ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, August 22, 1996 TAG: 9608230013
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: N-2 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: BACK TO SCHOOL
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Roanoke Valley parents of young children probably should brush up on their knowledge of ancient Egypt, China, Greece and Rome.
If they're going to help their children with homework this school year, they'll need to be familiar with the architecture, art, dress, economies and religions of these early cultures.
Their children likely will have questions for them.
Parents might also be wise to do a quick refresher of early American history.
Many of the lessons in Virginia's schools, particularly in the early elementary grades, will be different this year.
The children will spend more time on history, civics, economics and geography - and less time learning about themselves, their family, neighborhood and community.
Kindergartners will study George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Betsy Ross, Davy Crockett, Booker T. Washington and Harriet Tubman. The 5-year-olds will also learn about Paul Revere's ride and the historical events honored in holidays such as July4th.
First-graders will be introduced to Benjamin Franklin, George Washington Carver, Jane Addams and John Paul Jones. They'll also learn about economics, including the difference between goods and services.
Second-graders will study the contributions of ancient Egypt and China that have had an impact on world history. They'll be taught the countries' languages, laws and architectural monuments such as the Pyramids and Great Wall of China.
And third-graders will study early Greece and Rome, the discovery of America by Columbus and other European explorers and the settlement of Jamestown. They'll also be introduced to the ideals and principles that form the foundation of the U.S. government.
In the past, children in the early elementary grades focused mainly on their family, neighborhood and community as part of an "expanding horizons" concept in social studies classes.
The curriculum centered on teaching them about civic participation, human relations skills, different roles played by people in the community and adjustment to societal rules.
But the emphasis will shift to a more academic approach. Children will spend more time studying significant people in history, historical events, geography and economies - even as early as kindergarten and first grade. The young children will also be taught how to use maps, construct time lines and compare cultures.
The change is part of the state's new academic standards, called Standards of Learning, that were adopted last year by the state Board of Education. Gov. George Allen has made the new standards the centerpiece of his campaign for education reform in Virginia.
The standards are benchmarks of the knowledge and skills that students are expected to know at each grade level in four core subjects: English, math, science and social studies. They replace the state's old general academic guidelines, which were lacking in details.
The changes are most striking in social studies, but there are revisions in all core subjects, particularly in English.
Elementary pupils will now have two years of American history - the fifth and sixth grades - instead of one year under the old standards.
There have also been changes in social studies in middle and high school. Students will now take two years of world history and one year of world geography.
In all elementary grades, there are benchmarks of knowledge and skills for children in science, math and English as well as social studies and history.
In science, for example, second-graders will study life cycles, weather patterns and magnetism. In English, fourth-graders will be introduced to literary forms and will be expected to write poetry.
In the upper grades, there are standards for algebra, biology, calculus, chemistry and physics as well as English, U.S. history and government, world geography and other courses.
The benchmarks for the high school courses are even more detailed than the elementary grades. In U.S. history, for example, students will have to analyze and explain American foreign policy since World War II, with emphasis on the Cold War, Middle East policy, relations with South Africa and the collapse of communism.
In 12th-grade English, students will be expected to compare and contrast traditional and contemporary works of poets from many cultures and to write documented research papers.
The state has also adopted standards for technology and computer skills that all students should acquire by the end of the fifth and eighth grades.
Eighth-graders will be expected to know how to create home pages for the Internet, use spreadsheets and create graphs.
The new standards are more rigorous than the state's old advisory guidelines for schools. They are designed to improve students' educational achievement - and will be mandatory for all schools.
Students will be tested in grades three, five, eight and 11 to determine if they have mastered the knowledge. The testing will be cumulative, covering the material between the grades, and will provide comparative information on how well Virginia students are doing when measured against their peers nationally.
The field testing will begin in the spring of 1997, but the first year's scores will not be released and will be used only for establishing scoring guidelines.
The state is using consultants to help prepare the tests. The General Assembly appropriated $12 million for the development of the testing program.
After the testing has been fully implemented, school systems will issue "report cards" providing scores and other performance information, to give parents and the public an easy-to-understand picture of each school.
Few students know about the new standards, but some think they're a good idea - even if it means more work for them.
"This is the first I've heard of them," said Christy Bowen, a sophomore at Patrick Henry High in Roanoke, when asked what she thought of the standards.
"It'll help ensure that teachers cover the material that's supposed to be taught and it won't be left up teachers to cover just what they want to," Bowen said.
"It'll be something for teachers to follow and all classes will cover the same stuff," said Anna Powell, a sophomore at Patrick Henry.
Kirk Ayton, a senior at William Fleming High in Roanoke, wasn't aware of the new standards, but he likes the concept. "You'll get everything you're supposed to get in a course."
The most contentious issue in the debate over the new standards was the higher academic expectations in the early grades, particularly in social studies. Some teachers and parents criticized them, saying they were too difficult for young children.
Some still fear there could be a high failure rate.
"There is a lot of material in the early grades that we haven't covered in the past," said Jo Reedy, a second-grade teacher at Herman L. Horn Elementary School in Roanoke County.
"We're going to have to simplify some of it for younger children," Reedy said. "We'll have to water some of the information down for them to understand it."
Nancy Adams, a first-grade teacher at Glenvar Elementary, said the toughest part of the new social studies standards will be the material on economics.
Schools have traditionally been weak in teaching economics, but teachers will have to improve the quality of instruction to help children meet the standards, she said.
There will be detailed standards for economics, as part of the social studies curriculum in the early elementary grades. For example, first-graders will have to explain the difference between goods and services and describe how people are both consumers and producers of goods and services.
"Teachers will have to do their homework on the economic strand because we haven't been covering a lot in that area," Adams said.
Adams said she was "quite negative" about the new social studies standards when they were released last year because she thought they were too difficult for young children.
"I wondered how in the world young children were going to learn that much," Adams said.
But she has changed her mind after working with other teachers in assembling curriculum materials for the new standards and observing her 5-year-old granddaughter's ability to locate places on maps.
"It is not as horrible as it could be, but some of the standards are still going to be developmentally challenging for young children," Adams said.
The Board of Education has not made a decision on accountability for the standards and the consequences or penalties if students don't meet them. The Champion Schools Commission, which was appointed by Allen, has suggested such consequences as closing schools, withholding funds, suspending the principal and superintendent, holding special school board elections and other penalties if the standards are not met.
But the board has not determined whether punitive action will be taken against schools or teachers if students do poorly on the tests.
The Virginia Education Association, a teachers' organization, contends that accountability should rest with the entire school, not on individual teachers. The group says schools and teachers should not be penalized when their students perform poorly because of environmental factors or disabilities that affect their learning.
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