Vermont Gets Mediocre Marks for Education Standards

How tough are Vermont's standards for public education? That's a question that admits of a lot of different answers, depending on what sort of standards one thinks should be used. . People who believe that getting along with one's peer group and avoiding harmful competition where some child might come in second will obviously disapprove of rigorous academic standards based on knowledge and achievement.

Now comes a new group which has completed a thorough assessment of history, geography, math and science standards in the states. It's called the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. The most familiar names among its trustees are Chester Finn Jr., Diane Ravitch, and Bruno Manno. All three are nationally-known leaders in the cause of no-nonsense, academically challenging content standards.

They and many other Americans have long been alarmed that barely a quarter of our high school seniors are considered proficient in history, only one in ten is proficient in geography, and of 21 countries tested by the international TIMSS study released in February U.S. high school seniors rated 19th in math and 16th in science.

The Fordham team reviewed mathematics standards in 46 states for clarity, content, reason, and absence of false doctrine. Their disappointing conclusion: "on the whole, the nation flunks." Here Vermont rated a C, and a 16th in the nation ranking. The report gave Vermont a generally good rating for its elementary standards, but poor reviews for the high school level. The geography group looked for "clear, specific, assessable state standards that establish high expectations for student mastery of essential geography knowledge and skills..." Each state's standards were tested for clarity, specificity, balance, use of active verbs, benchmarks for progress, and guidance to teachers.

Of 38 states rated, only three earned an A grade. Eighteen states flunked. Vermont finished next to last, ahead only of North Dakota . Grade: F. The report notes that Vermont's high school geography standards are essentially the same as those for grades 5-8. The Vermont standards, it said, "are insufficiently comprehensive, specific, or rigorous to provide students an opportunity to master even geographic fundamentals."

In science, the assessers looked for scientific correctness, precision, laboratory experience, mathematical facility, the connection of theory , experiment, and prediction, and the absence of non-scientific foolishness. Of the 36 states rated, Vermont tied for 9th with Delaware and Utah, earning a B. Vermont was credited with strong elementary biology standards, and good integration of technology with science and mathematics.

In history, state standards were rated on clarity, organization, historical soundness and content, and absence of ideological manipulation. Only Virginia received an A. Vermont was rated 28th out of 37, with a grade of F. Said the report, "Vermont's standards are completely lacking in historical content and essential skills...(They) set extremely ambitious expectations but supply none of the requisite skills and knowledge by which these might be attained."

Future Fordham Foundation reports will presumably cover remaining subject matter areas. Of the four ratings published so far, interestingly, no state emerges as a national leader. California earned two A's and a B; Texas, 2 B's and an A. Vermont's B, C, F, and F were not impressive.

How can Vermont parents assure that their children are being taught to academically rigorous standards in each subject? Since all Vermont public schools must use the same, uniform state standards, for better or worse, public school pupils are pretty much stuck with what the state board of education adopts. Many parents would doubtless prefer to have their children attend an independent school that taught to Virginia's history standards, California's math, Colorado's geography, and Indiana's science. With a parental choice system, many such schools would emerge to meet parental demand, and even low-income parents would be able to send their children to one.

April 1998