Standards vs. Creativity

I'm continually amazed at how educational standards are so different and out of touch.  Math and Language Arts have common core standards that are supposed to be nationwide, yet all other subjects are state specific.  I understand that someone needs to give teachers a blueprint to prepare our students for the future, but the latest NJCCCS struck me as very odd.

For my technology standards, there are such examples of creating online communities and participating in chats with students from other countries.  Really?  I literally laughed at these standards and my first thought was, "how in the world can I pull that off?"  These are just a few examples of standards I think are not only unrealistic, but also unnecessary.

I firmly believe that there should be national standards.  Think about it, why on Earth would we want each state to determine what students learn.  How is that creating a cohesive student ready to take on the world outside of school?  The best educational minds should take on this project so that each and every student comes out with the same knowledge base.  Notice I said educational minds.  Sometimes I think that these standards are made by people who have no clue what it is like to teach.  It's almost like the issues many inner city schools are facing, when business people are brought in to fix the system.  I don't know about you, but I would not want the future of a multi-billion dollar company in the hands of a teacher.  So why is the opposite fine?

However, the one thing that must be prevented with national standards is the minimizing of creativity.  These standards need to be specific, but also open ended so teachers can do what they do best, which is to use their creative minds to help students learn.  Making standards too specific will hinder teachers and drain them and our students of creativity. 

I truly hope this happens one day.  It seems too simple to me, but I'm sure there are more complications than I can imagine.  However, sometimes the simplest, most straight-forward idea is often the solution.