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Implementing the National Standards in a Local-Autonomy State

Posted on: Sunday, 1 February 2004, 06:00 CST

Washington is a local-autonomy state; this means curriculum decisions are made within each school district. When decisions are made locally, the state does not dictate content or resources, but may identify appropriate standards for measuring student success. The identification of appropriate standards is one way that Washington State has made it easier for teachers to develop a curriculum that could be used statewide.

When the national standards for family and consumer sciences (FCS) education were introduced in 1998, a team of educators from Washington was present at the ceremony and conference. They returned to the state excited about a common language for FCS concepts and the standards became the FCS curriculum framework in Washington State.

During that same time period, Washington was beginning standards- based education and high-stakes testing in disciplines identified in Washington's Essential Academic Learning Requirements (reading, writing, communication, mathematics, science, social studies, the arts, health, and fitness). Educators were asked to demonstrate how they were teaching and assessing the Essential Academic Learning Requirements. In addition, Career and Technical Education Teachers were asked to demonstrate how appropriate content standards were taught and assessed. For FCS education, the national standards were identified as the content standards for both exploratory and preparatory courses.

A common format for presenting a curriculum to the state's education office was developed and adopted for all Career and Technical Education programs. The format includes the alignment of a performance-based assessment (i.e., scenario) with content standards (the national standards), Essential Academic Learning Requirements, SCANS competencies, student leadership (FCCLA programs or equivalent), and thinking skills. Teachers also indicate the amount of time devoted to each group of standards, and how the information is used in life and work situations.

The alignment of the occupational standards with nationally recognized content standards (National Association of State Administrators, 1998), and the national consensus process used to develop all of the standards (Wild, 2000) enhanced the credibility of the national standards in the eyes of non-FCS professionals. Without the national standards, teachers would have had to identify specific standards for each area taught in their schools.

Using the national standards and a common format for reporting curriculum, teachers have begun working together to create example courses. The example courses are edited by other teams of teachers with the FCS state supervisor and then posted on the state superintendent's Web site. Teachers may download the posted courses and use them as they are, or change them to fit the needs of their communities (or write their own). Even though Washington is a local- autonomy state, many concepts are taught in every school. Because daily lessons are not specified in the plans, adaptations can be made easily.

The national standards are an important tool that makes statewide curriculum development possible. They also make it much easier for teachers to share curriculum ideas-they are all working with the same concepts.

When decisions are made locally, the state does not dictate content or resources, but may identify appropriate standards for measuring student success.

References

National Association of State Administrators of Family and Consumer Sciences. (1998). Family and consumer sciences national standards: Adapted for Washington State. Olympia, WA: Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Wild, P. (2000). Leadership for change: Developing the national standards. In A. Vail, W.S. Fox, & P. Wild (Eds.), Leadership for change: National standards for family and consumer sciences (pp. 2- 10). Peoria, IL: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill.

Deborah J. Handy, PhD, is in the Department of Human Development at Washington State University.

Copyright American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences Jan 2004

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