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Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of columns Dr. Banton put together for the Herald, using his decades of experience in education, both on a local, regional and state level, to look at Prince Edward County Public Schools.

Are Prince Edward students prepared for the real world? With the changes facing the district right now, that’s the question we have to ask. 

Most citizens understand that the most precious treasure of any community is represented by its children. When the schools of a community are successful, the community also becomes successful. Through superior instruction and inspiration of its students, the schools can breathe life into their communities by making a valuable and necessary contribution to their social and economic well-being. History has taught us that good schools pave the road to employment, greater opportunity for success and a more productive life for everyone.  

Farmville’s local real estate sales veteran Kip Lafoon has helped new families locate in town for more than four decades. He can testify that “a good many families have elected not to come to this area because they did not like the results of their research!” A common theme of nearly every family’s search is finding a community dedicated to having excellent schools for its children. 

A community with excellent schools serves as a magnet for industrial development, well-paying jobs, economic prosperity, as well as, reducing the departure of local families. Also, research shows that an increase in industrial development results in less property tax pressure on local families. 

It appears that the Prince Edward County Public Schools has not had anyone directly in charge of giving constructive directives for the necessary adjustments to instruction designed to produce a significant improvement of K-12 student classroom learning, as well as, to ensure improvement of test scores regarding Virginia’s Standards of Learning.

My experience in education

In my life, I’ve served in a number of roles when it comes to education. I’ve been President of the Virginia School Boards Association, spent five years as a School Board Chairman, worked as a university professor teaching Instruction and Learning Theory for 35 years, and served as a member of six accreditation teams evaluating Virginia school divisions. I was also a member of the committee that developed Virginia’s first Standards of Learning, served as a member of four Virginia college accreditation teams, worked as a member of and Vice-Chairman of Governor Wilder’s Commission on Educational Opportunities for All Virginians and was a classroom teacher and school administrator. 

In all my experience, I have learned that successful learning by students is dependent upon the quality of “instructional leadership” provided by its school administration. The application of excellent leadership starts with a school division superintendent who demands nothing less than excellence from all members of the instructional staff. 

Why do we blame Prince Edward teachers?

Any finding for a need for improved classroom instruction in Prince Edward schools is likely not attributable to poorly trained classroom teachers. To the contrary, an analysis of the systems administration support of its program of instruction could find non-structured or fragmented Administrative Directives to its teachers regarding instruction of S.O.L.’s in the classroom. Also, a lack of administrative procedures for promptly assisting individual teachers with their declared classroom needs.

Third, teachers who might not be fully knowledgeable regarding the specific content of standards they are required to teach, as well as, a lack of knowledge regarding how to develop individualized instruction based on the specific behavioral characteristics of their student classroom population. Perhaps special education teachers in the division could help teach regular education teachers how to develop Individualized Education Plans, aka I.E.P., for their students.

A change is needed

Instructional Design and Learning research has proven that, unless there is a drastic change in such a school scenario, efforts to improve student learning and S.O.L. test scores are likely to fail. Accordingly, the Prince Edward County School Board should consider initiating a thorough review of the current personnel evaluation procedures regarding; (A) the extent of the use of individualized instruction by each teacher for the required content of the S.O.L.’s, (B) providing classroom teachers with an accurate documented record of each student’s achieved reading grade level, (C) adding a Director of Instruction to the administration, and (D) requiring the Superintendent to issue a monthly report to the board regarding procedures taken at each school to improve S.O.L. scores.   

Problems within the county’s schools could also relate to an absence of involvement of business and industry in the delivery of education to its students. Accordingly, the community would benefit from an analysis of the system’s degree of preparation of its students for today’s world of work. It should be apparent to even the most casual observer that America’s job market is constantly signaling a change in the kinds of skills needed by today’s students. We are witnessing an economy that appears to be changing from being dominated by manual work to one dominated by technical workers. The question, “Are Prince Edward High graduates prepared for the real world?” needs an answer.