CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – The West Virginia House Education Committee convened Monday afternoon to hear from Superintendent of WV Schools David Roach regarding educational goals for the students of West Virginia.
Specifically, substantial discussion was given to a recently introduced initiative, Ready, Read, Write, West Virginia, which places much emphasis on student literacy and the effect of proficiency in reading and writing on success not only in other subjects throughout school, but in success throughout life.
“The ability to read is the foundation for learning. Success in math, science, and social studies is built on reading. The research is clear, students who cannot read at proficient levels have difficulty finding success in the workplace later in life.”
These assertions are part of the WV Department of Education’s overview of the initiative as found on the department website.
“The Department of Education is working with urgency to equip educators, families, community members, and partners with the resources to address literacy gaps in our schools.”
Superintendent David Roach addressed the House Education Committee at the Education Committee Room Monday to discuss the initiative and to field questions from lawmakers regarding the future of education in the Mountain State.
The literacy initiative, Roach says, is based on over 30 years of research, and focuses on the development of pathways in the brain in order to maximize effectiveness in learning.
“We’ve been drowning for 30 years,” said Superintendent Roach. “I want our state, our children to be able to read.”
This initiative will purportedly be geared toward learners of all types, including traditional learners as well as more “hands-on” learners. This scope will be reinforced by the concept of converting the classroom into a “simulated workplace.”
Roach made reference to David Kersey’s Please Understand Me, a 1978 psychology book which focuses on personality types and different styles of learning.
“56% of the teachers in the classroom were very structured teachers,” said Roach of the information presented in the text. “They liked their roles in the classrooms straight; they liked their papers done a certain way; there are notes taken on a paper a certain way; everything was structured.
I thrive in that environment because I’m one of those 38% of the students that learn best that way,” he continued. “But 36% of students learn another way. They’re the ones that like to work with their hands or play instruments, and there’s only 2% of teachers that teach that way.”
Based on this, the superintendent estimates that beginning roughly in fourth grade students with conflicting learning styles from their teacher begin to have distinct trouble connecting and thus struggle to retain the information being taught.
While most lawmakers in attendance expressed enthusiasm with regard to the incentive, some were skeptical of the likelihood of all state educators adopting the methods in question. One statement to the superintendent proposed creating incentive for educators to actually implement these learning methods.
“I would encourage you guys to find a way to incentivize those teachers that really need to do this, like our elementary level reading and writing teachers. So that by the time those kids get to high school, the high school teachers can focus on their subject matter and those kids already know how to read by the time they get up there.”
Not all of Monday afternoon’s discussion pertain specifically to this incentive, however, with many queries also emerging regarding the general state of education in the Mountain State.
One House Education Committee member, Republican Bill Ridenour of Jefferson County, District 100, pointed out the exacerbation of the ongoing statewide teacher shortage by the financial incentivization of West Virginia teachers to take higher paying jobs in surrounding areas.
“I’m from Jefferson County,” Ridenour began. “We have hundreds of teachers that live in my district, most of them work in Maryland or in Virginia because they can earn 20 to $30,000 more. What what can we do to alleviate the teacher shortages around the state but also up in that area, given that we’re being poached by Maryland and Virginia on a daily basis with billboards on our highways telling people to come over and work over in their areas?”
Superintendent Roach acknowledged this unfortunate reality, stating, “In my 40-some years [of] experience, this is not new. They have poached; taking our teachers to get more money across state lines.I’m not in the legislature. I’ve heard different scenarios of how to correct that, and one was to pay certain counties more money in those areas where there’s growth and where they are taking teachers.”
Roach ultimately conceded that there is currently no clear-cut answer as far as addressing the shortage and poaching of West Virginia teachers.
“Right now they’re taking teachers from a poor country to a less poor county. If the county can pay more, the teacher in the neighboring county will go over,” he remarked. “Our superintendents have complained about that. They understand it, but still it’s a problem. I don’t have an answer for the shortage.”
One observer pointed out the diminishing trust of the general public throughout the state in the government school system, referring to the purportedly reiterated recommendation from social media users amongst themselves to “get your kids out of government schools,” but also commending Roach and the department on the intent of the newly introduced initiative.
“I would say it’s not controversial to say over the last so many years there’s been a decline in general public trust of public schools,” the query began. “I think that the pandemic exacerbated that mistrust. You want to restore the focus on reading, writing and math, I think that’s fantastic. I think this is genius and I think it’ll move the school curriculum in the right direction.
We all know literacy rates need to go up, but do you think that this is enough to generally restore public trust in public schools or do you think this is more of a first step? What can we do basically to sort of restore the public school image?”
Superintendent Roach straightforwardly responded, “The only way we’re going to build back the trust is to perform,” placing confidence in the initiative to bring about the intended result.
“We are not adversaries, we are partners with you all,” said Superintendent Roach concluding his remarks. “We want to succeed. We can’t do it without you, and we want to be a part of what you’re doing. We will help you where we can and we’ll advise and help if needed, but we’re with you.
We know this cannot be done alone. It will require the stakeholders and partners to share in the collective commitment to improve and advance student literacy and overall achievement. I am committed to working with anyone willing to support the crucial work of student learning. To close, I’ll remind everyone that we will achieve success by keeping our focus on strengthening the core instruction and addressing reading deficiencies, using personal plans, intensive strategies and interventions, and instructional materials that address the science of reading.”
Additional LOOTPRESS coverage from the ongoing 2023 sessions of the WV Legislature can be found here.