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By Mackenzie Mays
The Charleston Gazette
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — All high school students in West Virginia will now have the opportunity to graduate with a free information technology certification, thanks to a partnership between Microsoft and the state Department of Education announced Tuesday.
Beginning in the fall, students will have access to Microsoft’s IT Academy, which provides a variety of certifications to students for free upon graduation, including opportunities...
By Mackenzie Mays
The Charleston Gazette
This is the final story in a series about community efforts and education reform on Charleston’s West Side.
Whittney Armstrong knows what she signed up for.
Last week, Armstrong, a 24-year-old teacher, started her job at Mary C. Snow West Side Elementary School – ranked among the lowest-achieving schools in the state and located in a neighborhood infamous for drug-related crime.
“I tell everyone when they...
By Shauna Johnson
WV MetroNews
Those with the West Virginia Education Association are still part of the national chorus that’s calling for a moratorium on standardized testing in schools — at least until the Common Core standards are fully implemented.
“We have to get away from this high stakes testing and really use testing for what it was designed to do which is to chart a student’s growth individually, not to judge schools or teachers or anything else,” said Dale Lee...
By Jeff Jenkins
WV MetroNews
The state School Building Authority approved $350,000 Friday in emergency funding for a new elementary school being built on the Lewis-Gilmer County line.
SBA Executive Director David Sneed said the earth has moved behind the construction project. He said the slip began on an adjacent property and got to within 20 feet of the building. Contractors had to take down some scaffolding. Sneed said the possible problem did not show up during the...
By Jamie Stengle
The Associated Press
DALLAS — Efforts to eliminate extra pay for teachers who earn advanced degrees are gaining momentum in a small but growing number of U.S. schools, stirring a national debate about how best to compensate quality educators and angering teachers who say the extra training is valuable.
More than half of the nation’s teachers have master’s degrees or higher, but the changing salary structure is giving pause to others considering the same...