Depending on whom you believe, Outcome-Based Education is either a communist plot to dismantle America's education system or an incredible tool that lets students learn at their own pace.

In Decatur Township schools, the only place in Indiana where it's used, "OBE is just good teaching that has been around forever using new terminology," says Paul Kaiser, who has been the principal at Decatur High School for the past five years.

"A concrete definition of OBE would be: Focusing on what students really need to know and developing ways to get there. It has nothing to do with morals or values or anything you might hear."

The handbook for Decatur Township schools defines OBE as: "Focusing and organizing all of the schools' programs and instructional efforts around clearly defined outcomes that we want all students to demonstrate when they leave school."

"OBE is exactly what it says it is. It is outcome-based," says Mark Myers, a 16-year veteran English teacher. "In other words, as you look at a student as that student is walking out of the school at the end of that student's educational process, (you ask), What do you want that student to be like? What proficiencies do you want that student to have? What should that student be able to do?

"When you take that into consideration, that is your outcome. That is where you get outcome-based, because that is what the whole process is built on."

Controversy over tests

One aspect of Outcome-Based Education which has received a lot of flak is mastery learning. This philosophy is defined differently at almost every school.

"Mastery learning," says Kaiser, "means basically that in our school district, if a student doesn't master at a C level, then they have an opportunity to retake the test or quiz, but there has to be a ticket to do that. You have to come in and do correctives."

Correctives usually consist of amending your first test, and then doing a review for your second test. Correctives are typically done during "success periods," which are Tuesday through Friday from 7:15 a.m. to 7:55 a.m. Each class period was shortened by three minutes to gain these periods.

Opponents feel that mastery learning is unfair, not only to students who pass the first time, but also to the student who didn't, thinking that it leads him or her to believe that there will always be a second chance.

Kaiser disagrees. "I think the most important thing here is what knowledge do you leave with and what skills do you leave with.

"For example, if you take the CPA exam, you know you can take that CPA exam a second time, and they don't put on your license a little notation that the dummy didn't pass the first time. They say that you're a certified public accountant because you can demonstrate that you know the accounting concepts."

Academics, not values

Both interviewees stress that morals and values have nothing to do with OBE, at least at Decatur.

"The problem," Kaiser says, "is there have been some schools that have developed tests that really lean towards testing a moral or a value. For example, if there are three people in a boat, and one person has to jump out of the boat for the boat to be able to survive, how do you decide who jumps out of the boat."

In Myers' class, he doesn't tell you what to believe, nor does he tell you what is right or wrong. He does, however, encourage kids to explain their reasons for believing in something. "Can the student make it logical to me?" he says.

Kaiser also emphasizes that although many people feel OBE schools put self-esteem before success, it is actually reversed.

"Our philosophy is that we put kids in position to be successful," he says. "In other words, we have a success period where they can come in and they can get help because the teachers are here.

"If you're struggling in geometry class, you can come in the morning and that teacher's going to be there whether you need a retest or not. Success breeds success, and self-esteem comes from being successful."

Judge the results

In conclusion, Kaiser and Myers just wish people would forget all rumors they've heard and judge each school individually.

"The key thing," maintains Kaiser, "is that Outcome-Based Education is good traditional teaching that has been around forever, and we just lumped all those great concepts and put them together under one OBE umbrella.

"We'll constantly take things that we don't like and throw them out," he continues. "We'll take things that we hear about that are good and pull them in. And so everything people don't like, they throw under OBE and they criticize it. . . . There will always be anti people out there."

Myers agrees. "Unfortunately, I think there have been people who have radically gone against anything that says OBE, mainly because they have no idea of what they're talking about.

"Those people who say that in an OBE school you have to think a particular way, they're just silly. Show me an OBE school that does that.

"I can tell you one thing. Here's one in Indiana that doesn't." EDITED BY: Amber Bollman, 15 ASSISTANT EDITOR: Gary Templeton, 18 EDITORS' NOTE: J. Gordon Liddy, a critic of OBE, has frequently discussed this educational philosophy on his radio talk show. CE faxed him a letter but did not receive a response.