External Standards and Good Teaching: The Pros and Cons of Telling Teachers What to Do

Telling teachers what to do through state and district standard setting policies is seen as antithetical to empowering teachers and strengthening the teaching profession. Policies for empowering teachers are less well articulated; teacher autonomy is often thought to be the automatic product of an absence of external constraints and guidelines. An analysis is provided of whether good teaching of worthwhile content to all students is better served by standard setting initiatives or through leaving teachers alone. There are other alternatives, of course, and they may ultimately prove to be more attractive. The analysis sheds light on that possibility, too.