Teaching by skill level worth a try

For the North County Times

Mark Twain once complained that everybody talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it. The same could be said today of school reform.

This newspaper's call for a dialogue on how to improve schools has so far produced only a handful of editorials suggesting the key to better schools is to free them from obstacles created by unions and state regulations.

The community's response has been a collective yawn. Maybe that's because the call for reform has been mostly about cutting costs for what schools are already doing. Except for upgrades in technology and classroom furniture, students continue to trudge from one grade to the next in much the same way they have since the days of one-room schoolhouses.

Herded by age group through 12 years of schooling, all are expected to learn the same things in the same way at the same rate. Those who can't or won't conform to the norm lose interest. Accelerated and remedial classes are designed to individualize instruction, but the dominant one-size-fits-all culture causes students on both ends of the spectrum to either drop out or seek the path of least resistance through social promotion each year.

An example of actual reform can be found in the Kansas City, Mo., schools, where this fall 17,000 students will transition from being grouped by age to being grouped by competence in each subject. School districts in Maine and Alaska have already begun to move away from a system where students move ahead based on how much time they warm seats in a classroom.

A competency-based approach allows students of varying ages, assisted individually or in small groups by their teachers, to work at their own pace on projects matching their skill levels. The stigma of not fitting in with peers will be reduced, since students will see that learning depends more on varying skills and interest in subject matter than age.

Math and science whizzes may take longer to master the English and arts courses that are easily aced by those struggling with math. While some students may complete all the requirements necessary to graduate early from high school, those who need more time may take an extra year.

Meanwhile, here in North County, each time test scores are released, we're reminded that a school's academic ranking reflects the average family income of its students.

In districts where failing schools face state sanctions, board members, rather than tackling school reform, wrangle with teacher unions, seek off-the-shelf quick fixes for low test scores and decide whether to honor a former student for voicing her opinion about gay marriage as a contestant in a beauty pageant.