THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 9, 1994 TAG: 9406090012
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Long
DATELINE: 940609 LENGTH:
School Superintendent Roy D. Nichols Jr. says the special assistant, who will earn between $60,000 and $70,000 annually and who has not yet been named, will guide instructional changes to challenge students on all levels of the learning curve and and report to him as part of a new instructional council.
{REST} The instructional changes, advanced by a task force of citizens and school staff, will be outlined for the School Board this month. The ideas plow little new ground. They include increasing parental involvement, a target shared by practically every school in the United States; early intervention for the academically troubled; and mentoring - using community leaders to demonstrate that academic achievement is not a ``white thing'' despite peer pressure that indicates otherwise to many black students.
Most of the ideas have been advanced in the past, with checkered results. Politics, budget limits or the absence of someone in charge were factors, Mr. Nichols said. The difference this time, Mr. Nichols said, will be this assistant to oversee the effort and to be accountable for expected improvement on standardized tests and in other areas. With this administrator, everyone in the system will realize that this is a priority and not something to be lost in the shuffle, he said.
Accountability is a positive good, of course, but won't parents think it odd that a new administrator has to be hired to provide it? Isn't student achievement a vital measure of the performance of teachers and principals?
And in Norfolk, as in school systems across the land, poor students rarely do well academically. That calls for grassroots remedies, many of which are beyond the scope of school responsibilities, and not another bureaucrat.
Children from poor backgrounds are always going to be disadvantaged in school. The issue is how can the school best cope with that situation. The issue has been studied to death and the best conclusion is that a school should provide a reasonmably safe, clean learning environment where students are challenged to achieve excellence.
Governor Allen has appointed a citizen commission to see how the Virginia school system can be reformed. He wants it to look at charter schools, schools of choice, public-private partnerships and many other proposed reforms. Portsmouth is examining bringing in a private company to run part of its school system.
These are the kinds of groundbreaking alternatives Norfolk should be looking at, instead of simply hiring another administrator, which in the end will probably do little to really improve the situation.
When Norfolk schools open in the fall, they will have a plan emphasizing academic achievement among minority and poor students, and a well-paid new administrator to emphasize the emphasis. No one questions the need to help minority youngsters learn in order to get along in a competitive world. The issue is whether hiring new administrators is likely to advance that goal.
School Superintendent Roy D. Nichols Jr. says the special assistant, who will earn between $60,000 and $70,000 annually and who has not yet been named, will guide instructional changes to challenge students on all levels of the learning curve and and report to him as part of a new instructional council.
The instructional changes, advanced by a task force of citizens and school staff, will be outlined for the School Board this month. The ideas plow little new ground. They include increasing parental involvement, a target shared by practically every school in the United States; early intervention for the academically troubled; and mentoring - using community leaders to demonstrate that academic achievement is not a ``white thing'' despite peer pressure that indicates otherwise to many black students.
Most of the ideas have been advanced in the past, with checkered results. Politics, budget limits or the absence of someone in charge were factors, Mr. Nichols said. The difference this time, Mr. Nichols said, will be this assistant to oversee the effort and to be accountable for expected improvement on standardized tests and in other areas. With this administrator, everyone in the system will realize that this is a priority and not something to be lost in the shuffle, he said.
Accountability is a positive good, of course, but won't parents think it odd that a new administrator has to be hired to provide it? Isn't student achievement a vital measure of the performance of teachers and principals?
And in Norfolk, as in school systems across the land, poor students rarely do well academically. That calls for grassroots remedies, many of which are beyond the scope of school responsibilities, and not another bureaucrat.
Children from poor backgrounds are always going to be disadvantaged in school. The issue is how the school can best cope with that situation. The issue has been studied to death, and the best conclusion is that a school should provide a reasonably safe, clean learning environment where students are challenged to achieve excellence.
Governor Allen has appointed a citizen commission to see how the Virginia school system can be reformed. He wants it to look at charter schools, schools of choice, public-private partnerships and many other proposed reforms. Portsmouth is examining bringing in a private company to run part of its school system.
These are the kinds of groundbreaking alternatives Norfolk should be looking at, instead of simply hiring another administrator, which in the end will probably do little to really improve the situation.
by CNB