ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 27, 1995 TAG: 9512270082
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
If Superintendent Wayne Harris' budget plan works, Roanoke's schools will have higher test scores, better attendance and a higher graduation rate next year.
There also will be fewer dropouts. And physical fitness scores of elementary pupils will improve.
Harris has proposed spending an additional $733,500 to deal with some of the schools' most persistent problems: poor attendance, a high dropout rate, a graduation rate below the state average and low standardized test scores.
Although nearly two-thirds of the $5.8 million increase in next year's proposed school budget is earmarked for raises for teachers and other employees, Harris has proposed several measures that are designed to improve student achievement and keep students in school.
School Board members said they are glad the superintendent has focused on student performance in addition to recommending the salary increases.
Harris has "responded directly and clearly" to the priorities the board set earlier this year, said member John Saunders.
Here's how:
Attendance
Problem: The city has one of the worst attendance records among the state's school divisions, ranking 124th out of 134 localities. In the past year, 40 percent of all children in city schools were absent more than 10 days.
Nearly 450 students missed 50 days or more.
Goal: Reduce the number of students absent more than 10 days by 10 percent a year for each of the next three years.
Solution: Create a "student support team" of psychologists and teachers to work with students who miss more than 10 days.
Gary Stultz, president of the Roanoke Education Association, believes the team will help reduce absenteeism.
Dropouts
Problem: Roanoke has reduced its dropout rate from 7 percent to 5 percent during the past two years, but it still is above the state average of 3.5 percent.
Goal: Reduce the rate by 1 percentage point each year for the next three years.
Solution: By improving attendance with the student support team, Harris said, the schools can reduce the dropout rate. Poor attendance contributes to failure and often causes students to drop out, he said.
Test scores
Problem: Only 59 percent of Roanoke sixth-graders passed the state Literacy Passport Test in the past year, down from 67 percent the year before. And the average scores in reading and math by city students on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills in some grades are below the national average.
Goal: Increase the number of children passing the Passport Test by 4 percent each year for the next three years. The city has a similar goal for the Iowa test.
Solution: Hire teacher assistants to allow elementary teachers to have a duty-free, 30-minute planning period. This would give teachers time to concentrate on instruction that would help improve standardized test scores, Harris said.
High school and middle school teachers have planning periods. Elementary teachers rated planning time as a major priority in a survey earlier this year.
"We've been trying to get a planning period for elementary teachers for years," said Stultz, an elementary teacher himself. "This is something that we have needed."
Physical fitness
Problem: Only one-fourth of the city's elementary pupils have passed all parts of the state's fitness tests in recent years.
Goal: Increase the number of children passing the tests by 7 percent a year in each of the next three years.
Solution: Hire two additional elementary physical education teachers.
Technology
Problem: There is a need for greater use of computers and other technology in classroom instruction. All teachers must be taught to use the technology and provide technical support to make sure it operates satisfactorily.
Goal: To improve student academic achievement and test scores through the innovative use of technology.
Solution: Create one additional staff position for technology and provide more training for teachers.
In addition to the School Board's priorities, Saunders said he has suggested the schools also consider a program next year to identify students with potential behavioral problems - he calls it an "early-warning system" - and provide them with help before they get into trouble and face expulsion.
Harris said the proposed team of psychologists and teachers that would work with students who have missed more than 10 days will help do that.
"I think this will help, but maybe we need to look a little deeper," Harris said. "In some cases, students make poor judgments."
Board member Melinda Payne said schools can try to identify students who are having problems, but parents must assume responsibility for monitoring their children's behavior and academic performance.
"Parents can't expect the schools do do everything. They need to come forward and ask what is happening to their children," Payne said.
Harris' proposal for average pay raises of 7 percent has pleased teachers, but they are concerned that proposed cuts in discretionary spending for supplies, materials, travel and equipment might be misinterpreted.
"We favor the raises, but we wonder if the public is going to blame us for cuts in materials and supplies," Stultz said.
To partially offset higher costs next year, Harris said, the schools will save $650,000 by eliminating three central office jobs, using a computer to schedule bus routes, consolidating management of four small school cafeterias and reducing discretionary spending for travel, materials and equipment.
But Harris said the savings, including the cuts in materials and supplies, will not reduce the quality of service to students.
LENGTH: Long : 113 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Chart: Student improvement. color.by CNB