
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 15, 1993                   TAG: 9310150346
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RACHEL L. BREWER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN RADFORD, 'TEACHING FOR THE TESTS'

THE ARTICLES on the Radford city school system in the Sept. 5 New River Current painted it as a marvelous system, producing the most in its students from the little resources it gets. A noble achievement, I'm sure, and the deciding factor in many parents' decisions to send their children to the Radford schools.

However, parents need to know about other aspects of this school system. Above all, conformity is encouraged. Innovation, creativity, free thought and individuality in students are strongly discouraged. Emphasis is placed on tracking and stereotyping, rather than on helping each student perform to the best of his or her ability.

Due in part to the much-lauded fact that Radford is a university town, there is an inordinate amount of materialism, with shame falling upon the students who do not have as much. Rather than dealing with disciplinary problems that occur, the school system prefers to ignore that there are any. Consequently, the learning environment is poisoned by a small minority of students' harassment of other students. The emphasis on high test scores eclipses the actual education (and well-being) of the students. Students who do not test well are, for all purposes, thrown in the wastebasket.

As a 10-year veteran, and former student, of the Radford city schools, I have repeatedly witnessed and experienced these aspects of the system. Need I remind the readers of the incidents last fall at Radford High School, when several students were sent home for coming to school with dyed hair? This flagrant violation of the First Amendment is a prime example of policy as usual, in a system in which the thumb that sticks out gets smashed.

The Radford school system is not purposely acting against the students' best interests; it is sorely misled. Most officials (and parents) sincerely believe that Radford's policies encourage the optimum achievement among students. In their educational myopia, they fail to recognize that the individual students are more important than their test scores.

Studies have repeatedly shown that standardized testing is a poor indication of a student's achievement in such areas as critical thinking, problem-solving and written composition. Radford is making a terrible mistake by emphasizing educational techniques that benefit the test scores (teaching for the tests), rather than focusing on those crucial skills that are not measured by the tests.

The school system is fine for the "average" student with no outstanding qualities, from a middle- to upper-middle class background. But the learning disabled, the gifted and talented, and the lower-income students' needs are not fulfilled.

Dr. Michael Wright, Radford's superintendent, was quoted as saying, "We're not successful with every student, because each student has to assume a degree of responsibility for his or her own success." Dr. Wright is correct. That is why I transferred to Pulaski County.

\ Rachel L. Brewer of Radford is a student at New River Community College.

by CNB