THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 3, 1996 TAG: 9608030017
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 63 lines
Recent actions by the Norfolk schools are a reminder that public education, like politics, is often the art of the possible. Schools wind up doing the best they can, not necessarily the best that could be done.
The School Board decided recently to retain third-grade students automatically if they aren't reading at grade level. To make sure that as many as possible are ready to move on, underperforming readers at the end of grades K through 3 will be required to attend summer school.
The summer sessions will provide intensive reading remediation in a setting permitting more individualized attention from reading specialists. The summer school is expected to require an investment of $200,000.
The schools have a real problem since 30 percent of students in the early elementary grades - about 3,000 of them - are presently performing below grade level. The schools are also focusing on the proper issue - reading. If students can't read fluently, they won't be able to perform in the higher grades. Reading is the sine qua non of education.
Is a few weeks of intensive reading instruction a good idea? Yes. The schools deserve high marks for establishing standards, but also for acknowledging that those who can't meet them need additional help.
Unfortunately, the help may be too little and too late. Many poor readers come to school from language-deficient backgrounds. They start school already behind. Summer school probably won't make up that deficit.
Also, a substantial percentage of those who read poorly in the early elementary grades suffer from specific learning disabilities which are often hard to diagnose in very young children. Once identified, learning disabilities can be overcome. But a few weeks in summer won't do it. The process is long and arduous. It requires different teaching techniques from those that work for students not suffering from such disabilities. Often, small-group or one-on-one tutoring is essential.
That's labor-intensive. The same Norfolk School Board that has recognized a reading problem and is willing to fund mandatory summer school is also belt-tightening in special education.
The schools claim that too many students are being classified as candidates for special education. Some classroom teachers allegedly unable or unwilling to deal with behavior problems are referring them to special education. The schools also imply the program has gotten top heavy with administrators.
If those problems exist, they need to be fixed. But demand for special education services have been outstripping supply in many school systems because diagnosis has improved, as have remediation techniques. Limiting supply of services while demand is rising is short-sighted.
If students with learning difficulties get help early, there's hope they can complete their education and become productive citizens. If they don't receive adequate help, the risk is great that they'll underperform in school and be uncompetitive in an economy that demands literacy and technical skills. The future cost to society is far higher in that case.
But school funds are finite. Schools are fixated on today's financial stress. In an environment of limited resources, the majority of parents may resent allocation of extra help for a minority with special needs. A mass production education model that treats all students the same is inexpensive. Addressing individual problems is expensive.
The result is not the best education that current knowledge would permit, but something less. The state and its taxpayers have got to decide if that's good enough. by CNB