THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 19, 1994 TAG: 9407190366
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
For nearly half an hour Monday morning, teachers and parents sat in a high school classroom here and debated whether kindergartners could be expected to handle pencils well enough to write letters and words.
The question seems rather fundamental. But it's one that could soon affect schoolchildren in Virginia, as parents, government leaders, teachers and other educators discuss how to revamp the state's academic standards.
The process was prompted by Gov. George Allen, who has pledged to make schools more rigorous and to ensure that kids are being taught basic skills.
Monday's forum was sponsored by Virginia Beach school officials, who are leading the effort to revise state Standards of Learning for English and language arts - statements that dictate the general skills Virginia's students should master at each grade level. Three other school districts have been picked by the state Department of Education to look at the other disciplines. Newport News will draft revisions to social studies standards, while Fairfax and Prince William counties will take the lead in science and math.
Monday's Williamsburg session, attended by about 110 educators and parents, was one of five such meetings Beach officials are holding around the state to get opinions.
In August, a group of about 80 educators will gather in Virginia Beach to synthesize all the comments and come up with draft revisions. Eventually, the proposed revisions will be presented to the state Board of Education.
The last time state standards for English and language arts were rewritten was in 1988.
``I think it's important to write (standards) as clearly as we can and eliminate as much of the jargon as possible, so that it's understandable to the general public,'' said Paula S. Tortolini, a Beach language arts coordinator who led a discussion about standards for kindergarten and first grade. Other groups debated the standards for second through 12th grades.
The process was tedious. Participants carefully examined each existing standard, sometimes arguing over just a word or a phrase.
Participants suggested adding computer keyboarding, for example, to a list of skills teachers should consider to help small children meet one of the state standards that requires kindergartners to ``develop the beginning motor skills essential for manipulating writing tools.''
In addition to answering ``who, what, when and where'' questions when demonstrating listening comprehension skills, kindergartners also should be asked to tell ``why'' and to predict story outcomes, participants said. That would push them to develop the kind of higher-order thinking skills educators and business leaders now say high school graduates need.
K. Edwin Brown, Beach assistant superintendent for instructional support services, said he did not expect radical changes in the existing standards for English and language arts. Instead, there likely will be minor changes that will promote ``a more focused emphasis on reading and writing in all grade levels.''
Beth P. Coyne, a Beach gifted- education teacher who participated in a discussion about fourth- and fifth-grade standards, said most people suggested small revisions that could make a big difference in the way the standards are interpreted by teachers.
``There seemed to be a trend, even if we were keeping the same basic standard, toward changing the verbs to emphasize a higher level of thinking,'' she said. ``Instead of simply asking a child to understand, we'd be asking them to analyze.'' by CNB