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Georgia: Hands-on learning

By: Chloé Morrison
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Kathy Cox

LaFAYETTE, Ga. — Georgia schools Superintendent Kathy Cox said she liked what she saw Monday at LaFayette Middle School, where students did well on the state’s 2008 Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests.

“Like anything, we are pleased but not satisfied,” Mrs. Cox said of the CRCT scores.

The preliminary test results were released in June, and officials attributed the improved scores to the state’s new Georgia Performance Standards curriculum, which aligns course study with the tests. The curriculum has been in place for about two years.

The state-mandated exams are used to fulfill testing requirements of the Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind Act.

Mrs. Cox and a number of other officials and community leaders, such as state Rep. Jay Neal, R-LaFayette, and Walker County school board members, toured the middle school Monday morning and observed classes where students are learning actively.

The new standards involve “doing, not viewing,” Mrs. Cox said.

Mrs. Cox and Rep. Neal said budget problems are impacting state schools, with funding for K-12 cut 2 percent to help deal with the state’s funding shortfall of at least $1.6 billion.

Rep. Neal said he feels, though, that Georgia has strong educators who will continue to provide a quality education, despite budget cuts.

Superintendent Cox said hands-on, active learning like she saw among students Monday gets past spending problems and helps pupils achieve a deeper understanding of materials and promote critical thinking, she said.

“Where we are trying to take Georgia with the standards is to have our students doing, not just sitting copying notes from a teacher, memorizing something for a test and then it is gone,” Mrs. Cox said.

LaFayette Middle School principal Mike Culberson said his teachers had to “step it up” because of the rigors of the new curriculum, and he said they were up for the challenge.

“We have 75-minute block classes, and I can tell you every minute is taken advantage of by our staff,” the principal said.

Eighth-grader Britton Gilbert, 13, said participating in studies with hands-on learning, such as lab activities, is better than just listening.

Jesse Clements agreed.

“Using hands-on explains things more than just taking notes and sitting in a classroom,” Jesse said. “It is more getting you out into the world and helps you experience it.”

Rep. Neal said he was pleased to see so much student interaction at LaFayette Middle. Being engaged in the learning process is important, he said.

“They are not just learning from teachers, but they are learning from each other as they are working together, and to me, that is exciting,” he said.

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