WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., Sept. 18, 2015 — West Liberty University will host the West Virginia Department of Education for a town hall meeting at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 22. The public meeting will be held in the R. Emmett Boyle Conference Center, located in the Academic, Sports and Recreation Complex (ASRC).
WLU Dean of the College of Education Dr. Keely Camden will take part in the panel discussion. Other panelists include: Ohio County teacher, Shawna Safreed and Clayton Burch, chief academic officer for West Virginia Department of Education.
The meeting is part of a series of public meetings that began in Morgantown and are taking place around the state. According to an earlier Associated Press release, the meetings will evaluate the state’s K-12 academic standards, which were phased in from 2011 to 2014. The standards serve as benchmarks for what students should know at the end of each grade level.
Public comments will serve as a basis for recommendations that will be made to the Board of Education by the end of the year, according to Sarah Stewart, director of policy and government relations in the state’s superintendent office.
“We are looking for actionable feedback on specific standards in English language arts and math,” Stewart said.
She added that in addition to attending the town hall meetings, citizens can access wvacademicspotlight.statestandards.org on the Web to get more information and provide comments. Comments will be received through the website until Sept. 30. Comments received will serve as a basis for recommendations that will be made to the Board of Education at the end of the calendar year.
According to the West Virginia Department of Education, the Next Generation Standards are a set of high expectations in English language arts and mathematics that were developed by state leaders and teachers to ensure every student graduates from high school prepared for college and the 21st century world of work. Educational standards that set high, clear and consistent expectations, like the West Virginia Next Generation Standards, are essential to creating an education system that prepares our young people for success in school, work and life.
For additional information, contact Kristin Anderson at the WVDE Office of Communications at 304-558-2699 or Kristin.Anderson@k12.wv.us.