Mile Wide – Inch Deep
Texas has created mile wide/inch deep curriculum standards for all subjects,
prekindergarten – grade 12. Teachers are mandated by law to teach the state
curriculum standards, students are assessed annually on mastery of these standards
using the STAAR testing system. There are 3 types of standards per subject:



Readiness Standards– Essential for success in the current grade or course,
necessitate in-depth instruction, address broad and deep ideas, and support
college/career readiness
Supporting Standards– Introduced in current grade, but emphasized in a
subsequence year, may have been emphasized in a previous year, prepare
students for the next grade, but not a central role, narrowly defined ideas
Process Standards– Represent strategies and structures to access learning
and provides a way for students to demonstrate understanding/knowledge
Mile-wide standards for students entering 8th grade:






Social Studies: 36 readiness, 56 supporting, 8 process standards
Science: 15 readiness, 35 supporting 13 process standards
Math: 13 readiness, 27 supporting, 7 process standards
Reading: 13 readiness, 4 supporting, 3 process standards (2 genres)
Writing: 8 readiness, 10 supporting, 2 process, (6 genres)
Total standards for 5 subjects: 258 (85 readiness, 132 supporting, 33 process, 8
genres)
These numbers may not seem too overwhelming at first glance; however, the following
is an example of one 8th grade readiness standard, with 7 levels of specificity:
8.15.D - Analyze how the U.S. Constitution reflects:







Principles of limited government
Republicanism
Checks and balances
Federalism
Separation of powers
Popular sovereignty
Individual rights.
The 8 process skills are applied to each of those levels of specificity:



Primary and secondary sources
Sequencing, categorizing identifying cause and effect
Graphs, charts, timelines, maps





Point of view from historical context
Point of view on social studies issues or events
Use appropriate mathematical skills
Geographic distributions/patterns
Social studies terminology
From this 1 readiness standard, 56 different questions could be asked on the STAAR
Exam. To cover a “mile” of readiness standards, one can easily see the limited time
available to offer in-depth teaching/learning opportunities for our students. There are 35
additional social studies readiness standards and 56 supporting standards that must be
presented within the 145 days prior to the STAAR administration. Classroom reality
means the teacher must cover a comparable standard every 1.45 days!
This is not unique to 8th grade. A student entering first grade, age 6, is expected to
master 211 standards in 5 subjects:





Social Studies: 14 readiness, 27 supporting, 10 process standards
Science: 7 readiness, 13 supporting, 13 process standards
Math: 5 readiness, 15 supporting, 7 process standards
Reading: 12 readiness, 16 supporting, (6 genres), 40 process standards
Writing: 8 readiness, 9 supporting, (4 genres), 5 process standards
Due to the number of standards for each of the tested subjects, Pearson’s Testing,
under the direction of the Texas Education Agency, will select approximately 30% of the
standards to be tested each year. Teachers begin each school year attempting to
address 100% of these mile-wide standards, praying they have focused attention on the
standards that will be targeted on the “state exams”! Exams that will determine the
success or failure of students, teachers, campuses, districts! It is time we bring
reason back to a system that is no longer reasonable or attainable.