The Virginian-Pilot
©
RICHMOND
The state Board of Education on Thursday approved standards of accreditation that require high schools to meet graduation rate targets.
"We're really the only state in the country that has moved from testing and standards to graduation in accreditation," board President Mark E. Emblidge said after the 9-0 vote.
The graduation targets, which will be in addition to test-score requirements, will be phased in beginning with accreditation for the 2011- 12 school year.
Schools will get points for students who graduate on time with a diploma and fewer points for students who earn a GED, stay in school without graduating or finish high school with a certificate of completion.
"Thank you for taking this bold step forward," said Angela Ciolfi of JustChildren, a legal-aid center based in Charlottesville.
Ciolfi said she hopes the regulations will help schools make students' final outcomes a higher priority.
The board also approved requiring students to take a course in economics and personal finance to earn a regular or advanced-studies diploma. Guidelines for the course have not been developed, but teachers in history and the social sciences, mathematics, and career and technical education will be allowed to teach it.
During a public comment period, more than 300 people or groups urged the board to require encompassing economics and personal finance into a mandatory course instead of separate, optional classes. It will first be required for the freshman class of 2011-12.
Nearly all of the new requirements are being delayed a year to give school divisions time to adapt.
A previously planned increase in the English pass rate required for accreditation also will be delayed.
In the new standards, schools will be required to develop "personal academic and career" plans for each student by fall of the student's eighth-grade year.
Once implemented, the requirements for advanced-studies diplomas will increase to 26 credits from 24, including the finance class and an additional elective.
Lauren Roth, (757) 222-5133, lauren.roth@pilotonline.com
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ehhyeah...you didn't say
ehhyeah...you didn't say much of anything really, except for something about wearing used shoes which, sadly, doesn't add much food for thought. Oh well.
:-P
Jim Jones...I will refute most of your comments:
1. The curriculum is written by an overwhelming majority of current and former teachers. All teachers are invited to be part of the process, but not all are able to go. 2. Classroom tests are made by teachers. Only SOL, SAT etc. tests are standardized. 3. Teachers are involved in the textbook adoption process and have the loudest voice in the final choice. 4. Schedules vary, and core teachers work many hours beyond the basic schedule. 5. Innovation is not stifled as indicated by differentiation strategies. 6. Students do worse every year for many reasons: e.g. kid can't stay awake because s/he worked until midnight and was too tired to do homework. Why working? To pay for cell phone, car insurance, gas etc. I did not have a cell phone or car in high school because school was my #1 priority. I am a high school teacher who rarely has time for lunch and is at work until 6pm, then I take work home. I am an educator with a masters degree, not a babystter. How about a little respect?
Well, there you go again
Mr. Jones, if you concentrate on what I wrote rather than what you feel like typing, you would see I was not saying anything about salaries or budgets. I was referring to your comments that everything is set such as the curriculum, books, schedule, etc. as if teaching was a mindless thing. In that sense, yes, you are wrong, and yes, it is that simple. I was just trying to be more polite and concise.
Until you've walked in
Until you've walked in someone's shoes ... It's just that sort of irrational thought that puts us into the binds we are in now with so many things. How does that end a dispute or even begin to refute anything I've said? Was anything I said factually incorrect? How much more money is needed to make a quantifiable improvement in our public school systems? Would all students be on the honor role if we doubled teacher salaries or would they need to be trebled? Is it also your contention that nobody in city council has ever "walked in the shoes of a high school teacher" and thus they are unqualified to set the school budget? Can parents not question what is done at their children's school having never been teachers themselves? Do you see what a silly idea that is? When you are done grading papers, please tell me why I am wrong, refute just one point if you can but, don't just say I'm wrong and that's that. Surely you don't believe it's that simple.
Until you walk in someone else's shoes.....
...and based on his comments (even putting the salary discussion aside), I would guess that Mr. Jones has never walked in the shoes of a high school teacher?
What?
I am going to decline the kool-aid diatribe from jim jones. With all due respect, there are a great number of teachers out there who truly care about the quality of education. Statistically speaking there are always going to be bare minimum effort employees at every job. Let's not generalize an entire profession of people.
With that being said, undeserving students are being passed right now. This is nothing new. Unfortunately, no child left behind has hindered many school systems who will not get funding unless they have a certain number of kids passing.
Why is it that every time
Why is it that every time anything is said about the schools, somebody has to prattle on about teacher pay? I say they are payed too much as it is. I mean, the curriculum is set for them, the tests are now standardized, the books they use are selected for them, their schedules are the same, the students seem to do worse every year, you cannot fire them no matter how bad they are, they are not allowed to be innovative, etc. How much is a position like that worth really? So what if other states over pay them more than we do. When the teachers unions will allow bad teachers to be fired without mountains of paperwork and lawsuits, then, and only then, will I care about how fairly teachers are compensated.
Overpaid
Looking at the results of our public education system....I would surmise that most teachers are overpaid sheep grazing at the trough of the Democratic Party.
So, let me get this straight...
We already have teachers teaching toward SOL's, now they have to promote those students who may not even know how to read to gradutate? No offense to all the teachers I know, I really feel bad for you. But what ever happened to good ole teaching and passing those students who know the content (not by their test scores, but by their everyday work that proves their understanding) and failing those students who are unable to comprehend the requirements to pass? I have a degree in education, I do not teach, I wonder why?
The VEA got snookered again!
Ha ha ha! "Kaine did not keep his promise to increase teacher pay to at least the national average." And neither did Mark Warner before him, yet the Virginia Education Association wholeheartedy endorsed both with pamphlet after pamphlet and mailer after mailer to Virginia teachers. You'd think teachers would be smart enough to know when they were being pandered to and stop this automatic endorsement of Democrat Party candidates. They've been burned TWICE, now! Let me guess .... Terry McAuliffe for governor, right?