The West Virginia Board of Education is accepting input on policy changes that would, among other things, require high schools to offer students an optional computer science course and change science and social studies course requirements and offerings.
The proposed new Policy 2510, which the state school board placed on 30-day public comment last month and is accepting comments on through 4 p.m. March 14, would also make other significant changes that'd take effect next school year.
It would remove the requirement that counties request policy waivers from the state board before offering high school credits for courses with fewer than 8,100 minutes of total instructional time. The new language would instead require a school's principal and a team of teachers to determine the time necessary to achieve "mastery of the content standards of each course."
Joey Wiseman, the state Department of Education's executive director of middle and secondary learning, said all the recommended policy changes came from a stakeholder group that included teachers, principals, superintendents and representatives of both higher education and Regional Education Service Agencies.
On its website, West Virginia's chapter of the American Federation of Teachers union has posted suggested comments for its members, including one saying that keeping the 8,100-minute minimum is important "to ensure students are provided a high quality education." Both AFT-WV and the West Virginia Education Association union are also suggesting members read the proposed policy and add their own comments.
The ninth grade requirement for Physical Science is being replaced with a requirement for Earth and Space Science.
"The primary reason is that we need to expose West Virginia students to astronomy, geology, meteorology and paleontology," said Deb Hemler, one of the West Virginia Science Teachers Association's two co-executive directors and a Fairmont State University professor who teaches geoscience content courses to elementary education majors.
Hemler, who said WVSTA members voted in support of the proposed course changes at a conference two years ago, said she feels that compared to Physical Science, Earth and Space Science also provides a more visual, less math-driven way to expose students to concepts in the Physics and Chemistry classes they may take later.
"You can't teach the formation of minerals without looking at the periodic table," she said. "... You can't talk about mountain building until you talk about forces, so there's so much physics and chemistry."
She said Earth and Space Science is thus less likely to drive students away from science in their freshman year. The list of science electives required to be offered would add Physical Science - allowing, Hemler said, for students to take that course when they have more math skills.
To fulfill the 10th grade requirement, students could still take Biology or Advanced Placement Biology, but Conceptual Biology would no longer be allowed to substitute, nor would it be required to be offered as an elective. Hemler said Conceptual Biology, like other "Conceptual" courses, was actually an easier version that shouldn't have been offered.
As for social studies, the policy changes would remove the requirement that students take World Studies or an Advanced Placement social studies course specifically in ninth grade and U.S. Studies or an AP course specifically in 10th grade. AP courses allow students to earn college credit.
Instead, counties could have students fulfill these requirements at different grades, and the World Studies mandate could be substituted not only by an AP social studies course of any type but also by Geography. Wiseman said Geography still deals with the evolution of people and their ideas and can span a longer time period, and students already study topics similar to World Studies in seventh grade.
The mandate for U.S. Studies, which spans history from around the country's formation to 1914, could also be fulfilled under the new policy with U.S. Studies-Comprehensive, which can span all of U.S. history, or specifically Advanced Placement U.S. History. Current policy doesn't specify that Advanced Placement class, so a student currently could theoretically skip high school U.S. history.
The current further requirement for Contemporary Studies, which spans from 1914 to the modern day, or another Advanced Placement social studies course would be replaced by a requirement for any further additional social studies course, Advanced Placement or not.
Contemporary Studies would be added to the list of social studies electives counties are required to offer, and that list will continue to include Economics. Counties could choose to offer Sociology, Psychology and other courses for social studies credit, and these options would also be available through the state's online courses.
"Counties have just asked for some freedom and flexibility so they can personalize education for their students," Wiseman said.
Tega McGuffin, a Contemporary Studies and Advanced Placement U.S. History teacher at Fayette County's Oak Hill High, said she personally likes most of changes, save for the new allowance for Advanced Placement Art History to count for social studies credit.
"I think it's a great course, I think it's valuable, I think it's more of a fine arts elective," she said.
The new Policy 2510 would merge four other current policies into it, including one currently enabling students to receive high school music credit for practicing at least six hours a week and working with a private instructor, among other requirements.
But in being merged into the proposed new policy, the private instructor credit policy would be expanded to include other fine arts, like dance and visual art. And many specific state requirements, like minimum practice time, would be discarded and left up to counties, which could choose whether to even allow the private instructor credit pathway.
"Concerns include lack of connection to the next generation standards and no BOE control over the level of rigor," AFT-WV stated in one of its proposed comments. "Additionally, private instructors would not be subject to the hiring procedures for certified educators, thus not ensuring a highly qualified educator."
Reach Ryan Quinn at ryan.quinn@wvgazettemail.com, facebook.com/ryanedwinquinn, 304-348-1254 or follow @RyanEQuinn on Twitter.