I would agree, Bill, that the resistance, at least at the instructional 
level, comes from instructors' perceptions of how standards have been 
implemented and not from the standards themselves. 

In Virginia, our adult education content standards for GED and ESOL are 
still in the formative stages, but we anticipate final publishing soon. We 
have begun professional development to introduce standards and help 
programs throughout the state devise plans to align curricula and 
assessment with standards. During trainings, time is allotted to discuss 
perceptions of standards. Participants, many of whom have taught in the 
K-12 system, appreciate knowing what students should know and be able to 
do within a defined content area and agree that standards improve learner 
outcomes and provide a level playing field for all learners. Although they 
understand the influence of standards on curriculum and assessment, their 
resistance emerges when they think about instruction. "I don't want anyone 
telling me how to teach," seems to be the perception fueling the 
resistance. We spend a good amount of time during the training discussing 
how standards affect what we teach but not how we teach. Using a black box 
model* that follows the student cycle from intake to goal attainment, 
participants identify the importance of aligning curriculum, assessment, 
and standards and the effected elements of each stage of the cycle. We 
identify the "black box" as the uniqueness, the magic--the instruction-- 
that each teacher brings to the classroom to transform curriculum into 
student learning. What to teach remains independent of how to do it.

*adapted from Mark O'Shea's From Standards to Success: A Guide for School 
Leaders

Jim Andre'
Program Development Specialist
Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center
www.valrc.org




William R Muth/FS/VCU <wrmuth at vcu.edu> 
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[SpecialTopics 972] Re: Implementing State      Adult 
EducationContentStandards: Louisiana







Good question, Paul - I've experienced this resistance from both 
perspectives, as a prison-based  ABE teacher and as an agency 
administrator. For me the problem is closely tied to trust and intention. 
In the early days of strategic planning (1989-1992), there was a great 
grass roots effort to engage all staff at all levels (the age of "the 
retreat" was upon us!) While it was often messy and misunderstood, the 
level of engagement  was high. Second-wave strategic planning took lots of 
short cuts and, in essence, just asked folks to comment on the "received" 
plans from the early years. Third-wave just asked the wardens to comment 
on second wave, etc.  Each iteration becoming more estranged from (and 
less accepted by) the grass roots. To some degree, this is a problem of 
scale. As our agencies grow in mass, the gulfs of mistrust grow 
proportionately. 

So, like resistance to strategic plans, maybe resistance to standards has 
less to do with the standards themselves, and more with implementation and 
the level of participation employed to gather staff input, quell fear, and 
address misunderstandings. 
Bill Muth 
  
    


<JURMO at ucc.edu> 
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06/12/2008 07:51 PM 

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[SpecialTopics 964] Re: Implementing State Adult 
EducationContentStandards: Louisiana








Thanks to everyone so far for the informative discussion about the Why's
and How's of standards as a tool for reforming adult basic education at
the state level.  My guess is that some readers who are new to the
notion of "standards" might be wary of being forced to use some
standards developed by others.  (Or some might have had a bad experience
with "standards.") 

Rather than seeing standards as a framework of content and best
practices that programs can adapt to the particular learners they serve,
some might feel that standards are something rigid and irrelevant or too
cumbersome.  Several people in this discussion have mentioned
"resistance to change" as a challenge in the development of standards-
based systems.  Does anyone want to comment on what the sources of such
resistance are and strategies for responding to this resistance? 

Paul Jurmo
Union County College
New Jersey

-----Original Message-----
From: specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:specialtopics-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J. Rosen
Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:43 PM
To: specialtopics at nifl.gov
Subject: [SpecialTopics 961] Implementing State Adult
EducationContentStandards: Louisiana

Colleagues,

Please continue to post questions for Judy Franks, Pam Blundell and 
Miriam Kroeger. Don't be shy now : - )

Thursday I would like to welcome Raye Nell Spillman who will report 
on her experience in implementing adult education content standards 
in Louisiana. Raye Nell will answer the same questions I asked Pam, 
Judy and Miriam to address and perhaps, if she wishes, add other 
information based on the questions we have asked other guests .

For those who have just joined the discussion, and others, you will 
find the messages already posted in the discussion archives at

http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/specialtopics/2008/date.html


David J. Rosen
Special Topics Discussion Moderator
djrosen at comcast.net






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