Southwest Virginia Partners in Education
Southwest Virginia Partners in Education encompasses the strategic vision of the Board of Directors and three program foci. It is a targeted, energetic approach to provide intervention strategies within the local school divisions and for affecting teachers' preparedness, knowledge and skills as a precondition for student learning. It includes technology infusion as part of meeting the critical needs of the school divisions and clear accountability through an evaluation component.
Southwest Virginia Partners in Education joins the Southwest Virginia Public Education Consortium, Emory & Henry College, The University of Virginia's College at Wise, and the 16 School Divisions as equal partners in creating technical and professional development services for Southwest Virginia's School Divisions. The Southwest Virginia Public Education Consortium has expertise in delivering effective professional development for K-12 teachers and the capacity to coordinate services. As the primary suppliers of public school teachers in the region, both Emory & Henry College and the University of Virginia's College at Wise are committed to improving the knowledge and skills of current professionals, as well as improving their teacher education programs for new cadres of teachers. Each of the 16 school divisions in Southwest Virginia has completed extensive analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of their educational programs in light of Virginia's Standards of Learning and are working diligently to improve student learning through innovation, new curricula, teacher training, and technology infusion, with limited resources. By combining the strengths of each entity, Southwest Virginia Partners in Education can stimulate real, measurable focused improvement in student learning.
Content fellows will be hired to serve as resource and technical professionals:
- Content fellows will be housed at each college;
- The content fellows will bring discipline-specific expertise;
- The content fellows will serve as technical assistants for the instructional leadership, and;
- Conduct training for in-service teachers and their pre-service counterparts
As resource and technical professionals, the content fellows will:
- Assist divisions with curriculum development and improvement;
- Develop strategic interventions for poor SOL performance;
- Assisting in reviewing instructional material and equipment;
- Advise on technology integration within the content area to produce varied types of training-from building level workshops to region-wide institutes. The content fellows can work alone, together, or partnered with teachers within the school divisions, other college faculty members, or with trainers from other entities, such as the Virginia Department of Education.
- The work of the content fellows will be guided by the instructional leadership within each division. Technical assistance and professional development activities will emphasize the use of standards-based curricula and materials and technology integration.
The 16 school divisions will be divided into two zones, with each zone served by one college but with the clear understanding that meeting divisions' needs may require crossover among zones. At Emory & Henry, the content fellows will serve in the Neff Center. At the University of Virginia's College at Wise, the content fellows will serve in the newly created Center for Teaching Excellence.
Resource and technical assistance will be free of charge. Training will be offered free of charge, and on a for-credit basis (requiring tuition payment), and on a non-credit basis (requiring cost-recovery reimbursement).
- Annual Leadership Conference
- Date: Oct 08, 2008 to Oct 09, 2008
- Time: Varies
- Location: Bristol Holiday Inn
- SVPEC Executive Team Meeting
- Date: Oct 23, 2008 to Oct 23, 2008
- Time: 10:30 AM to 12 Noon
- Location: SW VA Higher Education Center
