
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, December 5, 1993                   TAG: 9312060204
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-22   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

PANEL'S RECOMMENDATIONS

Of the 18 task forces that studied the future of the Montgomery County school system, the 12-member group that pondered academic preparation had one of the key assignments.

The group`s recommendation that no teacher should face a class of more than 20 students was based on the experiences of several panel members who are teaching now or have taught in the past.

But that conclusion was only one part of a 14-page report. For example, one of the eight major areas of recommendations involved the schools' curriculum.

The panel made 13 specific recommendations about curriculum, including:

A call to restructure curriculum by preserving elements that work, including new, innovative ideas, and discarding ineffective elements.

Focusing career counseling on helping students realize the link between what they learn in school and the ``real world.''

Expanding the science curriculum, including exposing all students to computers so they will know how to use word processing programs, spread sheets and other basic programming.

Making experiences and courses in the arts available and abundant in all grades.

Physical education for elementary pupils as well as foreign language instruction that continues through the middle and high school years.

Weeding out unnecessary repetition among different courses. The emphasis should be on teaching concepts and skills, rather than rote memorization.

by CNB