THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 28, 1994 TAG: 9407260142
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
MORE THAN 3,000 Norfolk public school students from second to ninth grades got down to the basics of education this summer.
Attendance at the voluntary four-week program, which helps students master fundamentals of reading, writing and arithmetic, has grown steadily over the past decade. It reached a new high this year, officials said, with nearly 9 percent of Norfolk's estimated 35,000 student body learning about the three R's at 20 schools across the district.
The program offers a mix of remediation and preparation for students in need of academic help:
It equips elementary students with the knowledge they'll need when they encounter the state-mandated Literacy Passport Test, begun five years ago as a measure of basic skills that students should know by the time they reach sixth grade. For middle schoolers or ninth-graders who are still trying to pass the test, the program boosts their chances of success next time.
In part, the rising enrollment in summer classrooms reflects a new sense of urgency. Beginning with the graduating class of 1996, students must pass the Literacy Passport Test to earn a high school diploma.
``It's such an important thing, because these kids have got to pass this test,'' Marian Flickinger, president of the Norfolk Federation of Teachers, said of the summer program. ``There's less distractions and there's not as many kids in the classroom - that helps them hone in on their weaknesses.''
``More and more parents realize the seriousness of failing the Literacy Passport Test,'' said Clyde Colwell, coordinator of communications skills for Norfolk Public Schools.
Officials said the attention that the school system has given to the passport test is producing results. Other programs still in their infancy are expected to pay dividends.
``I think we're on the right track to improving student performance,'' Colwell said.
Results from this year's Literacy Passport Test point to successes but indicate plenty of room for improvement.
Overall, more Norfolk sixth-graders - 53.4 percent - passed all three portions of the test than last year. There was only one school, Ruffner Middle, where fewer than 50 percent passed all three portions of the test, compared to half of the schools last year.
The highlight came in writing scores: The percentage of students passing the writing portion increased at all eight middle schools, in some cases dramatically so. At Northside and Lafayette-Winona, for example, the number of students passing writing rose by more than 10 percentage points.
On the down side, the percentage passing the sections of the test dealing with reading comprehension and math declined slightly at most of the schools.
In the city's high schools this fall, school officials estimate that 360 students - less than 5 percent of the projected 7,500 pupils - will still need to pass at least one portion of the test. About 90 of them will attend the Madison Career Center, a special training center for high school students who have failed at least two portions of the test.
To encourage such students to prepare for the test during the summer, officials have tried to make the basic skills program, which costs about $250,000 to operate, more accessible.
Bus transportation is provided and breakfast is offered at elementary schools. Several years ago, the school system stopped charging tuition, which once cost as much as $80. It has expanded from six to 20 school sites.
``This summer program is just another way of the school system saying, `We're here to support,' '' said Stephen G. Peters, principal of Lafayette-Winona Middle School.
At Lafayette-Winona, summer classes are mixed with sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. They are encouraged to help each other solve problems.
In one class, a rising seventh- grader helped a Vietnamese student gain a better grasp of English. Teachers bring in newspapers, read books and use mathematical games and models to create a ``hands-on'' learning environment.
``Getting our kids totally involved in the process and responsible for their own learning is so important,'' said Carolyn Bridgeforth, a reading specialist and summer site coordinator at Lafayette-Winona. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN
George Felt teaches computers to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders
at Lafayette-Winona Middle School.
SIXTH GRADE LITERACY PASSPORT-TESTING RESULTS
[For a copy of the chart, see microfilm or LIBRARY CLIP FILE:
STANDARDIZED TESTING]
KEYWORDS: NORFOLK PUBLIC SHCOOLS STANDARDIZED TESTING LITERACY PASSPORT
TEST RESULTS by CNB