Last decade has brought many range of changes to education

The days of half-day kindergarten and kindergarten naps are long gone.

Sex education starts in middle school. And so does algebra.

Government-mandated tests drive the curriculum.

New buildings. New technology. New mandates. Education is hardly what it was just a decade ago.

Students and teachers are academically pushed harder than ever before. Even gym classes aren't full of fun and games anymore. Is all this change a good thing? Depends on who you ask.

To see a glimpse of the dramatic shift in education over the past 10 years, one only has to spend a few moments in a preschool class. The increased educational demands start even before a student reaches kindergarten.

Without a good preschool education, it is difficult for students to do well in kindergarten, Scott City guidance counselor LaDonna Pratt said. Incoming kindergartners are expected to already know their colors, how to count, and how to write their names.

In the first few weeks of kindergarten, students learn to read and write, whereas before kindergarten was used mostly for socialization, said Buzz Thompson, principal at Millersville Elementary, Gordonville Elementary and the Primary Annex.

The students are not only learning to read and write earlier, Thompson said, they read and write at higher levels with more fluency and better understanding than in the past.

Parent Mark Langenfeld said he doesn't think children are academically pushed too quickly at too young of an age and said he thought full-day kindergarten was good for his daughters.

The emphasis on reading and writing doesn't end as the student graduates from kindergarten; it continues throughout his or her schooling.

Students in most grades are asked to write daily stories and paragraphs in classes other than English, Central Middle School principal Frank Ellis said.

Students answer essay questions on all subject tests and performance evaluations, like the Missouri Assessment Program (MAP).

"We expect the kids to do a lot more writing and put a lot of things into context from their own brains at an earlier age," Ellis said.

The portion of the MAP that is multiple choice is more cognitive reasoning and less process of elimination than the old standardized tests, Ellis said.

Even regular subject tests have fewer multiple choice questions and force students to apply concepts and draw their own conclusions, Ellis said.

"There's more of an application of knowledge, with more of a focus on reading and writing," Jackson High School principal Rick McClard agreed.

Langenfeld said he worries about over-testing students.

"My big concern with multiple testing and anything that takes it towards annual testing, is that teaching is done towards the test," Langenfeld said.

Students taking the ACT test or the SAT test can improve their scores by studying for the test. Ideally the test is a measure of learning. But the tests are limited, he said. While they record how a student performed on a given day, they may not indicate a student's broader comprehension of classroom concepts. He said he's afraid curriculum is being geared toward one day's worth of knowledge.

In addition to testing changes, skills and entire subjects are taught in the lower grades earlier than in the past.

Advanced math skills are taught in earlier grades. For example, basic algebra skills are taught now in most fifth- and sixth-grade classes instead of in seventh and eighth grades, area educators said.

Students have learned more in math by eighth grade than Scott City superintendent Diann Bradshaw said she learned when she was a junior or senior in high school.

Expectations are higher now, she said. Some of that pressure comes from government, notably the No Child Left Behind Act.

Veteran teachers are charged with keeping the students attention focused on the advanced subjects, a task more difficult than 10 years ago.

"Teachers are trying to be more creative," Scott City guidance counselor LaDonna Pratt said. "There are a few of those really, really good teachers who still have that level of energy that's not been sucked up by the assessment tests and the grade level expectations."

Those teachers keep pushing the students because learning is fun, not because they need to have their learning measured, Pratt said.

Creativity is not just in the actual teaching, but in the student's projects and homework assignments.

The projects the students are expected to complete are very different than 10 years ago, Bradshaw said. In Scott City, middle school students were asked to create travel brochures with condensed information, something Bradshaw said she didn't do until college.

"The academics have become more intense," agreed Ellis.

The purpose of school is still to prepare students for life, but that preparation now starts in middle school, most educators said.

Instead of just focusing on good hygiene in middle school health classes, the state requires schools to educate students on sex, drug and alcohol prevention education earlier than in the past, Ellis said.

That information is to help students make good decisions as they are faced with those issues, Ellis said.

Gym classes include more than games. They now educate students on making good food and exercise decisions to help them stay healthy for life.

Central High School offers classes like Aerobics to Go, Fitness for Life and Lifetime Sports for its advanced gym credit.

There are also more Advanced Placement and dual enrollment classes available for high school students to earn college credit before high school graduation.

"It's upped the level of rigor; most of our kids aren't shocked when they go to college," Jackson High School principal Rick McClard said.

Now, high school focuses on college and career preparation.

Post-secondary education doesn't mean a typical four year university, but it means additional training beyond the high school curriculum.

"The idea of a lifelong learner is just absolutely necessary now for survival in our economy," McClard said.

Students are no longer preparing for one job in one field after high school graduation; they could have as many as three or four careers before they retire, McClard said.

ameyer@semissourian.com,

335-6611 extension 127