July 2007 — Case Studies
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Curriculum-Based Reform :: West Virginia
Collaborate! Experiment! Discover!
Addressing three key areas of need identified by the state, a West Virginia district has rolled out a program dedicated to project-based, student-directed learning.
GREENBRIAR COUNTY PUBLIC
SCHOOLS in southeastern West Virginia
believes its students can be competitive in the
21st century. But to be competitive, the district’s
educators realized they needed to
change the way they do business, and they
have done so by incorporating problembased,
student-driven learning at all grade
levels and implementing technology initiatives
that enliven the academic environment
by focusing on the local community and the
rich history and geography of the area.
This sweeping change has grown as a result of leadership from the state and funding from Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) and other grants. But the impetus for transforming the curriculum came in 2005, when the Governor’s Advisory Council for Educational Technology identified three areas of need for West Virginia schools: 1) more hardware resources, 2) more professional development, and 3) better support/maintenance for school computers.
Less than a year later, a team from Greenbrier County heard Gov. Joe Manchin and Steve Paine, the state’s superintendent of schools, talk about the importance of teaching students 21st-century skills. The message from the two men was clear: It is essential that the state develop students who are competent in the ability to think critically, apply knowledge at high levels, exhibit personal and workplace productivity skills, and use technology tools to assemble, communicate, and analyze information. Accordingly, there is a need to move away from learning as a succession of forgettable details, away from bloated textbooks that impel students to wade through a stream of chapters attempting to address a range of state standards in advance of mastering the questions waiting at the end of each chapter.
"They’re not just reading about computer repair; they’re actually putting it into practice. It’s about self-sufficiency and extending one’s horizons.”—Chad Burns, Greenbrier County Public Schools
John Curry, superintendent of Greenbrier County, has followed the directive set forth by Manchin and Paine and has fully supported moving his district in the direction of 21st-century skills. The district’s efforts are visible at every level, beginning in its elementary schools with such projects as robotics building and inquiry-based mathematics, with the county embracing the idea that students learn better when they learn by discovery, seeking the meaning behind facts. Students work in groups, sharing ideas and strategies to solve realworld problems, and then explain their thinking both orally and in writing.
