TOO EARLY TO RATE STANDARDS AS SUCCESS

Dr. Robert Bartman, Missouri's commissioner of education, is high on the state's new performance-based standards. He feels the new system will motivate students and better evaluate how well teachers are doing their jobs.

The goals are certainly well-intentioned, but the verdict remains out on Missouri's emerging performance-based testing system.

The standards have been in place less than a year. That's insufficient time to judge both the short-term benefits and long-term effects.

There's little doubt Missouri and the nation's education system are faltering. Despite billions of dollars pumped into the systems, student performance has failed to improve substantially.

As a result, education leaders have tended to grab for each quick-fix scheme that comes along -- never waiting long enough to see if the last one worked.

Whatever happened to a return to the basics? These well-grounded lessons in reading, writing and arithmetic provided a solid foundation for years. As public education moved away from the basics, performance has plummeted.

A return to basics can certainly embrace new technology. But what good are computer skills if a student can't read?

Like the foundation of a house, reading, writing and arithmetic are rudimental. Without a solid foundation, a house will collapse. So it is with a child's education.

The new testing moves beyond simple yes and no, right and wrong. It allows students to apply what they've learned.

That's all well and good. But without that foundation of 2-plus-2-equals-4, the application may prove useless.

Today's education is racing blindly down a slippery slope. There are too many rules and regulations, too much red tape. And all of this has very little to do with the basics. Teachers forced to jump through hoops will have little time to do the job they were trained for: educating our children.

Yes, the verdict is still out on performance-based education. But gimmicks will not save public education. A return to the basics is what public education needs to master.