Teacher Education Quarterly, Summer 2004 The Opposite Intended Effect: A Case Study of How Over-Standardization Can Reduce Efficacy of Teacher Education

The hyper-regulation of education (and most recently the teacher preparation component of education) thrives on the premise that any perceived deficiencies in the educational system can be alleviated by reducing differences among the ways in which we educate people and by demanding adherence to standards. In its impact, however, this simplification has an opposite effect. Rather than raising expecta-tions, a reliance on standards as the solution to perceived ineffectiveness has disconnected education from the more complex set of needs that should be addressed. To meet standards, teachers must often ignore issues which may also need to be addressed, but for which they are not being evaluated. Additionally, teachers must allow someone else to determine what is of value — even if that means ignoring the cognitive, cultural, and societal developmental needs of learners. As a direct result, K-12 schools now focus on a narrow band of certain content areas to the exclusion or diminution of oth-ers. For example, why should a third grade teacher in California teach any science lessons when third grade students are not being tested on science? And what purpose does music or art have in a curriculum that Bob Hughes is director of the California Stat