Staff Writer

Earlier this week an ad hoc committee comprised of three Fairfield County school board members appointed by board chairman, Harold Heath, met with several district employees and members of the community to review the proposed policies IKA-R and IKE.

IKA-R pertains to the grading and assessment systems. IKE deals with promotion, retention and acceleration of students.

Annie McDaniel, chairman of the committee, expressed her desire to “start healing our community”.

Catherine Kennedy and Henry Miller also served on the committee.

McDaniel’s concerns included whether “the test that is coming from the CRT module was accurately testing the knowledge base of the students and what students had been taught.”

She stated later than perhaps this coming school year could be one more pilot year and not count the CRT until 2009-10 school year.

In answer to questions raised by the committee, Kyle Kallhoff, Assistant Superintendent for Accountability and Evaluation, explained how teachers use a “blueprint” to instruct their students with information that will be tested later.

He said, “just like a blueprint for a house it is a blueprint for a test.”

Kallhoff said that before an end of quarter test (CRT) is given, Fairfield County reviewers go over the test and give their input. “Questions can be adjusted” says Kallhoff. Later the reviewers also takes the test themselves to catch any other problems before the student sees it.

Marie Milam, Deputy Superintendent for Academics, said that the Anderson School District Five curriculum guides that have been used, met state standards but this year our teachers would be creating the pacing guides.

She assured the committee that the standards would still be taught and those same standards would be tested.

She referred to Kallhoff’s mention that the blueprints align with the testing.

Mrs. Raye O’Neal Boyd, as elementary instructional leader, said that “teachers are the most effective tool in the classroom in their delivery of the curriculum.”

She said that textbooks do not address all the standards and that teachers use text books plus creative ways to teach.

Board member, Catherine Kennedy, spoke to her concern about the new teachers this year with zero years of experience.

Dr. Patricia Patterson, secondary instructional leader, assured the committee that “teachers will get a lot of support this year.”

Patterson explains that the newly hired Content Specialist will work with teachers on strategies of teaching. Principals also assist teacher.

She added that the concept of “teams” and “common development” along with faculty meetings will be a focus at the high school.

Kennedy said “I just don’t see the immediate picture you all are painting.”

She asked, concerning the use of the CRT this upcoming year, “what’s the rush on counting (CRT) this year? Why rush if its a good thing?”

She asked, “where’s the fire?”

Kyle Kallhoff responded, “I see a fire...Out of 85 (SC districts) we’re number 79 ..that’s the fire.”

Boyd interjected “we are putting things in place we did not have in place before.

“We were relying on the skills that teachers brought to the table to teach our children. Once they are in a classroom (with) an ineffective teacher, its going to take them years in order to get that (group of) skills they need.

“A lot of those students are now landing in the middle school, some in the high school and we’ve failed them,” she said.

“So we need to back up and reach those in the lower level now. We can’t wait until later.

“We’ve already done a disservice to them. We need to go back and make sure that they get it.”

The meeting ended with Board member, Henry Miller, commenting that communication “wasn’t there last year” but that he has seen that the “administration had made some compromise.”

Miller hopes there will be more parental involvement this year and not just parents who merely “sit on the sidelines and complain.”