Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 10, 1995 TAG: 9510100060
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
Most of the county's existing school buildings are 40 to 50 years old, are on the verge of crumbling, and are unsuited for the new technologies that will be needed in classrooms of the 21st century, he said.
"We've got to face the fact, and our community has got to face the fact, that we need better facilities for our kids," he said, drawing applause from county teachers.
He said he hoped that applause would translate to support when school officials bring school improvement plans before the Board of Supervisors and when a bond issue is needed to do the job.
"We've got to do it. And we've got to do it next year," he said. "The world is coming to our classrooms. ... That's today. It's here now."
Buildings with more space are needed to accommodate lower pupil-teacher ratios, a key to improving education, he said. More modern buildings are needed simply for the necessary wiring and air-conditioning needed for computers and other technological learning tools, he said.
Air-conditioning is also needed for teachers and students, he said, especially considering some of the hot weather they have experienced during their recently completed first six weeks.
Asbury admitted his difficulties in having to learn new computer technologies, but said changes in technology are going to keep on coming.
"It's been a tremendous change for me," he said. "It's getting ready to change again. We've never been in a world like we're in ever before. ... It creates a feeling of awkwardness, because we're challenging things that people have done for their entire careers."
That includes such initiatives as interdisciplinary teaching, where subject matter from one department crosses into others; site-based management, where each school makes its own decisions rather than having them come down through the central administration; different ways of managing time, like the block scheduling in the high and middle schools; and assessing what young people are learning all the way down to the earliest grades.
"We've got to know whether they're learning as we teach them," Asbury said. "It doesn't do any good to cover the book ... if the child isn't learning," he said. "So you're going to see words like 'assessment.'"
Pupils and students will be assessed to make sure they master one skill level before moving on to the next, he said. "Our basic skills will be our academic vital signs," he said. "And over time, we're going to have this tremendous foundation built in our county ... and you're going to see marvelous results by our kids."
He said empowering teachers in making key decisions as part of site-based management is not always easy. "When you sit people down at a table and ask them what they think, they're going to tell you," he said.
Asbury also called for teachers to stress "social literacy" at a time when problems of sexual promiscuity and lousy behavior are the norms in many classrooms across the nation. Simple politeness and respect have got to be part of what is taught, too. "Folks, we've got to take that mission upon ourselves," he said.
"Until we accept the responsibility to raise the students in our classrooms, one at a time ... we're going to be mediocre," he said. "We wanted the best academic program in the state, bar none."
by CNB