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Show Advisory Council Maps Plans For Better Quality in Education Following efforts to curb the use of "foul and abusive language", and the use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs, the Pleasant Grove Educational Advisory Ad-visory Council is attempting to pin point some of the factors that could contribute to a better quality of education in the schools of Pleasant Grove. To facilitate this search, two important impor-tant steps have been taken: one of the high school social science classes conducted a survey that solicited responses from members of the community. com-munity. (These responses were, in many ways, similar to those made in the community wide survey on "disruptive behavior" which was conducted in the spring of 1976) and (2) the council established a subcommittee subcom-mittee to set forth goals and guidelines that would direct the activities ac-tivities of the council. The preliminary discussions of the subcommittee indicated considerable support for the excellent schools in the Pleasant Grove area. They also expressed appreciation and respect for the vast majority of teachers, administrators ad-ministrators and staff members who Make promotion to next grade level dependent on competency tests as well as credit earned. Establish better personal relationships relation-ships between students, parents, and teachers. Build better communication between bet-ween home and school concerning students progress. (Parents should be notified as soon as a students failure is evident, before grades have been given. Increase parental involvement in the schools. Weed out all uncaring and incompetent incom-petent teachers. Build self-contained rather than open classrooms. Students, parents and educators need to be involved in planning school facilities. Insist that the educational staff refrain from using school time for financial gain or for personal, church and civic responsibilities. Be more concerned about the nutritional and health habits of students. Develop alternative courses and program for those who can't or won't try to succeed in an academic setting. are doing a good job. However, the members of the subcommittee did see a need for improvement in some, if not all of the local schools. They offered of-fered strong support to the school board and other school personnel in their efforts to bring about this improvement. im-provement. Although the following courses of action were not deemed relevant to all schools in the Pleasant Grove area, the subcommittee considered each to be appropriate in at least one of the local schools. What can we do to improve the quality of education in the Pleasant Grove schools: Improve student control and discipline. Administrators, teachers, and parents should work as a team to support the entire effort. Investigate teachers, administrators ad-ministrators or students who habitually resort to physical or verbal abuse over other students or adults. Offer more challenging and higher level courses. Balance academic, vocational, and activity programs, all compete for st-dents st-dents time. Change vocational courses to reflect the transition of the local area from an agricultural to a service and industrial economy. Reduce class size where number of students is excessive. |