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http://www.detnews.com/2005/editorial/0509/26/A22-326137.htm Adopt tougher curriculum to improve Michigan schools > >Jobs and state's economic future are on the line > >The Detroit News >Sunday, September 25, 2005 > > >Proposed education fixes >A panel chaired by Lt. Gov. John Cherry suggested changes including: > >* Create a curriculum that actually reflects >skills required to succeed after high school. >* Remake high schools to motivate students. >* Create compacts that plug business and entrepreneurship into education. >* Teach all students to meet college entrance requirements. > > > > > > >A tough statewide public education curriculum is >needed to give Michigan a chance at erasing its >education deficit. Curriculum development by the >state's 500 local school districts ranges from >disastrous to disappointing. >The current system of education benchmarks is >not working. Thousands of students are >sleep-walking through classes and landing >unprepared at colleges and universities. >At Henry Ford Community College, for example, >about 82 percent of the school's new students >take remedial math. > > >Students don't meet current benchmarks >Technically, the state has benchmarks for >students to meet. But not everybody's paying >attention to them. In the class of 2005, about >33 percent met or exceeded the state standards >for social studies. >A hallmark of Michigan education is local >control of schools. But the state Constitution >gives overall supervision to the State Board of >Education. >The two concepts are not mutually exclusive. The >state already has education benchmarks and can >revisit them without micromanaging classrooms >and getting involved in daily lesson plans. >Setting a higher bar and modernizing curriculum >would give Michigan students a better start >after graduating from high school. >Over the years, a lot of questionable tradition >has built up. Many schools teach biology, >chemistry and physics in that order. But a >researcher reports that the order was originally >determined by listing the subjects >alphabetically at the turn of the last century. >Similarly, biology and chemistry are often >taught as separate classes when it might make >more sense to teach them together as >biochemistry. > > >Tougher standards prepare better workers >Gov. Jennifer Granholm recently said a rigorous >mandatory curriculum for Michigan high schools >is critical to the state's economic future. That >is, the state's jobless rate is high partly >because Michigan is not producing educated >workers. Michigan lacks the culture of education >required to keep the state competitive, a study >commission said last year. >Fixes fall to the State Board of Education, >which has a long history of being out to lunch. >But the board, spurred by Granholm, is expected >to announce curriculum recommendations this fall. >Those standards should be tough, and parents, >teachers and students alike should understand >that more work will be required of them. >Change can not come incrementally. Michigan must >move swiftly to make sure its students are >learning what they need to know to compete in a >global economy. > > Copyright © 2005 > The Detroit News. > >