Before the end of the spring term, each student needs a very few - 3 to 5 - summer learning targets, with an emphasis on literacy and math. These should be achievable and grade-level appropriate, everything from learning the sounds of the letters of the alphabet to interviewing a neighbor or relative at a safe distance or over the phone and writing about them.

If you ask colleagues why we have academic content and performance standards today, they are likely to reply with a curse aimed in the general direction of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. But there is a bit of history before the 21st century, and it is important to bear this history in mind when considering the advantages and disadvantages of standards.

Few school systems’ mission and vision statements fail to include the phrase “college and career readiness.” Who could possibly be against it? But while there is nearly universal agreement that students should leave high school ready to either pursue additional education or enter a career, there is wide disagreement on what “college readiness” means.

Since the dawn of the standards movement, bitter controversies have divided educators, leaders, and policy makers about standards. But there is one issue on which almost everyone agrees - there are too many standards and not enough to cover them.

It’s the start of a new school year and another round of resolutions for better leadership, teaching, and learning. Then we confront the reality that the vast majority of factors that influence education will be the same.

There is a growing recognition that student conversations in classrooms, if they happen at all, are often of limited value. Students sometimes respond in monosyllables and interact with the teacher, but not with their peers.