IRVINE : 3 Schools to Stress Job-Related Skills

Three city schools have embarked on a five-year program aimed at developing new teaching methods that will better prepare students for increasingly competitive job markets.

Los Naranjos Elementary School, Rancho San Joaquin Intermediate School and University High School are among the nine campuses in Orange County to receive state grants targeted at improving curriculum.

“The main thing driving this is the business community,” said Dean Waldfogel, deputy superintendent for the Irvine Unified School District. “They need employees with basic skills like reading, writing and arithmetic. But they also need workers who can solve problems together and resolve conflicts.”

To instill these skills, teachers involved in the program will rely less on multiple-choice tests and instead create exams that measure a student’s ability to write, spell and complete math calculations. Such testing is more like the kind of challenges students will face on the job, Waldfogel said.

Teachers also will ask that students defend their answers. “The reason multiple-choice (tests) don’t measure high levels of thinking is because basically (students) have the opportunity to guess at an answer,” Waldfogel said. “They don’t have to give a reason for selecting answers.”

Group learning will be emphasized because many jobs require that workers solve problems together.

School officials hope the program will broaden students’ view of education, forcing them to do more than simply retain information. “We want them to be able to apply their knowledge in an effective way,” Waldfogel said.

The school board will review each school’s plan for using the grant money in the coming months.