Integral Education in National Standards: An Application at the Local Level

Abstract

This paper examines the challenges and unintended consequences of an emphasis on National Standards in Education and presents a response to Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s call to “unleash energy for reform at the local level.” A review and comparison of AdvancEd (2011) standards and Kania and Kramer’s (2011) Collecitve Impact conditions finds a missing or not fully articulated component to assessing educational practices and student achievement, that of subjectivity, when observed through the lens of Wilber’s (2005) Integral Theory. The work of Zhao (2009), a sample mission and vision statement from a local school district, along with Waters, Marazano, and McNulty’s (2003) assessment of principal effectiveness form the basis for a proposed framework that captures the elusive nature of subjectivity in five domains: 21st Century Learning Skills, Self-esteem/Self-concept/Self-efficacy, Expressed Creativity and developmentally informed Talent Diversity. Each component in this framework is supported with a sample of research findings in education and other disciplines.

Keywords: National Standards, Public Education, Integral, Theory, Ken Wilber, Zhao, Creativity, Talent Diversity, Collective Impact, Self-esteem, Self-concept, Self-efficacy

JEL Classification: I21, I28, J41