February 18, 2000
COMMENTARY
By John de Beck
San Diego Board of Education
The San Diego Community is being bombarded with all the benefits of Chancellor Anthony Alvarado's "Blueprint for Success in a Standards Based System." The proposal carries a yet to be completely funded budget estimated to be in excess of $70 million and continues social promotion as a district practice.
Under this plan, one half (or more) of the incoming 9th graders in district high schools will be taking three periods of "Genre Studies," and up to two periods of Basic Math. Ignoring the basic principle of diminished returns, Superintendent Alan Bersin is going to take one half of the incoming freshman, including one half of the students who earned C grades in the 8th grade and place them in the same euphemistically named (Genre Studies) remedial class as those students who failed.
By placing these students in these classes the plan removes them from a variety of classes including electives that can keep them in school. Like dessert at the end of a meal, many average students savor classes in art, music, business, industrial arts, foreign languages and computers.
But even worse, the assumption that a three hour class will be three times more effective than one... is just that... an assumption!
The full title of the "Blueprint for Student Success" includes the phrase, "In a Standards Based System." But consider, if each high school class has standards as the Blueprint title implies, then having a one hour class that you must pass to go on would be just as effective as three. In that situation, a student takes on the challenge and works harder, asking for, and getting the help they need to pass after school or with tutoring.
Under the high school portion of the "Blueprint," a teenager is denied the right to graduate on time and take all the courses they want to take. It places average children in with failing students, and it treats them all the same. What happens to motivation when average students find themselves in a class for failures? What can one tell them about why they can't take shops, music or business classes when they got passing grades in the classes they took last year. What will the effect be on the drop out rate?
Another so far unmentioned consequence is the negative impact on the top half of the students who find themselves in a school where their access to electives had been restricted because of the transfer of elective teachers to the remedial program.
Many aspects of the proposed Blueprint for Student Success have merit, particularly those in elementary school. But the plan in its total is worse than the problem it was designed to cure.
The original problem was what to do for kids that could not meet grade level standards. But the Blueprint ignores the logical answer of holding students accountable for the standards and providing help in primary grades without destroying the motivating elective courses in middle and high school. If the cure is worse than the disease, perhaps the cure needs reconsideration. It is easy to understand that you shouldn't socially promote kids to high school that aren't ready. But the plan does just that and it ignores the highly probable principle of "diminished returns!"
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