THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 18, 1996 TAG: 9609180432
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 95 lines
Norfolk State University officials, weary of long-running criticism of their school's low graduation rate, said Tuesday that the fault lay mostly with public schools and especially with counselors who don't steer enough children into college-prep courses.
``For us to be penalized for lousy local schools is just ridiculous,'' said board member Edythe C. Harrison, a former state legislator, during a meeting of the university's Board of Visitors.
The board's rector, Dr. L.D. Britt, interjected: ``Some of our schools are excellent.''
But retired Maj. Gen. Robert E. Wagner, a special assistant to Norfolk State's president, also voiced unusually sharp criticism of the public schools.
``I wish the local schools were better,'' said Wagner, who leads the university's effort to try to make sure more NSU students remain in school to graduate. ``I don't think a lot of local counselors care about youngsters.''
The discussion did not target individual cities. But at one point, Wagner pinpointed Norfolk: ``We can't wait for the public school system of Norfolk to wake up and take better care of its kids.''
Norfolk State's president, Harrison B. Wilson, did not join in the criticism of public schools and counselors during the meeting. He did say that he's heard that some Norfolk State faculty members have had to request changes in their children's course schedules because they don't include college-prep classes.
George D. Raiss, a spokesman for the Norfolk school system, defended the city's counseling Tuesday. ``It's a problem in some cases,'' he said, ``but I would have to reject the blanket assertion that our guidance counselors aren't doing their jobs.''
The school system, Raiss said, has already seen improvements from beefed-up counseling. During a City Council meeting Tuesday, school officials cited data showing that the number of Norfolk high school graduates who received advanced studies diplomas - which include college-prep courses - rose 28 percent in the last two years, from 360 in 1994 to 462 this year.
Also, Raiss said, school officials have stepped up efforts to inform parents of high school students' class schedules. Pamela C. Kloeppel, Norfolk's senior coordinator of guidance, said that for the last two years, parents of all eighth-graders have been invited to counseling sessions to help prepare their children's schedules for the next four years.
In every local city in the last four years, the percentage of high school juniors and seniors who took at least one college-level or advanced placement course has increased, according to state statistics.
The percentage rose from 10 percent in 1991 to 16 percent in 1995 in Chesapeake; from 15 percent to 19 percent in Norfolk; from 9 percent to 15 percent in Portsmouth; from 4 percent to 11 percent in Suffolk; and from 12 percent to 21 percent in Virginia Beach.
In addition, all but one local city posted at least a 4 percent increase in the proportion of minority high school graduates getting advanced studies diplomas in the same period. Chesapeake's rate was unchanged, at 36 percent.
The discussion Tuesday was prompted by Norfolk State's lingering concerns that the university has been unfairly tarnished because of its low graduation rate.
In the last five years, state officials have been closely scrutinizing college graduation rates. Norfolk State University's is the lowest of all four-year state-supported schools in Virginia: About 22 percent of NSU freshmen graduate within seven years, according to the last state survey.
About two-thirds of Norfolk State students are from Hampton Roads, university officials said Tuesday.
The State Council of Higher Education has pressed Norfolk State to tighten admission standards and to work harder to ensure that fewer students drop out. The university has agreed to toughen its policy and require a C average from high school students starting next fall.
Officials of the state council could not be reached Tuesday. But after the meeting, Harrison said the pressure should not be on Norfolk State to get more selective. ``That's looking at it backwards,'' she said. ``Let's take care of the problem at the beginning, not at the end, when the damage is done.''
NSU administrators have argued that they should not raise their admission standards significantly because, as a historically black college, Norfolk State's role is to provide a second chance to underachieving minority students.
They also said the graduation figures don't take into account several factors: For instance, many low-income students have to drop out, sometimes for a few years, to earn enough money to pay for the remainder of their tuition, they said. And the numbers, Wilson said, don't count students who transfer to Norfolk State and end up graduating.
Since 1990, the university has started two ``retention'' programs to provide incoming students with smaller classes and more tutoring and advising help. As a result, Wagner told the board Tuesday, the number of freshmen who return for their sophomore year has risen from 58 percent in 1994 to about 67 percent this fall. ``This is enormously important progress,'' he said.
Rebecca Mann, a junior at Norview High School in Norfolk, said in an interview, ``I think the counselors are trying to give students more challenging courses . . . so when they fill out college applications, it makes it look good for them.''
In ninth grade, she said, her counselor persuaded her to take honors English and world history. ``Now that I've done that, I'm in more advanced classes now.'' by CNB