Trumpeting the virtues of standards-based reform, California Secretary of Education Alan D. Bersin laid out his vision for public education at Stanford University on Wednesday.

Bersin, who was appointed to his position by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in July of 2005 and formerly served as superintendent of San Diego Unified School District, began his lecture with a brief synopsis of the work done during his term to reform San Diego schools. In particular, Bersin highlighted the establishment of several new “small” high schools, which could provide more opportunity for students to work closely with teachers.

“I want to put a provocative thesis in front of you regarding high school reform,” said Bersin as he opened his lecture.

In particular, Bersin highlighted the establishment of several new “small” high schools, which could provide more opportunity for students to work closely with teachers. Bersin stated that he wanted to use some of the reforms made in San Diego as a model for California high schools. Emphasizing that high schools have been the most difficult to transform, Bersin has ideas that he wants to implement.

“We need ask what the American high school should be about in the 21st century,” Bersin said.

Bersin started off with what he thinks American schools should not look like, showing the racial, economic and gender disparity omnipresent in California schools. With a PowerPoint presentation to help, Bersin provided statistical data on the “achievement gap” between underachieving students and those who meet or exceed current state standards. According to Bersin, in a state where one third of high school graduates do not go to college, more measures than simply keeping teens in school must be implemented.

“Just staying in high school does not do much in improving the level of our students,” said Bersin, who advocates standards-based education.

“So few people can articulate what standards-based reform is,” Bersin said.

He elaborated that after the landmark court case Brown v. Board of Education, the former way students were judged, relative to other students, became outdated.

“It often depended on what students looked like and where they came from,” said Bersin. “Not who they were, not what they could do.”

Bersin believes that American high schools should be based around education standards and high quality teaching. The standards according to which all students are measured would help eliminate de facto discrimination, according to Bersin.

This policy has drawn a lot of criticism from those that say that using the same standard for all students favors those that are better-off to begin with.

Regardless of the amount of standards based reform though, according to Bersin, the level of teaching quality as a factor in improving student performance is of the utmost importance. Citing studies conducted in Boston and Dallas, Bersin stated that the most important reform in improving education is improving the quality of teaching and ensuring that more experienced teachers are available in needy areas. Currently, it is the newest and least experienced teachers that are thrust into the most impoverished and below-par schools.

As bleak as the picture of education in California currently looks, Bersin insisted that it is getting better. Over the course of the past several decades, more students have been graduating and going to college, and the rate keeps increasing.

“We should stay the course,” Bersin said.