Key to the Future: National Summit on Education (April 5, 1995) A roundtable discussion featuring leaders in education, business, and community organizations from around the country. This event, held in honor of the tenth anniversary of the publication of A Nation At Risk, begins with comments by former Secretary of Education Terrell H. Bell and Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont.

The Goals 2000: Educate America Act makes funding available to schools and communities that want to raise academic standards, lift student achievement, and improve teaching and classroom discipline. Your school may qualify for funds. For information, see Need Financial Assistance? Your School May Qualify For Funding.
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