Place‐Based Education in the Standards‐Based Reform Era—Conflict or Complement?

Abstract

In this article we discuss the relationship between place‐based education and standards‐based reforms. Using an initiative in Vermont to include place‐based standards into the state’s curricular frameworks, we examine state policy makers’ and practitioners’ views of state standards and place‐based curriculum. Furthermore, we explore the ways in which the practitioners view the impact of both of these curricular efforts on their classroom practices. We challenge the common view of incompatibility between state standards and locally responsive curriculum and offer instead a view of complementarity.