VW parents discuss New Tech concerns

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

Wednesday’s meeting of the Van Wert City Board of Education was pretty typical – until it got near the end.

That’s when approximately 10 parents of high-achieving Van Wert students asked to speak about their concerns related to the district’s project-based New Tech educational model. That request, in turn, led to a nearly two-hour discussion of the New Tech program.

Some of the parents first questioned why Van Wert educators didn’t make New Tech an optional “school within a school” type of program, rather than a mandatory one for all students within a certain grade level.

VWHS Principal Bill Clifton answered that question, noting that, unfortunately, the local high school was too small to accommodate New Tech, as well as a more traditional educational model.

Parents were also apparently concerned that the grades of their high-achieving students would be adversely affected when doing projects with less-motivated students who wouldn’t pull their weight.

Teacher Chris Covey and district administrators stressed that, in addition to a group grade, each student also receives a large number of grades from more traditional activities, such as tests and quizzes related to project materials, as well as an individual grade on assigned projects.

Covey also stressed that, while he likes the New Tech program as a teacher, he also has evaluated the program as the parent of two daughters, one a seventh-grader who will be involved in New Tech for several years.

Superintendent Ken Amstutz gave the parents some background on the district’s decision to implement the New Tech program, first noting that the district has been involved in some kind of project-based education since Bob Spath implemented the Project Lead the Way pre-engineering program in the high school eight or nine years ago.

After hearing some of the parents talk about New Tech as a curriculum, Clifton took a minute to clarify that the New Tech program was an “instructional delivery system” – a teaching method – rather than the curriculum being taught.

Amstutz said the main advantages of New Tech over a more traditional teaching system, in his mind, is that it provides incentive for teachers to collaborate and develops  presentation and communication skills in students. Moreover, those skills are ones that local business leaders contacted prior to the implementation of New Tech said their employees were sadly lacking.

The superintendent said that, while business people said new employees have “tremendous knowledge”, employees often can’t work together effectively.

The superintendent said Van Wert County Hospital President/CEO Mark Minick told him that the hospital spends a huge amount time “teaching our employees to talk to each other” because of the lack of communication skills.

In addition, the superintendent noted that New Tech intrigued local educators because it used technology – something all of today’s students use in their daily lives – as a tool to engage them in the educational process.

Meanwhile, with project-based education expanding into Van Wert Middle School, VWMS Assistant Principal Darla Dunlap, who was at the meeting, provided some information to the parents – some of whom had middle school-age students – about how the program would be implemented there. Dunlap added that, unlike the high school, most middle school projects would be done on an individual basis, rather than in group settings, to get students used to project-based learning.

Several educators said that New Tech and project-based education in general, offered a way for teachers to attack student apathy, while also forcing students to become more involved and engaged in the educational process.

Educators and administrators also noted that many educational programs geared for high-achieving students, such as the Advanced Placement classes, would continue to be taught in a more traditional manner, while project-based programs such as Project Lead the Way and VWHS’s biomedical program, are also taught differently than the general New Tech educational classes.

In the end, most of the parents’ concerns were allayed, with several noting they felt they understood the New Tech program much better after the discussion.

For their part, Van Wert educators and administrators said they were also pleased that they had an opportunity to provide more information on the program, with Covey thanking parents for bringing their concerns to the board meeting.

Admitting that the local New Tech program was “a work in progress”, Amstutz said the program would continue to be evaluated, with changes made as needed. He also promised that, in the meantime, New Tech would not harm student achievement. In fact, he noted that PLAN testing scores were good and Ohio Graduation Test scores were “among the best we’ve ever seen here.”