FROM WHENCE DID OUTCOMES COME?

William Spady is the head of ChangeLeaders. William Spady is a sociologist and the self-proclaimed father of Outcome-Based Education (OBE). OBE is referred to by over 20 different names including Systemic education restructuring, Performance Based Education, Standards based education reform, High Performance Learning, Total Quality Management, Transformational Education, Competency-Based Education, and Break -the- Mold- Schools. His research is still widely cited in nations such as Australia which are still adopting OBE. Nevertheless, the names have been changed in the US largely due strong negative responses to these programs when they have been introduced to actual students and parents. All of these titles refer to a similar philosophy and a plan which implements radical and "systemic" change into schools. The response to his involvment with OBE has been so negative in some communities that hundreds of parents have shown up in community meetings to protest his involvement in education planning. Many have researched the thousands of articles on the internet referring to Spady, with many showing the harmful effects of his theories on actual children.

Outcome-based education (OBE) is an educational reform largely in primary and secondary education ("K-12") which is intended to objectively measure student performance. Measurement may be used to determine whether or not the education system is performing adequately, and in some cases whether or not students will be certified as educated by the system. Outcome-based methods have been adopted in significant ways in the United States of America, Australia, and South Africa.

Motivations behind the movement include the general attempt to improve education for personal and societal economic success, the idea of "Leave No Child Behind" - improving the achievement of underpriviledged demographic groups, and the need for "meaningful" certifications such as diplomas which can be evaluated by colleges and employers. Major criticisms include that standardized tests do not adequately measure what children are supposed to be learning, and that high-stakes tests are less desirable than more continuous assessment (like conventional grades).

Bibliographic details for "William Spady"

• Page name: William Spady
• Author: Wikipedia contributors
• Publisher: Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
• Date of last revision: 2 October 2006 21:35 UTC
• Date retrieved: 8 November 2006 11:41 UTC
• Permanent link: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Spady&oldid=79122125

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