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Cox: Too few are graduating from high school
.. ..Graduation rates are improving, but must continue to be a priority for Georgia, said State School Superintendent Kathy Cox.
“The governor and I both realize that’s where a lot of the focus has to be in coming years,” she said. She pointed to curriculum changes and specifically the new Georgia Performance Standards as tools in continuing to improve the state’s graduation rates. Rates were at 69.4 percent for the 2004-2005 school year, up 6.3 percent from the previous year, according to a State Department of Education spokesman.
Cox talked about education in Georgia with the Rome Rotary Club at its weekly meeting at Coosa Country Club on Thursday. The speech marked the final stop of her two-day visit to Rome and Floyd County, which included visits to Rome and Floyd County schools and Berry College.
Cox addressed a variety of victories and challenges facing state education at the Rotary Club’s meeting. She also touched on a local issue-the appointment of Lee Shiver, who began his new job
Wednesday as director of the Georgia School for the Deaf. Shiver does not have a background in deaf education or sign language proficiency, which has raised some questions among members of the deaf community.
Despite the circulation of rumors in recent years, there are no plans to close the Georgia School for the Deaf, Cox said.
Shiver has been appointed to help make the school into the world’s premiere school of choice for deaf education that the state board hopes to see it become, she said.
“Lee Shiver is an absolutely wonderful educational leader that we are so
proud to have as a part of our educational team,” Cox said.
Cox also spoke about the state’s newly instituted curriculum — Georgia Performance Standards. They have received praise from teachers, she said.
Model High teachers asked her about the new standards in a meeting with Cox on Thursday, which was closed to the news media, said Principal Glenn White. Rome high and middle teachers had similar opportunities at closed meetings when she visited their schools Wednesday.
She answered questions about GPS implementation, and waivers and variances for graduation tests, White said.
Cox explained how the new systems work and did an “excellent” job answering teachers’ questions, he said. But what really impressed him about Cox was her understanding of the classroom, likely aided by her background of 15 years as a teacher.
“What I picked up on with her is she knows how to teach kids and interact with kids,” White said.
Cox also visited Model middle and elementary schools Thursday. At the elementary school she read “The Cat in the Hat” to a class of second-graders, engaging them in a discussion on the importance of reading.
Students waved their hands eagerly when she asked if they had ever played ball in the house when they weren’t supposed to, like the characters in the book. “I did it yesterday,” one eager student chimed in.
Nine-year-old Alexis Clark had fun hearing the state superintendent read to her class.
“I really enjoyed it,” she said. “I’ve never been around someone famous.”
Cox: Too few are graduating from high school
.. ..Graduation rates are improving, but must continue to be a priority for Georgia, said State School Superintendent Kathy Cox.
“The governor and I both realize that’s where a lot of the focus has to be in coming years,” she said. She pointed to curriculum changes and specifically the new Georgia Performance Standards as tools in continuing to improve the state’s graduation rates. Rates were at 69.4 percent for the 2004-2005 school year, up 6.3 percent from the previous year, according to a State Department of Education spokesman.
Cox talked about education in Georgia with the Rome Rotary Club at its weekly meeting at Coosa Country Club on Thursday. The speech marked the final stop of her two-day visit to Rome and Floyd County, which included visits to Rome and Floyd County schools and Berry College.
Cox addressed a variety of victories and challenges facing state education at the Rotary Club’s meeting. She also touched on a local issue-the appointment of Lee Shiver, who began his new job
Wednesday as director of the Georgia School for the Deaf. Shiver does not have a background in deaf education or sign language proficiency, which has raised some questions among members of the deaf community.
Despite the circulation of rumors in recent years, there are no plans to close the Georgia School for the Deaf, Cox said.
Shiver has been appointed to help make the school into the world’s premiere school of choice for deaf education that the state board hopes to see it become, she said.
“Lee Shiver is an absolutely wonderful educational leader that we are so
proud to have as a part of our educational team,” Cox said.
Cox also spoke about the state’s newly instituted curriculum — Georgia Performance Standards. They have received praise from teachers, she said.
Model High teachers asked her about the new standards in a meeting with Cox on Thursday, which was closed to the news media, said Principal Glenn White. Rome high and middle teachers had similar opportunities at closed meetings when she visited their schools Wednesday.
She answered questions about GPS implementation, and waivers and variances for graduation tests, White said.
Cox explained how the new systems work and did an “excellent” job answering teachers’ questions, he said. But what really impressed him about Cox was her understanding of the classroom, likely aided by her background of 15 years as a teacher.
“What I picked up on with her is she knows how to teach kids and interact with kids,” White said.
Cox also visited Model middle and elementary schools Thursday. At the elementary school she read “The Cat in the Hat” to a class of second-graders, engaging them in a discussion on the importance of reading.
Students waved their hands eagerly when she asked if they had ever played ball in the house when they weren’t supposed to, like the characters in the book. “I did it yesterday,” one eager student chimed in.
Nine-year-old Alexis Clark had fun hearing the state superintendent read to her class.
“I really enjoyed it,” she said. “I’ve never been around someone famous.”