With most political discussion evolving around our national debt and the debt ceiling, President Obama still hammers away at a message of stimulating innovation in education in order to keep the United States competitive in the global economy. "This is our generation's Sputnik moment," Obama said, referring to the 1960s space race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. "But today", Obama continued, "rather than federal spending for outer space, the focus should be on "biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology," emphasizing that they "will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people."

Webster defines innovation as being, "the introduction of something new or a new idea, method, or device." With today's society it is obvious we can't continue our same failed concepts especially in the education of our children. The question is how can we bring innovation back into our children's minds? Not too many years ago most young men and women dreamed of being the first to land on a distant planet or be the scientist or physician to finally break through the mystery of cancer. In the past these were exciting dreams whose only hope of realization was earning an exceptional education or being motivated by a remarkable teacher.

We need to go back to those times when teachers motivated their students to their dreams and not to show success on a standardized test. Maybe everyone forgot the definition of motivation. Going back to my beat up old Webster's Dictionary, yes they do still exist, motivation is defined as, "whatever drives you to do something. You can motivate yourself by setting goals and rewarding yourself and even your society when you meet them."

For the past decade public education has gone away from the simple act of having a teacher motivate their student to do great things. Public schools and administrators have been given a set of standards to use in order to educate their students. These standards are then tested using standardized tests that have nothing to do with innovation or motivation.

But, have no fear, a report released today by the National Research Council presents a new framework for K-12 science education that identifies the key scientific ideas and practices all students should learn by the end of high school. The framework will serve as the foundation for new K-12 science education standards, to replace those issued more than a decade ago. These new standards will set rigorous learning goals that represent a common expectation for all students. They also will be limited in number to reflect the framework's focus on a small set of core ideas and practices, and should include guidance about what does and does not need to be taught.

In other words, schools and teachers will be told what can and can't be taught. If a student is motivated to learn about a subject that is not part of these standards then he or she will be told their dreams and expectations simply aren't important. Once again public education is being told to have all students become proficient in both objective and subjective sciences even though it is common knowledge all students can't be good in everything but can become exceptional in what they are being motivated to learn. How can innovation become a reality when one is told to learn something that is already known?

The concept of teaching to standards is a failed concept. All one has to do to demonstrate this is to look at what the, "No Child Left Behind Program" did to our children. Our public education system did not get better but rather showed little to no improvement. Many states across our nation are now rejecting a program that was destined to fail before it began. We now have a new program in the horizon that promises better results even though it will once again fill our student's buckets with facts and data instead of filling them with fire.

Jim Fabiano is a teacher and writer living in York, Maine