Overview

Beyond Standards highlights the structural conditions that have undermined the success of the standards movement and challenges us to confront them. The book offers an impassioned argument about the ways that our decentralized educational systems undermine the pursuit of educational equity and excellence. Morgan Polikoff applies a wide array of quantitative and qualitative data to provide a pointed critique of the US educational system. He addresses why standards have failed, whether standards-based reform can be salvaged, and what we can do to improve teaching and learning at scale across America’s 13,000 school districts. Polikoff argues that no amount of tinkering can fix standards. Rather, we need to tackle the big, structural issues, such as decentralization. The author identifies curriculum reform as a high-leverage strategy for making meaningful progress at scale and emphasizes that states need to play a greater role in evaluating and recommending high-quality curriculum materials. Beyond Standards proposes a new, progressive vision that emphasizes the central role of states in challenging the antiquated, segregating structures that have thwarted educational improvement.

Full Product Details

9781682536117

Table of Contents

Reviews

In Beyond Standards, Morgan Polikoff argues that standards are inherently too vague to enable teachers to arrive at a common or accurate understanding of what they need to teach or to identify the right materials for teaching it. -- Education Next

""Beyond Standards is thoughtful, well written, and quite clear in its bias for more uniform schooling. An excellent companion for classroom discussions alongside, for example, Diane Ravitch's Slaying Goliath."" -- Choice Magazine ""Beyond Standards lays out a powerful critique of the macro forces that prevent us from achieving our education goals. This volume offers a coherent and well-evidenced diagnosis of the problem and outlines a promising avenue for change at the state and district level. We hope that readers who are convinced by Polikoff's framing of the problem and proposed solution will be moved to research such questions to begin advocating for change."" -- Teachers College Record ""In Beyond Standards, Morgan Polikoff argues that standards are inherently too vague to enable teachers to arrive at a common or accurate understanding of what they need to teach or to identify the right materials for teaching it."" -- Education Next

Author Information

Morgan Polikoff is an associate professor of education at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education.

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