Standards and the Internet
A number of Web sites offer information about education standards. The Alliance has identified two sites that provide comprehensive information concerning standards and their implementation in school districts.The Mid-continent Regional Educational Laboratory (MCREL)
(www.mcrel.org/standards/index.html)This site contains articles and reports about key issues facing educators adopting standards-based programs. Articles such as "Eight Questions You Should Ask Before Implementing Standards-based Education at the Local Level" and "A Comprehensive Guide to Designing Standards-Based Districts, Schools, and Classrooms" can help teachers and administrators frame the issues in a practical fashion. The MCREL pages also feature a number of excellent links to other relevant education sites. The pages load quickly and are easy to navigate. The site is definitely a resource for policy professionals, administrators, and school board members who are looking at the big picture of standards-based reforms.
The Putnam Valley School District
This superb Web site on education reform features a section entitled "Developing Education Standards." It gives extensive information about standards in this country and around the world and includes an exhaustive list of state, national, and international education standards. Early in the link, Putnam Valley sets forth why standards are important and states their goals for the site:
"Good teachers have standards in mind when they set their lessons up, where the idea of a "standard" represents a specific idea of what the teacher expects a student to recall, replicate, manipulate, understand, or demonstrate at some point down the road - and of how the teacher will know how close a student has come to meeting that standard. Standards, in other words, are conceptually nothing new - but they did receive a new emphasis over the last decade, through various state initiatives and through the passage of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. The growth of the Internet has given us the chance to index the sources of information about standards in one place and place that information at anyone's fingertips."
This is an excellent site to examine standards from a global perspective and is a good one-stop-shopping site for standards in all the states.
ENC Resources
Reform in Math and Science
ENC Focus
This series is published by the ENC and highlights specific topics and resources in math and science. The print publications are free and are also made available on the Web at www.enc.orgThe most recent publications in the series include Calculator-Active Materials, Volume 4, Issue 2; CD-ROMs and Laserdiscs for Science, Volume 4, Issue 3; and Professional Development for Math and Science, Volume 4, Issue 4. To request a print issue of ENC Focus, contact the ENC at the address below, or send an e-mail to editor@enc.org
Eisenhower National Clearinghouse
1929 Kenny Road
Columbus, OH 43210-1079
(800) 621-5785
Fax: (614) 292-2066
www.enc.org