ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 5, 1996 TAG: 9612060001
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
Almost a year after one parent released statistics that questioned whether the Montgomery County schools need to challenge gifted students more, the school system has responded.
"We've heard an issue, we've discussed it and we're addressing it," said Assistant Superintendent Jim Sellers.
School administrators agreed areas like spelling and math computation needed improvement, but not just for gifted students. Most ability levels could do better, they said.
As a result, a new Montgomery County curriculum will not only reflect the changes spawned by new state standards, but will focus on the areas pointed out by parent R.J. Harvey.
Harvey is a Virginia Tech statistician, father of a middle school pupil and husband of former county School Board member Peggy Arrington. The release of his statistical analysis of seventh-grade test scores - which showed gifted students could be performing better than they were - triggered an outcry by some parents who wanted a more challenging curriculum.
In response, school administrators did their own data analysis. They found that pupils of all abilities performed sometimes more than six months behind the national averages. Average learners, for example, scored nine months behind the average in spelling.
"These patterns are pretty consistent throughout the years, which shows us it's likely the curriculum," said Director of Curriculum Paula Wilder.
In response, the administration is developing a "massive plan of action" to address problems like spelling, Sellers said. The timing is ideal, because the school system must revise its curriculum anyway to meet new state standards of learning.
Still, board member Wat Hopkins said he worried the tests used for this data might be outdated and, therefore, misleading. The national averages used to compare students were developed in 1985, using curriculum styles that may no longer be in use in schools.
"I'm concerned that we might be targeting something we couldn't hit," Hopkins said.
Board member Bernie Jortner said the score analysis was worth using, but the proof will be in the teaching.
"The easiest part is to develop curriculum, the hardest part is to implement it," he said.
School administrators agreed and said they're trying to involve teachers in the development of curriculum. That way, they'll already be informed of the changes when it comes time to teach the ABCs.
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