Negotiating the Challenge of OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION

School Administrator, Sept, 1994 by Linda Chion-Kenney

As further proof of his organization's effectiveness, Simonds points to his invitations to speak this year at two major education conventions, AASA's National Conference on Education in San Francisco and the March gathering of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

"Although the audience was sometimes hostile, the superintendents' leadership group was very courteous and respectful of our Christian viewpoints," Simonds says in the May/June 1994 issue of his organization's newsletter. As for the ASCD gathering, Simonds writes: "Going in, I had higher hopes of negotiating common ground than when I left. ASCD is committed, through lifelong friendship, to support the father of outcome-based education, Dr. William Spady. I personally talked to Dr. Spady for about 45 minutes and never got one straight answer from him. He could not defend his own program. That was a big disappointment to me.

Colliding Perspectives

The impromptu meeting between Simonds and Spady was the first time the two men crossed their ideological divide and talked person to person.

"You're not my enemy, although we disagree," Simonds told Spady after they were introduced. "But we do have some things to straighten out."

Simonds said he speaks on behalf of parents. Spady contended Simonds represents only "a small segment of parents," and that in districts where OBE was most successful, "we insist on heavy involvement by parents politically and substantively."

Spady told Simonds he takes offense when critics blame him for every misguided OBE effort. He said he cringes at the Pennsylvania effort, "another mess under my name, and I get blamed for all of it, even though I never wrote those outcomes."

He added: "The people who have taken the time to work with us and do this right perform well."

"That's what I need," Simonds replied. "I need [information about] districts that have used [OBE]. I need examples of where it works." The problem with OBE, he added, "is you can't define it, so you can't explain it, so the public doesn't accept it. That's where we are."

A New Taxonomy

Contrary to Simonds' claims, Spady is thorough in his explanations of what OBE is and is not. If Simonds had attended Spady's presentations at the AASA and ASCD conventions (which he did not, saying he did not have time), he would have heard Spady explain that much of the controversy surrounding OBE stems from a major misunderstanding of what outcomes are (culminating demonstrations of what you know) as compared to goals (what you know, understand, believe, and accept).

Spady also introduced a new taxonomy--the demonstration mountain--to define the differences between traditional, transitional, and transformational OBE in the context of climbing from "discrete content skills" (i.e., facts) to "life-role functioning" (i.e., preparing students to be implementers and performers, problem finders and solvers, planners and designers, creators and producers, learners and thinkers, listeners and communicators, teachers and mentors, supporters and contributors, team members and partners, and leaders and organizers).