Academic Relevance Becomes Top Priority For W.Va. Educators

The “three R’s” stand for reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic, of course. Now, West Virginia, the leader in the push to integrate the 21st-century skills of technological literacy, critical thinking, and analytical ability into teaching, has added a fourth: relevance.

That means many of the state’s instructors who are crafting project-based units for the first time are trying to tie them back to local communities by requiring students to present their work before actual decisionmakers. Placing those stakes on the projects encourages students to engage more fully in their learning, proponents of the units say.

“It gets kids civically involved,” said Cindy Allred, a social studies teacher at Scott High School, in Madison. “It’s not just all about the classroom. It’s not...

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