Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 21, 1990 TAG: 9003212405
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: NEW RIVER
SOURCE: MARGARET CAMLIN NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Board members want first to know more about the various tests already offered to county students and whether the tests show that students are learning the basics of reading, writing and math.
Developing a graduation examination would take about 362 hours of staff time, said Steve Staples, the county's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, at a board work session Tuesday night.
Board member Kimberly Helms asked if the effort would be worthwhile. "Are we just making up our own Iowa test?" she asked, referring to a nationwide standardized test.
Earlier this year, board member Richard Zody said the school system needs to guarantee to the community that its graduates can read and write at a proficient level. Zody did not attend the work session, nor did members Marty Childress or James Hassall.
In Montgomery County, 11th-graders take state-mandated tests every year on reading comprehension, math, writing, social studies, science and applied proficiency - which measures how well students use reference materials, for instance. Other tests are given each year to pupils in kindergarten through eighth grade.
Board member Donald Lacy asked if the test results enable staff to determine "how many can't read, how many can't do math. How big a problem do we have?"
Staples said one problem is defining reading proficiency - whether it means being able to read a newspaper or being smart enough to go to college.
Helms said she worries that tests measure a student's knowledge of facts, rather than an ability to think and solve problems.
"I'm concerned about functional life skills, about problem-solving ability," she said. "There's too much teaching of facts, facts, facts and spitting it back, back, back."
by CNB