Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 14, 1995 TAG: 9506140097
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
High school seniors have higher SAT scores, 72 percent of this year's graduates will go to college, and students are increasing their computer skills, Harris said.
But the superintendent told the School Board that the school system still faces challenges despite progress in the past year.
The state Literary Passport tests showed a decline in the percentage of sixth-graders passing all three parts of the tests, he said.
The dropout rate decreased from 7 percent to 5 percent in the past year, but Harris said the schools must lower it still further.
Despite the success of a pilot program to reduce truancy, he said, the city still has a serious attendance problem.
"We will continue to tackle the attendance problem with renewed vigor," he said. "We will continue our efforts to work with parents and students to reconnect to school."
Harris said the schools will expand home visits and alternative programs to help keep children in school.
But Harris focused mostly on the positive in his upbeat state of the schools talk to the board.
In the past year, Roanoke was one of four school divisions selected from 400 applicants to receive $75,000 for participation in the NationsBank Leadership Academy, he said.
The city established a program to help 65 eighth-graders - who would not be expected to have college in their futures - prepare for higher education.
The school system also opened the Noel C. Taylor Learning Academy, an expanded and upgraded alternative-education program for students who have encountered problems in the traditional learning environment
Harris said that the school system's efforts to reduce discipline problems and make schools safer are bearing fruit. A conduct code for middle and high school students has provided clear guidelines on behavior, he said.
In the past year, there was a 35 percent decrease in discipline cases involving drugs, weapons and assaults, he said.
The school system still faces problems because of the city's demographics and economic environment.
Over the past three years, the percentage of children from low-income households has increased from 42 to 53 percent in the city. This group generates many students with performance levels far below their potential on nationally standardized tests, he said.
Achievement disparity is most noted in the middle schools, where students of deprived backgrounds test an average of 18 percent lower than their counterparts, he said.
Harris said the city has instituted several programs to address these issues.
The superintendent said that Roanoke's scores improved on seven of the nine indicators on the state's Outcome Accountability Project testing in the past year. City students also showed significant improvement on the Iowa standardized tests for fourth-, eighth- and 11th-graders.
On another matter, Harris told the board that a recent survey of city teachers showed they believe administrators are fair, accessible and open.
The results also showed that teachers have a positive feeling of job satisfaction. They believe they have the freedom to select teaching materials and methods, and they believe the city has a high-quality education system.
But the teachers have concerns, too. They say they need more time on a daily basis to prepare for teaching. They worry that classes are too large and that equipment is not always up-to-date. And they believe that discipline problems could be handled better.
The survey of the city's 1,050 teachers was requested by the board because of complaints about low teacher morale. Harris said that 88 percent of teachers responded.
The surveys were scored independently by a national organization that has experience in such work.
Harris said that information from the survey will be incorporated into the school system's planning process, including the revision of individual school's two-year plans.
by CNB