THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 19, 1996 TAG: 9601190642
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
It took more than a year of debate before Virginia adopted tough new academic standards in math, science, English and social studies last summer.
But that may have been the easy part.
Social studies teachers pleaded with the state Board of Education on Thursday to delay the new standards for two more years, arguing that the cost of training teachers, buying new textbooks and supplies and creating a new curriculum was overwhelming them.
The state board agreed to appoint a committee to study their concerns. The board plans to require local school districts to begin teaching according to the new standards this fall. In the spring of 1997, the board wants to begin testing students to gauge their achievement of the standards. Poorly performing schools could lose state accreditation.
Charlene Chappell, supervisor of social studies in Chesapeake and president of the Virginia Consortium of Social Studies Specialists and College Educators, said that Chesapeake and most other districts face a ``mammoth'' and costly task of overhauling at least half of their current social studies curriculum to meet the new standards.
Chappell's group proposes that schools begin teaching the social studies standards in 1998 and that the state begin testing in 1999.
In some cases, Chappell said, textbooks don't even exist to accommodate curriculum changes required by the standards in kindergarten through third grade.
For example, ``Kindergarten teachers have no training in American history; that was not part of their certification to become a kindergarten teacher,'' Chappell said.
Gov. George Allen's administration is seeking $23 million from the General Assembly for measuring student performance.
Board President James P. Jones said it's possible that implementation of the standards will be delayed. The General Assembly, which has raised questions about spending $23 million on developing tests, also could intervene. by CNB