NSTA - Education News All major scientific groups, he added, support teaching only evolution, and to do canhelp students study for the state's standards of learning (SOL) exams. http://www.nsta.org/educationnews/&category_ID=196
Extractions: State and national education experts have labeled Delaware as one of Americas leaders in teaching evolution in public schools. Lawrence Lerner, a California State University professor emeritus who issued a report card of how states teach evolution to students in 2000, said he would give Delaware a perfect score for its efforts. Meanwhile, Delaware has implemented a new five-week curriculum to teach tenth-graders about evolution. West Virginia science teachers are celebrating after their state school board recently voted to endorse the teaching of evolution in schools. Creation scientists and intelligent design supporters had recommended the board revise their science standards, saying teachers and students should examine evolution more critically. John Calvert, managing director of the Intelligent Design network in Kansas, said board members might have voted differently if they had more time to study intelligent design.
YHS Spirit March 2000 students who need to pass the standards test for of our students success reflectsreal learning and how talented teachers, who view effective teaching as a http://yhspatriot.yorktown.arlington.k12.va.us/pta/Spir0003.html
Extractions: Note from the PrincipalThe SOL: No Easy Answers President's Perspective SHORT Takes Coming Up Note from the Principal Editor's Note: The following article by Dr. Pasi was published in the current issue of Educational Leadership, and is reprinted for your information. Before the Virginia Board of Education adopted the new Standards of Learning (SOL), math teachers at Yorktown High School in Arlington, Virginia, taught the same topics that they teach now but in a different order. Teachers used explorations, labs, and group work in their classes, but they did not collaborate often. Most math teachers did not hesitate to spend more time on a concept that students found difficult to grasp, even if it meant that they might not have time to cover other topics. Since the board adopted the SOL, teachers more often use direct instruction instead of group activities to cover all of the new standards curriculum. Teachers now feel greater pressure to keep to a schedule; whether students grasp a concept or not, the class must move on. However, the increased demand for successful test results means that teachers collaborate more to learn from one anther's instructional strategies. Less time for certain types of creative, group activities but increased interest in professional collaborationthe Standards are a double-edged sword. Although much of the criticism of and praise for end-of-year tests has been expressed in black-and-white terms, the Standards are a mixed bag: neither a cure-all for education's shortcomings nor the disaster initially feared. But because the Standards are here to stay, the time for us to argue about their merits has passed.
TimesDispatch.com 'Be-all And End-all'? Virginia's standards of learning are taking This year, Mari Kyle took a year off fromteaching third grade at Greer Elementary School in Albemarle County to http://www.timesdispatch.com/news/education/MGBOTQC3R6D.html
Va. Parents Don't Trust Exam, Poll Finds professor found widespread dissatisfaction with the state's standards of Learningexams, with only agreed that Teachers spend too much time teaching to the http://www.fairtest.org/arn/Va.html
Extractions: June 27, 2000 A survey of 800 Northern Virginia parents this year by a George Mason University professor found widespread dissatisfaction with the state's Standards of Learning exams, with only 17 percent saying that the tests are "an accurate measure of my child's achievement" and 61 percent disagreeing with that statement. State education officials and other supporters of the testing program questioned the poll's credibility. They noted that the GMU scholar is an admitted critic of the exams, and they said the wording of several of the questions may have skewed the results. But local school officials and PTA leaders who have had doubts about the tests said the poll results echo the sentiments they have heard from many parents. The survey was conducted in March and June by John E. Bonfadini, a GMU professor of educational research, and his graduate students. Bonfadini read the results to the state Board of Education last week during a public comment period at a board meeting. Seventy percent of poll respondents agreed with the statement, "The SOLs are more politically than educationally motivated." Nine percent disagreed with that. Sixty-five percent agreed that "Teachers spend too much time teaching to the test rather than teaching other important materials and topics," while 13 percent disagreed. The other respondents gave no opinion.
IDEAS - MIRROR NEWS: SPRING 2000 ed, of course, are those with learning disabilities Since we feel that high standardsshould apply school system accountable for actually teaching our children. http://www.idic15.org/virginia.html
Extractions: SPRING 2000 NEWSLETTERS HOME VIRGINIA CONSIDERS SPECIAL ED PROPOSAL BROUGHT BY IDEAS MOM AND FRIENDS Patti Rubel, parent of a son, Adam, who has idic15, recently sent us this update on her activities with the Virginia State legislature. Congratulations Patti! We made a proposal to our state delegate to have a study done that would look at this issue. We wanted the State to agree to modified testing for kids who follow a modified curriculum (this would include quite a few kids in special ed). That way, they wouldn't have to opt out. They would take tests based on the curriculum they're studying. The teachers would be accountable and the parents would have something to measure their children's progress by. We would also like to see another kind of diploma added to the system to go along with the "Modified SOLs". We hope this would help a great many kids in Special Ed go on to higher learning institutions. Right now an IEP Diploma won't get them anywhere. GO TO NEXT PAGE
Science And Family Life Educaiton High School Science Course Offerings. VIRGINIA standards OF learning FOR SCIENCE. http://www.pwcs.edu/pwc/science/
Extractions: Carolyn Gregg, Secretary CURRICULUM VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING FOR SCIENCE Winners of the 2002 Science Fair PWC Hazardous Chemicals List (for Science only) ... EAGLES Center A new science immersion experience designed to broaden student knowledge of selected critical attributes in the life and environmental sciences. Students have the opportunity to participate in authentic learning centers designed to review and extend the PWC objectives and state SOL's. Science Technology and Environmental Program (STEP) - A summer enrichment program sponsored by Prince William County Schools in conjunction with the Northern Virginia Community College.
Descriptions / Early Childhood Department children in a positive and effective learning environment. be to develop and use teachingstrategies and are based on research, professional standards, and the http://www.odu.edu/webroot/orgs/Educ/ESSE/earlych.nsf/pages/descriptions
Extractions: ESSE Assessment and Evaluation. Lecture 3 hours; 3 credits. Measurement and evaluation principles and procedures for assessing and promoting childrens learning and development will be addressed with an emphasis on the PK-6 age child. Program evaluation and interpretation of standardized tests will also be emphasized. ESSE Advanced Developmental Process. Lecture 3 hours; 3 credits. This course is designed to examine the theoretical basis for alternative views of the nature of human development. Students understanding of topical areas in child development will be enhanced through an examination of current research in child development and relevant findings from cross-cultural study. ESSE Constructivist Teaching: Theory Into Practice. Lecture 3 hours; 3 credits. This course addresses Piagets theory of cognitive and moral development. Students will learn techniques for studying the behavior and development of young children. Analysis of constructivist research, replicated empirical work, and implications for planning learning environments and education programs for young children will be emphasized.
Minutes For October 17, 2000 Department of Education Virginia Department of Education Division of InstructionTeaching Virginia standards of learning Virginia's Community of http://www.deltakappagamma.org/VA-gammapsi/min2.htm
Extractions: October 17, 2000 The October meeting took place at the home of Linda MacCleave Eloise Coffey , President, called the meeting at order at 7:30. Minutes of the last meeting are posted on the web site. A copy of them was passed around and they were accepted. Nancy Ottenbrite was out of town, so the Treasurer's report will be presented at the next business meeting. Linda has done a fantastic job on our web site! Our web page was the talk of the State Board Meeting. Someone asked if we had gotten approval from International. Linda has taken care of everything, and we are linked to the Delta Kappa Gamma International web site. The site has been in service since August. Linda mentioned that she still needs permission from some members to put their e-mail, address and phone number on the web page. Please contact her if you have not done this. Dues are to be paid by the end of October. Please send them to Nancy Ottenbrite by then. It is very time consuming for her to have to phone and remind members to pay their dues. The dues are still $50 per year.
A Dinner Discussion With Dr. Daniel Domenech having the students meet the standards in 2004. in schools, and to extend learningopportunities for to better prepare children by teaching algebraic concepts http://www.aypf.org/forumbriefs/1999/db061599.htm
Extractions: Dr. Daniel Domenech, Superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), provided his thoughts on education reform, the process of change, and the implementation of the Virginia Standards of Learning to a group of education policymakers on Capitol Hill. FCPS is the 12 th largest school system in the United States and consists of 234 schools and centers with 157,000 students. The system has approximately 40 percent minority students with approximately 20 percent on free and reduced price lunch. The average SAT score for FCPS is 1095; at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology it is 1450. But the overall number for the County is misleading: while the upper and middle-income (generally white) students are achieving at high levels, there are large clusters of poor (generally minority) students who are failing. The demographics of Fairfax County are no different than those of the District of Columbia or New York City. The SOLs did demonstrate, however, a discrepancy in achievement between majority and minority students. Domenech decided to use the SOL tests as a way to determine which schools needed the most help in ensuring high academic achievement for all students. He said he wanted to instill an attitude of equal
Extractions: Search Rethinking Schools Help Home Archive Volume 14, No.3 - Spring 2000 High-Stakes Testing Slights Multiculturalism By Makani Themba-Nixon As a parent active on a local school council, I've watched withapprehension as Virginia's high-stakes testing program has unfolded.But it was not until the day my third grade son, usually an enthusiasticstudent, came home sad and dejected that I realized my worst fearsabout the test were true. My son's class was studying explorers - his favorite subject -and he wanted to write a report on Matthew Henson, his favoriteexplorer. Henson, an African American, was the first man to setfoot on the North Pole. He was a self-taught sailor and astronomerwho rose above the racism and prejudice of his day to become oneof the most important explorers of the 20th century. Imagine my thrill as my son, without any urging on my part, wentto the computer to do research on Henson. I was particularly pleasedbecause after a tough first grade and difficulty reading throughoutsecond grade, in third grade my son was at last learning thatschool could be fun.
