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Georgia State Holds Education Town Hall

September 24th, 2013

Georgia State University held an education town hall Monday. The discussion covered a range of topics, including teacher quality and student achievement.

Hear the audio version of this story.

Georgia State is in year four of a five-year federal grant aimed at creating ways to better prepare teachers. GSU has used part of the money to develop a residency program where students spend an entire school year in the classroom of a mentor teacher. Grant project director Dr. Dashaunda Patterson said the idea is to prepare future teachers for the work ahead of them.

“It requires a lot of time that happens outside of 7:30 to 3:30 and I think even some of our residents have a really romantic idea of what it feels like and what it requires be a teacher,” Grant said.

In addition, Georgia educators are focused on better preparing students for life after high school. One way state officials are addressing the issue is through a new program called Career Pathways. The plan allows students to choose a field of study to follow throughout high school.

Massie Ritsch is the acting assistant secretary for communications and outreach at the U.S. Department of Education. He said such programs help guide students through high school.

“I was at Cross Keys High School, in DeKalb, and met one student who wants to be a veterinarian, one who wants to go into computer science, one who wants to be a midwife, one who wants to be a nurse, and another one who also wanted to be a physician,” he said. “Those students know what they want to do, but they need someone to help them get there.”

State officials hope the program will also help boost graduation rates. In 2012, Georgia’s high school graduation rate was 69%.

The town hall also covered issues such as high-stakes testing, parent outreach, and teacher evaluations.