“Standardize Education”

Paul Hoss:

The Times is to be congratulated for its tough-love posture on No Child Left Behind legislation (editorial, April 9). Too many states shortchange too many students with “loophole” diplomas by lowering their standards on their way to the deadline of 2014 for all students being “proficient” in math and English. This inevitable fiasco could be avoided if the U.S. went to a national curriculum, with corresponding assessments and standards to be met by all students nationwide. Talk about equity and equal access for all.
Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan — the top five performers on math exams — all benefit from this standardization of what’s expected in their schools. So could the United States.