Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Curriculum likely to change

The education of students who have fallen behind was among the topics discussed at a recent school board meeting and Prescott Superintendent Hyacinth Deon said she believes its time to change the way those students are taught.

We feel sorry for them and think they cant do (the work), Deon said. What they need is to go faster.

Theres a new program in the pipes and parents should know that children will soon be facing some curriculum changes, Deon said. Theres no indication of how soon the changes will become law.

One of the problems being addressed is that some students are able to obtain high school diplomas under the current standards without mastering even basic skills needed to get and hold a good job, Deon said.

She said the changes in the high school curriculum are so the high school diploma can regain its value.

Deon said a new emphasis will be placed on literacy and math in an effort to keep up with expanding employer requirements. Deon said the goal of schools in the past was to offer an education to students when a majority of those would enter an industrial workplace.

Todays its an informational marketplace, Deon said.

One of the major changes will be a requirement for all students to accomplish math classes through algebra II.

Deon said another point of emphasis is to end the need for college remediation. She said more than half of all college students need remedial courses. Those courses take time and money.

Across the nation, the drop-out rate has traditionally been high - about one in five high school freshmen wont finish school.

Were blessed in Prescott that we dont have that drop out rate, Deon said.

But she said educators must find ways to encourage students to learn as much as possible while they are in school.

Theres not yet an indication of when the new requirements are likely to be instituted, but Deon cited them as positive changes in a changing economic situation.