BOARD CANDIDATES DISCUSS OUTCOMES BASED EDUCATION

Candidates for Cape Girardeau's school board said a lesson on outcomes based education, a buzzword in education reform, might be in order.

Three of four candidates spoke at a forum Thursday night sponsored by Washington School. R. Ferrell Ervin couldn't attend because he was with his ailing mother.

Ervin, Larry Trickey, Terry Taylor and Harold Hager are seeking election Tuesday.

In response to a question about outcomes based education, Taylor said he has tried to learn about the issue over the past six weeks.

"From what I have learned, I don't care for it," he said. "But I know there is a lot I don't know about it."

Hager said, "One of the troubles I have with outcomes based education is figuring out exactly what it means."

In some circles, he said, any education reform is labeled outcomes based education. And perhaps part of the trouble comes when the legislature passes laws they don't know enough about, he said.

Trickey said OBE and other new teaching approaches have grown from frustration teachers experience with student behavior and overcrowded classrooms.

"The real secret is to reduce the size of classes," he said. "That will reduce the maverick techniques coming in for teaching kids."

Both Trickey and Taylor said they favor changing the grade configuration to put ninth-graders into the high school. Seventh- and eighth-graders could be together in a junior high, he said.

Hager said he hasn't made up his mind about middle schools and wants to hear from more people in the community and from experts before making a decision.

Hager said he hopes to see a large turnout at the polls Tuesday. The large turnout would show support for Cape Girardeau's schools, he said.

Taylor agreed. "This is one chance you have to make a decision that will last three years," he said. "I want to put the bad behind us."

Trickey said his top priority remains removal of Dr. Neyland Clark as superintendent.

Trickey quit at Cape Girardeau schools after Clark disapproved of Trickey's proposal to work for Cape Girardeau and coach Notre Dame's girls basketball team. Trickey was then offered a teaching job at Notre Dame.

Hager is chairman of the mathematics department at Southeast Missouri State University.

Ervin is chairman of the mass communications department at the university.

Taylor is a self-employed meat broker.