CAPITOL COMMENT

“Conjunction Junction” does have a function

I regularly justified my disruptive behavior by questioning how relevant it was to repeatedly cover what I called the “Schoolhouse Rock” rules of grammar. My teachers chose to discipline my pretension by accepting my insistence that we already understood the rules of comprehension and writing. The wily English teachers required us to demonstrate our mastery of those rules through reading, writing and presentations.

If we were so smart and didn’t need to learn such “arcane” rules, then we would have no problem researching the origins, meaning and contemporary relevance of “Beowulf,” not to mention modern works. Our brilliance would shine through in presentations that showed our understanding of the “Schoolhouse Rock” rules of grammar. Sure of our expertise, we just knew jobs in the “real world” were ours for the taking.

Right.

Our teachers’ brilliance shone through when they taught us the relevance of those “arcane” rules by example. They made us understand and believe that communications skills beyond basic literacy would be required for success in the 21st century. By studying not only British poetry but also contemporary speeches, we grappled with style versus substance and opinion versus fact. All the while, our teachers pointed out the importance of correct sentence structure.

Years later, after finding out I owed my first real job to a persuasive follow-up letter I wrote demonstrating my desire for the position, I gave a silent prayer of thanks for my English teachers.

Schooling SBOE

So what gives at the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE)? Some board members seem not to have learned the old proverb. SBOE is currently revising the K–12 English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) TEKS, the first overhaul in a series of changes the board will make to the K–12 TEKS during the next few years. So far, the process has been a tug of war.

SBOE began revising the ELAR TEKS in 2005 when teacher work groups met to prepare a draft of proposed revisions. In June 2006, the board heard from outside consultants solicited to review a draft of K–5 standards. After receiving the consultants’ recommendations, SBOE required the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to create a new revision timeline and draft. The consultants had suggested narrowing the TEKS to include only specifically measurable items and reducing redundancies from grade to grade.

The ire of the English teaching community was raised. Following the recommendations would exclude many curricular objectives that allow educators the freedom to direct each child’s learning. It would also prescribe the method of instruction to a much greater degree.

In order to prove their case with facts, logic and experience, two professional groups within the language arts community organized the Texas Coalition of Language Arts and Reading Professionals and crafted a professional response. In a letter to the board, the coalition outlined nine principles to guide TEKS revision. The principles include critical reasoning and problem-solving skills; a research-based balance of the components of reading development, such as phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension; writing as a central component; a focus on what students need to demonstrate rather than telling teachers how to teach; and standardized, performance-based tasks that reflect the complexity of reading and writing. Several SBOE members responded positively by questioning the exclusion of the teachers’ work from the draft.

SBOE is divided almost equally into two political factions. Board members are torn between prescribing exact standardized curricular items, down to measurable objectives, required reading lists and mandated separate instruction in grammar and spelling, or laying out curricular objectives and allowing teachers to determine how each child can reach his potential. Boiled down to its simplest part, the argument is whether professionals should be trusted to do their jobs or told how to do them.

After many controversial detours, a final draft was created by a consulting team called StandardsWork, which was hired by the (TEA) at SBOE’s insistence.

In February of this year, the prescriptive-curriculum faction took a bold step. SBOE Chairman Don McLeroy substituted an entirely new curriculum that reflected neither the educator work groups’ product nor the StandardsWork document contracted for by the board. This “alternative curriculum” represented a “traditionalist” viewpoint and was identical to a document rejected 10 years ago.

Moderate board members were able to send a draft to a subcommittee of experts, who finally presented a product to the board at its March meeting. The final product was a compromise, and, due to intense last-minute lobbying by the education community and a stalwart group of SBOE members dedicated to the cause of educator autonomy, the subcommittee rejected a required reading list and appointed yet another committee to discuss inclusion of texts representing multicultural viewpoints and vertical alignment issues.

SBOE voted March 29 to approve a draft of the Revised K–12 English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR) TEKS for publication in the Texas Register, thus opening the period for public comment. The draft will be up for final approval at the next SBOE meeting May 22–23.

Take-home lessons

Lesson No. 1: Science teachers, wake up, and stay on alert. Your curriculum is next, and this attempt to substitute a completely different draft from what was prepared by educator work groups sets a precedent for future votes on curriculum revision.

Lesson No. 2: Political and policy activism based on professional analysis and experience works, but fighting the fight isn’t easy. The final vote on the ELAR TEKS has not occurred yet—and this fight ain’t over ’til it’s over.

Lesson No. 3: Those wily English teachers know their business. These are professionals who take their quest to improve the lives of students seriously. They should be respected, and their opinions should carry great weight.

Lesson No. 4: If you make an English teacher mad, you better watch out, or you might actually learn something.

 
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