Mandatory
Regents competence will
raise level of state education
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Linda
S. Sanford
IBM New York State
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Recently,
1,000 students and parents demonstrated at the State Capitol against
Commissioner Richard Mills and the Board of Regents, who have mandated
that, beginning with the graduating class of 2003, all students must pass
the Regents exams to graduate from high school.
The decision
by Commissioner Mills and the Board of Regents is a courageous one —
one that has the power to raise the quality of education for all New York
students. We've made too much progress in the last decade to lose it all
at this pivotal stage.
Not too long
ago, few states had academic standards for students and hardly any had
quality testing programs. At the time IBM hosted the 1996 National Education
Summit, only 14 states had standards and just a handful had begun to implement
quality assessments. When education and business leaders and governors
convened again at IBM for the 1999 National Education Summit, fully 49
states had standards in place. Dozens, including New York State, had begun
to develop the accompanying assessment and accountability programs, with
good examples of success. These states understood the critical concept
that standards without tests to measure progress would be like leaving
the doctor's office without either a diagnosis or prescription.
It's true
that bad tests should be scrapped. But high-quality tests like Regents
exams in the core subjects of English, mathematics, US history and government,
science, global history and geography, are a legitimate instrument for
measuring students' actual learning. The Regents exam asks students to
solve complex math problems, explain how they arrived at solutions, critically
examine literary techniques and articulate their thinking in written essays.
How can critics complain about asking all students to take or pass these
tests?
In addition,
I believe that the Regents exams will actually lead to better teaching.
They will compel teachers to help students learn and apply their knowledge
and ultimately determine whether students have met academic standards.
Tests pinpoint where students need additional help and will signal where
elected officials and educators should direct resources and energies.
And we're on the right track. On the tougher New York test in English
language arts for 11th graders, 92 percent passed. Our kids can perform.
We just have to give them the chance.
The rest
of the developed world is years ahead of us on this issue, and the performance
of their students proves it. The Third International Math Science Survey
revealed the challenge before us. Kids throughout the world — from
Canada to Australia to Japan to Germany — did better than ours. They're
our competition, and we want to be sure that the children educated here
are qualified for the jobs here. Over the years, New York State has been
a tremendous source of talent for IBM and other companies, and we want
to see that legacy continue. IBM's recent announcement that we are building
a new microelectronics plant in New York, investing millions and preparing
to hire additional employees is in no small measure connected to the state's
efforts to improve education.
Despite what
you hear from some of New York's anti-testing critics, support for higher
standards and tests in the US is strong, widespread, and anchored where
it counts — with the overwhelming majority of parents and the taxpaying
public.
In January,
Education Week released a national survey of teachers probing their views
of standards, testing and accountability. The report found that 87 percent
of teachers surveyed agree that raising standards is "very much"
or "somewhat" a "move in the right direction," and
74 percent say the level of standards in their states is "about right."
The last Quinnipiac College Poll showed that 86 percent of New Yorkers,
and an equal percentage of parents, felt that an essential step to improving
schools is requiring students to pass tests before advancing to the next
grade.
We need the
Regents to tell us where our schools need improvement. From there, it's
up to education leaders, with community and private sector support, to
find the right solutions.
There are
always going to be special interests and critics who fundamentally question
whether schools and students should be held to any standards at all. They
get a sympathetic hearing because, many times, they sound like advocates
for kids. Don't be misled. The true advocates find ways to elevate student
achievement, not hold fast to the status quo that has let kids down for
years.
That said,
it would be a big mistake to support universal Regents exams on the naive
expectation that children will meet higher standards overnight. Getting
from here to there will involve some short-term pain and a lot of hard
work. But the response to challenges posed by universal Regents exams
and higher standards should not be to lower them or rollback on testing,
but to give our kids a shot at the kind of quality education they deserve,
and which we, as concerned citizens, should demand.
Linda S.
Sanford
IBM New York State Senior State Executive
Senior VP, Enterprise on Demand
Storage Systems Group
IBM Corporation
June 2001
