Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 3, 1994 TAG: 9501050008
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The International Baccalaureate program provides a comprehensive plan of study that prepares students for the best colleges and universities nationwide, said Gene Carson.
"It teaches students how to think critically - and prepares them for the stress of a heavy work load in college," said Carson, an international examiner for the IB program.
Carson joined more than a dozen Salem students to explain the preparatory program to a special audience that might try to expand it other schools.
Gov. George Allen's Commission on Champion Schools came to Salem to learn more about the baccalaureate program before a hearing Wednesday night at Cave Spring High School on education reform.
At Salem, it was a reversal of roles: The students, current and former participants in the program, were the teachers, and the commission members were the students.
A high standard of academic excellence, including programs for advanced and gifted children, is among the issues the commission is studying.
Betsy McClearn, coordinator for the preparatory program, said the commission wanted information and the students were the best source for it.
Salem is one of a handful of school systems in Virginia with the international preparatory program. Roanoke has applied to admit William Fleming High School into the program, a process that takes several years.
Worldwide, about 20,000 students are enrolled in the program, which was started by the International School, a private school in Geneva, in the 1960s. It prepares students of many nationalities for advanced credits in colleges and universities.
Matt Hatfield, a Salem High graduate who now is in the honors program at Virginia Tech, said the baccalaureate program taught him critical thinking and writing skills. He said he also learned how to manage his time better.
The 48-member commission is looking at a broad range of educational issues such as funding, drugs, violence, safety, educational technology, parental involvement and the use of achievement testing for accountability.
The commission also is reviewing the use of vouchers and tax credits to help pay for education at private or parochial schools. Allen favors school choice for students, and tax credits would be one way to provide alternatives.
The Virginia Education Association opposes vouchers, however, because it believes they will be an academic and financial drain on public schools.
The teachers fear that state money for schools would drop because money would be taken from public schools to provide vouchers.
The teachers also are afraid that many middle-class students would enroll in private schools and leave behind children from low-income families.
Another reform under consideration is "charter schools." Charter schools would be supported by taxpayers, but they would be exempt from many regulations imposed on other public schools.
A "super waiver" for charter schools is being discussed. This would include the elimination of such items as class size, length of school day and year and subjects taught.
Other issues being considered by the commission are the need for more school nurses, local control of the school calendar and more involvement by parents in school operations.
Last May, Allen appointed the commission and asked it to develop a comprehensive reform plan for elementary and secondary education in Virginia.
The commission will make recommendations to Allen next month in time for the next General Assembly session.
Some confusion has arisen on educational reform recently because the Governor's Blue Ribbon Strike Force on Government Reform also has an education committee that is studying some of the same educational issues. There is overflap in their work.
The strike force has recommended tuition tax credits, a longer school day, elimination of promoting children to the next grade for social reasons, increasing programs for at-risk children and other changes.
Bringing the benefits of diversity and school choice are among the commission's priorities.
by CNB