Shifting our focus to Goal 2, the panel of goals has agreed to support the ongoing efforts of the National Center for Education Statistics and the Council of Chief State School Officers to assist states and school systems in developing more effective and consistent student-record systems. The National Education Goals Panel has recently approved a resolution to advance the development of a comprehensive early-childhood assessment system that will assess the readiness of children for school. This assessment system will not only measure the intellectual skills of children but also their social and emotional maturity, as well as their physical and mental well-being. It will be used to track the progress of the nation in meeting the first goal established by the President and the nation’s governors, which is that all children should be ready to learn when they enter school by the year 2000.
Recognizing that the development of this assessment system may take several years, the panel has also agreed to explore temporary measures to monitor the progress of children, such as teacher observations. The resolution, which was passed last month, also encourages the creation of educational materials and programs to help parents support their children’s readiness for school. In relation to Goal 2, which aims to increase the high school graduation rate to 90 percent by the year 2000, the panel has also agreed to support the ongoing development of a voluntary student-record system that will collect standardized data on school completion at the state and local levels. The panel’s recent meeting on March 27 was its first meeting since its reconfiguration to ensure greater political balance and voting power for Congressional representatives.
The meeting was attended by new members, including Governors Howard Dean, Ben Nelson, and Barbara Roberts, as well as Senators Jeff Bingaman and Thad Cochran. Additional new voting members include Representatives Bill Goodling and Dale Kildee. This meeting also marked the first meeting under the panel’s new executive director, Wilmer Cody, who previously served as the state superintendent of schools in Louisiana.
The first "report card" assessing the progress of the goals, which was issued last fall, cited the inadequacy of existing tools to measure school readiness and gave Goal 1 an "incomplete" grade. In last month’s resolution, the goals panel essentially endorsed a strategy proposed by a technical-planning subgroup that was studying assessment issues related to Goal 1. This subgroup put forward a concept of readiness that goes beyond cognitive abilities and general knowledge to include physical well-being, motor development, social and emotional maturity, approaches to learning, and language use. The assessment will measure children’s progress in each of these areas at various points throughout the kindergarten year, using data from multiple sources such as teachers, parents, child profiles, and portfolios of student work. To avoid labeling or categorizing children, the data will be reported based on a representative sample of students that is technically sound. The system will also collect data on children’s family and preschool experiences prior to entering school.
During a presentation at the March meeting, Ernest L. Boyer, the president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the head of the panel’s Goal 1 resource group, emphasized the historical significance of the resolution in embracing a comprehensive view of readiness. The approach endorsed by the panel reflects a growing understanding of the complexities associated with achieving the readiness goal. Sharon Lynn Kagan, a senior associate at Yale University’s Bush Center in Child Development and Social Policy, who chaired the technical subgroup, also commended the panel for their support.
However, there were concerns raised that the system may not provide information quickly enough or assist parents in evaluating their own children’s readiness for school. Some members of the goals panel suggested using surveys of teachers or progress reports from parents to gather data in the interim. Governor Roy Romer of Colorado, for instance, proposed that all parents of children under the age of 6 be given a form to fill out within a year to monitor their own children’s readiness. He believes that this will effectively communicate what is important and engage parents in the development of the readiness criteria.
Maintaining Progress towards Goal 2
Regarding Goal 2, the panel responsible for setting goals has reached a consensus to support ongoing efforts by the National Center for Education Statistics and the Council of Chief State School Officers. These efforts aim to assist states and school systems in the development of more efficient and consistent student-record systems, which have been in progress for some time.
The resolution put forth by the panel seeks to enhance these existing systems by promoting the standardization of data pertaining to student enrollment, demographic characteristics, and reporting of various types of high-school completion credentials. A significant objective is to improve the tracking of students as they transition between schools. Exploring the feasibility of utilizing such a system to assess progress on multiple goals is also outlined in the resolution.
However, the panel has expressed hesitation in endorsing a comprehensive records system as extensive as the one proposed by a technical subgroup focused on Goal 2. This proposed system would analyze demographic, dropout, and student-performance data within the context of broader educational goals. Aaron M. Pallas, an associate professor of educational administration at Michigan State University and a member of that subgroup, highlighted the panel’s reservations. In a survey conducted by Mr. Pallas on behalf of the panel, it was revealed that one in six states already possesses a comprehensive statewide student-record system, with nearly three-quarters considering its implementation.
