Manchin, Paine Speak on Importance of Education in W.Va.: ?… Nobody Knows a Student Like a Teacher’

By Grant Smith, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

Mar. 31–ON THE WEB : www.21stcentu ryskills.org; www.hre.wvu.edu/benedum/ West Virginia’s first lady Gayle Manchin and state Superintendent of Schools Dr. Stephen L. Paine spoke on WVU’s campus Thursday to a group of educators who had gathered to hash out ideas for improving public education in the state. “We have a lot of things we’re going to do today,” said Van Dempsey, an associate professor of advanced education studies at WVU and director of the Benedum Collaborative, a partnership of WVU and 28 public schools in a five-county area. The collaborative aims to improve professional development for current teachers and improve the way the teachers of the future are trained. “We believe in getting educators together around the table to try to solve problems” and pursue new opportunities, Dempsey said. “They’re the experts. Nobody knows a patient like a doctor and nobody knows a student like a teacher.” Paine opened the day with a talk about the 21st Century Skills initiative — a plan, he said, that aims higher than standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind act. That act was signed into law by President Bush on Jan. 8, 2002 to change the way school systems were held accountable for education of children in kindergarten through high school. Educators should not be “striving for all students to attain a middle level … but to bring students beyond what I call mediocrity,” Paine said. “Improvement is about continuous improvement.” About 130 representatives from 28 schools in Monongalia, Marion, Taylor, Harrison and Preston counties attended the conference Thursday. Preparing students for the 21st century workforce is more than just making them memorize lessons and assessing test results, Paine said. Manchin’s lunchtime talk narrowed the focus a bit, and addressed the role poverty plays and the barriers it creates in education. Trusting relationships will help break down those barriers for children in poverty, to give them a chance to get a good education. Part of the problem is that the poor may see education as a middleclass activity, she said. “Poverty is a barrier because we don’t have a better understanding of it,” Manchin said. “Educators should just be very perceptive and receptive. You can bridge these differences.” Some children live in “generational poverty” — that is, families that have been in poverty for multiple generations, she said. “Many times, parents from poverty have not had a successful experience in school … so they don’t presume it’s going to be good for their children either,” said Manchin, who used to teach in public schools in Marion County and at Fairmont State College. Between and after Manchin and Paine’s presentations, representatives at each school discussed their school-specific issues and goals, and then mingled with other school faculty to share ideas.

“I’ve had some excellent student teachers, observers and interns,” from WVU, said Joseph Naternicola, a social studies teacher at Fairmont Senior High. He’s been involved with the Benedum Collaborative for about five or six years. “It helps me grow as a teacher because I’m introduced to new strategies,” which he said help him “be a more effective teacher.”

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Dominion Post, Morgantown, W.Va.

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