ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 3, 1997 TAG: 9701030082
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
THE STATE'S NEW learning standards are presenting a challenge to educators hunting for resource materials.
Virginia's new academic standards for schools will be expensive for the state's cities and counties.
School systems are scrambling to buy new textbooks that contain all of the materials covered by the standards. And they're finding that the books aren't cheap.
Roanoke will need to spend $415,000 next year to buy new mathematics, science and social studies textbooks, said Superintendent Wayne Harris.
Roanoke County also expects to spend several hundred thousand dollars for new textbooks. The county will buy new history and social studies books for all grades affected by the academic guidelines.
School divisions also are providing special training for teachers to help them master the content in the standards and to upgrade their instructional skills.
Roanoke has budgeted $215,000 next year for summer workshops and internships to help teachers improve their classroom instructional skills.
The standards encompass skills that students will be required to master at each grade level in English, mathematics, science and social studies. Students in grades 3, 5, 8 and 11 will be tested on the standards. The first tests will be given this spring, but the results will not be made public. The initial tests are aimed at gauging the test's validity.
Results will be released beginning in 1998. The state Board of Education is expected to establish penalties for schools where students do not meet minimum standards..
Among the consequences that have been mentioned are teachers being transferred, school administrators losing their jobs and low-achieving schools being closed.
Meanwhile, local schools are scrambling to find resources that will meet the newly established standards.
Some school systems haven't found textbooks that contain all of the materials needed, so they have adopted more than one text for courses.
Part of the history and social studies content has been moved to lower grades, making some teachers responsible for new material.
Under the standards, some children in the second and third grades will study Egyptian, Greek and Roman culture and history for the first time.
In the upper elementary and high school grades, there have been changes in history and social studies courses.
The standards require back-to-back years of U.S. history in grades five and six, and world history in grades eight and nine. Teachers said many existing textbooks are not geared to the standards.
David Wymer, social studies supervisor for the Roanoke County school system, invited publishers to submit sample copies of their textbooks and other instructional materials for review. School-appointed committees are now reviewing the books and plan to make recommendations to the School Board by April.
Roanoke County and many other school divisions in Virginia have chosen to keep using history textbooks, although some educators think that textbooks should not be the centerpiece of history and social studies instruction now.
Some teachers believe that schools should rely more on new technologies - such as educational television, computers, and the Internet.
But others point to studies showing that the more students use textbooks, the more history they know.
A 1995 National Assessment of Educational Progress report indicated that students scored higher on history and social studies in schools that used textbooks.
Harris said the new state standards require extensive training for teachers. He cited a recent national study showing that many teachers receive inadequate college preparation for instructional skills needed in the classroom.
He has recommended that Roanoke schools arrange summer workshops and internships.
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