LETTER: QUESTIONS ABOUT OBE

To the editor:

Thank you for publishing the student performance standards that are being considered for Missouri schools by the outcome-based education reformers. This is the first time that I have seen the proposed standards in print. The goals and standards are vague, however. I want to know the specifics of the reforms.

Dr. Neyland Clark, superintendent of the Cape Girardeau School District, apparently has a high regard for this proposal. He had firsthand experience with this type of reform while in Kentucky. I hope Clark will answer some questions that I have on this subject.

I respectfully request that Clark write a series of articles that would explain each of the goals and standards of OBE. What are children required to do in this program? How will the standards be evaluated at each grade level? How will grades be determined? How will it be different from the current system?

For example, what would a freshman student in the Cape Girardeau public school system be required to do to "Express one's emotions, concepts of beauty and personal perceptions of works of arts, humanities and sciences?" What will a second grader be required to do? What will a fifth grader be required to do? How will each be evaluated upon completion of the task? How will grades be determined?

When the "potential risks in daily living" are identified and analyzed by our children, who will decide what health and safety measures, procedures and practices are "appropriate"? What activities will be done at each grade level?

Is the current system of "passive learning" so ineffective that it should be discarded completely? Even though the current system has problems, it has many success stories as well.

To gain my support for this proposal you must convince me that the OBE system will have significant advantages over the current system. Answering these specific questions will be a good start.

JERRY CANADY

Chaffee