One Size Fits Few: The Folly of Educational Standards

By Susan Ohanian

One Size Fits Few is a sharp, pointed pin with which to deflate the overblown pro-Standards movement. In her hilarious, unsparing, and often touching narrative, Susan Ohanian-a teacher, author, and frequent contributor to the Atlantic, Education Week, and other publications-recounts her quest to make sense of the Standards movement. "Making sense" is no small feat, as we see when Ohanian muses on school districts withholding diplomas from students who fail to demonstrate "necessary knowledge" of topics such as covalent bonds, the Edict of Nantes, La Cucaracha, and the Slough of Despond. Balance is even more elusive in the media, as is evident when Ohanian drafts an op-ed piece on Goals 2000 for USA Today. When her editor repeatedly finds the real-life students she portrays "too unique," too urban, too nonstandard, she realizes that all he wants to know is "how the kids in Grosse Pointe measure up against the kids in Larchmont or Palo Alto, and how both compare to the Japanese." Ironically, even in Japan, Ohanian finds gross denial: When she asks "What happens when a child fails to keep up with his peers?," she is reassured that this never happens. Yet no one can explain how the McDonald's clerk fits into the Japanese educational/social system. Underlying the irony is a call to action. "It is my moral duty to offer a counterargument to people who would try to streamline, sanitize, and standardize education" says Ohanian. "When we get down to the realities of the classroom . . . the antics of Standardistos are no longer funny . . . what we need to do is fight back." Visit www.susanohanian.org Visit Susan Ohanian online for a wealth of information on education issues and to learn more about her. You'll find commentary, cartoons, letters, resources, quotes and a word of the day offering children a provocative way to increase their vocabulary.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0325001588
• ISBN13: 9780325001586
• Release Date: March 1999
• Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books
• Length: 154 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.6" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 5 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 12

Customer Reviews

A Book Worth Reading

One Size Fits Few by Susan Ohanian contains more citations than I've ever seen in a single reading! One can't accuse this author of not doing her research before writing this book. Virtually every statement she makes is backed up by a reference to a well known public figure or educator.Throughout the book, the author makes numerous cases against the use of educational standards. At the heart of these multifarious denouncements is the recurring theme that standards are dehumanizing. At one point she reminds us of some essential life skills that are usually ignored when standards are created: "The great words of teaching are the one syllable ones: read, write, teach, learn, work, skill, care, help, hope, trust, faith, love. And the greatest of these, of course, is love." (p.127)Although the author is not in favor of senseless educational standards, we can infer that in order for successful learning to take place, we must answer to some "higher" "standards," those which recur universally within the context of being a good human being. As a long time educator, those are the standards I must strive to have my students attain. The book is outstandingly well written and thought provoking. Its 7 chapters are divided among 3 sections. The chapters include Ohanian's observations and views, recounted in the form of anecdotes; each under its own title. The language is simple and down to earth. One can start reading this book from any page and still gain wit, wisdom, and fact.

Great entertainment!

This book is funny and sad at the same time. Ohanian does a great job of exposing the folly of the current standards and testing mania that has hit the US educational systems. Any publicly elected official that proposes high stakes testing needs to be forced to take the test he/she proposes and have his/her test score printed in the local paper. High stakes are for tomatoes. Stop high-stakes testing!

Finally somebody brave enough to say No! to higher standards

I haven't read it cover to cover yet, but so far it's great and makes tremendous sense. The new tests like Washingon's WASL, Maryland's MSPAP expect kids demonstrate absurdly advanced skills with absolutely no direct instruction on how to solve these problem, the Maryland 9th grade social studies is absolutely insane what they expect to pack the entire world history into one year at a graduate college level.The whole idea of "high standards for all" is the classic "if it's too good to be true, it probably is". How can one standard be good enough for every job from mopping the floors up to designing ultrasound machine software?In a different way, this book stands up for truly traditional education, which never held up _all_ student to one high standard. Thank you for writing this, this is the first volley that will eventually spell doom for the misguided standards based reform movement.Arthur Hu Candidate Superintendent of Instruction WA 2000

Finally, someone speaks up about the "Standards"!

It was about time someone spoke up against "standardization" in education. Sure, you can standardize computers, cars and olive oil, but anybody who has been around a kid for more than a few minutes would know that this kind of talk is doomed to failure. This book is alternately aggravating, hilarious, and sad; aggravating that so many people with so little understanding of teaching and learning are dictating what should go on in the classroom; hilarious when we see what the results of that standarization are (Virgil's experience with "penis parts" is destined to be a classic), and sadness that millions of children are going to be turned away from the joy and romance of learning by the arrogance of the "Standardistos." I hope this book is just the first shot across the bow.

Author comments

As the author of the book, I'm pleased to report that just one week after publication I have received an amazing number of "thank you" e-mail messages from teachers who are relieved they are not alone, that someone is willing to stand up and say the Standardisto thugs pillaging our classrooms have no clothes. Many of these thugs are mentioned by name. As a full-page ad in Phi Delta Kappan announced, "Susan Ohanian takes no prisoners." I am thrilled that this book has received high praise from Alfie Kohn, Jim Hightower, Jim Trelease, Jon Scieszka, and Stephen Krashen. The reader can check out the truth of these claims: These fine fellows are all quoted on the back of the book. I would be pleased to hear from other people who read the book, even Standardistos.