Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 13, 1994 TAG: 9403150166
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: F-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
``Our clients are looking for flexible, adaptive work forces,'' said Carlton Schwab of Chicago-based PHH Fantus, one of the world's premier location consultants for business and industry.
Ideally, he said, workers should be able to ``read, write and make decisions - and do it in front of a computer screen.'' While such abilities may seem basic, Schwab said, in reality they are far from universal.
When scouting sites for a client, PHH Fantus first examines state graduation rates, test scores and the like. Later, when closing in on prospective sites, the consultants examine local or regional data and ``how it factors in to the client's needs.'' Besides studying data and talking with local school officials, PHH Fantus representatives interview local business and industry people about whether the work force is adequately educated ``technology adaptive.''
The Roanoke-New River Valley region exceeds state educational attainment averages by some measures while falling short in others.
There is, however, a general pattern of improvement.
For example, census figures show that the region's percentage of adults with high school diplomas (69.9) increased by more than half between 1970 and 1990. Over the same period, there was a near doubling (to 17.9) of the percentage of adults with college degrees.
The state average for high school diplomas was 75.2 percent in 1990. For college degrees, it was 24.5 percent. Nationally, 75.2 percent of the adult population had graduated from high school in 1990 and 20.3 percent had at last a four-year college degree.
Within the region, Roanoke County had the highest percentage (79.4) of 25-plus population with high school diplomas. Pulaski County was low with 59.6 percent. Montgomery County, home of Virginia Tech, had the highest percentage of 25-plus people with college degrees: 31.6. Craig County was lowest with 7.7 percent.
Educational attainment was strongest where there were colleges (Montgomery County and Radford), suburban concentrations of professionals (Roanoke County) or both (Salem).
As of 1991-92, the most recent year for which the State Department of Education has released its data, the region's ninth-graders were going on to graduate at a rate of 76.8 percent. That's about a point higher than the state average.
Like any statistic, the rate is open to subjective interpretation. On the positive side, it means roughly three of four freshmen are finishing high school in the region.
It also means nearly one of four of those freshmen will knock on employers' doors without a diploma. And they're doing so at a time when the high school diploma is losing its economic value.
``The high school diploma no longer serves as a measure of readiness for today's work force,'' concluded ``The Virginia Plan for Strengthening the Commonwealth's 21st Century Workforce'' in 1991. ``The new jobs which will be created in the coming decade will require ... 13.5 years of education compared to the current 12.8 years. A majority will require education beyond the high school level with solid preparation in communication, science and mathematics.''
The region's median education level was 12.9 years in 1990, according to the census. It ranged from 11.8 in Floyd County up to 13.9 in Radford and Montgomery County.
Statewide, the median education level in 1990 was 13.5 years.
Across the region, 1991-92 graduation rates ranged from 89.3 percent in Roanoke County to the low of 64.1 percent in Salem, according to the state education department.
The Class of 1992 continued its education at a rate of 78.6 percent. The figure, which is below the state rate of 80.2 percent, encompasses attendance at two-year and four-year colleges as well as other forms of continuing education.
Craig County was high in the region with a 96.9 percent continuing education rate. Floyd County was low with 47.1 percent.
The region's teacher/pupil numbers were slightly more favorable than the state's, according to the Education Department. Regionally, there were 71.4 teachers per 1,000 students in 1991-92. The state average was 69 teachers.
In grades 8-12, the 1991-92 pupil/teacher ratio was 11.5 in the region and 12.3 statewide. Montgomery County had the fewest high school pupils per teacher at 8.6. Franklin County, with 14.7, had the most.
The region's students exceeded national norms in achievement and proficiency tests of 11th-graders in 1991-92, but still scored below state averages on the tests.
Regional results were 54 in reading, 53 in mathematics, 59 in written expression, 57 in social studies and 62 in science.
The numbers are percentiles of the scores of a national norm group. A percentile of 54, for example, represents a score higher than 54 percent of students in the norm group, but equal to or below the scores of 46 percent of those in the norm group.
Average percentiles for the region were two to five points below those of the state in every category.
Per-pupil expenditures for school operations averaged $4,540 across the region in 1991-92, compared with $4,995 for the state as a whole. Expenditures ranged from Craig County's $4,030 up to $5,499 in Roanoke. The figures represent a combination of local, state and federal funds.
In local contributions, the regional range went from $1,041 per pupil in Craig County to $2,586 in Roanoke City.
The average local per-pupil contribution was $1,771 across the Roanoke-New River Valley region. Statewide, the average was $2,548.
The region's annual average salary for all instructional positions, including principals and assistant principals, was $29,649. Salem's average was the highest at $34,777. The region's lowest average annual instructional salary was $25,814 in Floyd County.
The regional average for principals was $45,920. For teachers, it was $28,922.
Statewide, these were the numbers: $32,535 for all instructional positions, $52,798 for principals and $31,764 for teachers.
Within the Roanoke-New River Valley region, Salem paid an average of $51,175 to principals and $34,118 to teachers. It led the region.
Franklin County paid principals the low regional average of $39,565. The regional low for teachers, $25,001, was paid in Floyd County.
Among other localities in the state, the Northern Virginia city of Falls Church had the highest 1991-92 average teacher salary at $45,762. The lowest average, $22,128, was in Highland County. The average teacher salary in Richmond that year was $33,852.
For this article, data was examined for the counties of Bedford, Botetourt, Craig, Floyd, Franklin, Giles, Montgomery, Pulaski and Roanoke and the cities of Bedford, Radford, Roanoke and Salem.
Principal sources were the U.S. Census and the 1991-92 Superintendent's Annual Report for Virginia. Assistance in the analysis was provided by the Community Resource Development Center of Virginia Tech.
by CNB