GROUP MAPS OUT PLAN FOR SCHOOLS

A committee has drawn the first lines of a new road map for education in Cape Girardeau public schools, and now it wants to know if it is on the right track.

Dozens of teachers and the 40-member committee at Cape Girardeau public schools have developed a proposed set of local educational standards based on the statewide Show-Me Standards approved last month by the Missouri Board of Education.

The vote by the eight-member state board was a conclusive step for the Show-Me Standards, which were mandated by a 1993 tax-and-reform package for Missouri schools. The standards are supposed to demonstrate what students learn and how they apply their knowledge. Local schools are asked to adapt and adopt the standards.

Critics call the standards vague; some say they pave the way for Outcomes Based Education.

Proponents say the standards give school districts flexibility to make local decisions about curriculum.

"These academic standards are vague and general by design," Dr. Lanny Barnes said. "As you get more specific you are in essence writing the curriculum for a particular course."

Barnes is coordinating the effort to write local academic standards.

"I think we will have a better, more detailed road map for education," Barnes said. "And teachers, students and parents can all pick up the curriculum guides and get a very clear picture of what we expect of our students."

Critics of the Show-Me Standards say the standards reflect lower expectations for students in Missouri.

But for Cape Girardeau, Barnes does not agree. "I can't speak for other school districts, but we do not feel we are dumming down the curriculum," Barnes said. "On the contrary, we are making it more academic and increasing the expectations for our students."

Think of the plan as a pyramid with four goals at the top. Academic standards provide more specific explanations of how those goals will be achieved followed by even more specific knowledge in content areas like mathematics and social studies.

In Cape Girardeau, the pyramid base continues to broaden with locally-designed course-specific standards for every class offered and then with the state-required frameworks that spell out skills students should have. The final layer of the plan is the curriculum, which is written by Cape Girardeau teachers and administrators.

"Within two years every course in grades nine through 12, and eventually at every grade, will have specifics about what students should know and be able to do."

These skills, for the high school, will be cross-referenced with graduation requirements.

Copies of the draft of local standards have been distributed to every building. Barnes asks that recommendations be submitted in writing to any building principal or to him by March 11.

During the third week of March, the performance committee will meet to discuss the comments and see what changes need to be made.

If all goes as planned, the standards will be presented to the Cape Girardeau Board of Education in April.

In addition to completing curriculum guides, Barnes said teachers are working on ways to test if students are learning the skills outlined in the guides.

Barnes said Cape Girardeau schools will continue using traditional tests. In addition, students will be asked to perform skills, for example, by dissecting a frog in biology class.

"We've done that for years, but not to the same extent," Barnes said. "The difference now is the knowledge explosion; we need to provide students with a knowledge base and the process to arrive at solutions to problems."