Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 12, 1993 TAG: 9306120222
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
The Bedford County School Board isn't so sure.
Thursday night, Liberty High School Principal DeWitt House outlined the teachers' plan before the School Board and, along with teachers from the school, fielded questions on the proposal.
House and the teachers want to implement a semester system at the school. Students then would take four classes each semester instead of seven classes that run all year long. Those four classes would last 90 minutes each day. Classes are now 45 minutes.
House cited a number of advantages to the change.
First, House said there could be more in-depth teaching and more individualized attention given to students. It also should allow for more alternative teaching and less lecture time, he said.
Second, by having just four classes a day, there should be less wasted time starting and stopping and changing classes. House said this could be particularly helpful in science and computer laboratory courses.
It also would reduce the number of teachers that students would deal with at one time - from seven to four - and it would reduce the number of students that teachers would have in their classrooms each semester.
Finally, House said students would have the opportunity to take more classes each year. They would have four classes each semester for a total of eight for the year, as opposed to the seven classes per school year they can now take. As a result, students could have four more classes under their belts by graduation, he said.
Teachers at Liberty overwhelmingly favor the semester system.
Earlier this year, two groups of teachers, parents and students from Liberty visited schools in Maryland and North Carolina where the semester system already is in place. School Board Chairman Ben Shrader went along on the Maryland visit.
About 10 public schools nationwide have moved to the semester system, according to House, and it is being considered by a number of schools throughout Virginia, including Pulaski County High School and Jefferson Forest High School, also in Bedford County. Schools in Amherst and Orange counties will test the semester system beginning in the fall.
Shrader and other School Board members questioned House on Thursday about concerns over teacher preparation for the longer class periods and how college admission offices will view the semester system.
There also were questions about the system's effect on students who take vocational classes at the Bedford Educational Center. Particularly vocal about his concerns was board member Robert Johnson.
One parent, Kathleen Brew, spoke in opposition.
Brew said there is not enough evidence that a semester system and longer classes will turn out better-educated students. She cautioned the School Board about making any hasty decisions. "It could be the mistake of the 1990s that the open-classroom concept was to the 1970s," she said.
Apparently, the board won't be making any decisions soon.
School Superintendent John Kent said it is too late to implement the semester system for the 1993-94 school year because of budgetary factors and the training time that would be needed for teachers to adjust to the new system.
If the School Board eventually approves the Liberty plan, Kent estimated that as many as five additional teachers would be needed at the school to teach the added class offerings. The question is, who will pay?
"It's expensive," Kent said.
However, he said, the semester system shows promise and is worth pursuing.
He said he believes the School Board likely will approve the plan, although the school's current proposal may need some fine tuning.
Board members said they were impressed by the enthusiasm the faculty at Liberty has shown for the plan. Butch Wright said it is refreshing at a time when it seems like public educators are being condemned at nearly every turn.
"I think this gives us an innovative approach to our system and the students we're trying to educate," he said.
by CNB