Re-Conceptualization of Education Benchmarks and Standards: The Starting Point for School Reforms
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Date
2014
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
National Association of Educational Researchers and Evaluators
Abstract
This paper examined education standard for defining what all students should know and be able to do to live and work in the 21st century. The absence of clearly defined skills expected at every stage and level of education which will guide what all students should learn in school was identified. A need to re-conceptualize goals of minimum standard by all stakeholders in education was identified as the major starting point for reform. It was reasoned that this will enable the country to meaningfully harness human capital development resources through the school system and produce citizens who are able to participate successfully in the global, technology-driven economy for the country. Two types of standards were discussed as the foundation of standard-based reform: content standards and performance standards. Paradigm shift from “access for all” to “high quality learning for all” in the educational system was also canvassed. Standard-based reform seeks to establish clear attainable standard at internationally competitive levels for the entire students’ population. An evaluation system that supports achieving the learning standards in a culturally diverse school system as enunciated in the NPE 2004 for Nigeria was proposed. The role of educational evaluators in setting and ensuring compliance to benchmarks and standards were also spelt out. The paper concluded by suggesting that evaluators in Nigeria should constitute a council or bureau of benchmarks and standards which will coordinate with the Federal Ministry of Education and other agencies operating in the system.
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Keywords
Re-Conceptualization, Education Benchmark, Education Standard