THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 17, 1997 TAG: 9701180340
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MATTHEW BOWERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 87 lines
America by and large isn't meeting its lofty education goals, burdened by schools and school systems graded mediocre overall in a national education ``report card'' released Thursday.
States also were graded individually in the private study, with Virginia winding up as perhaps mediocre-plus. Still, it fared better than most states - praised for tough new academic standards, smaller classrooms and a number of advanced high school courses, but criticized for middling student-achievement scores and for letting partisan politics interfere with education policy decisions.
Education Week, a Washington-based trade publication for teachers, principals and counselors, warned in its first-time ``Quality Counts'' report that improvements across the country are needed soon.
Otherwise, it says, ``our democratic system and our economic strength - both of which depend on an educated citizenry - will be eroded, or alternative forms of education will emerge to replace public schools as we have known them.''
America's schools, the report said, are ``riddled with excellence but rife with mediocrity.'' Much of the blame was laid on outside social problems such as poverty and family disintegration, and a lack of strong public demand - and willingness to pay - for improved schools.
The study examined 75 separate school indicators - from teacher training to working toilets - and gave the United States mostly ``C's'' in six major categories:
Having specific, high academic standards and ways of measuring student progress. United States received a B. Virginia also received a B.
Teacher quality, standards and licensing requirements. United States received a C. Nationwide, four out of 10 teachers don't have a degree in the subject they teach, and continuing, on-the-job education for teachers generally is lacking. Virginia received a C-plus.
Effective, safe, learning-focused schools - C-minus. Almost half of all elementary classes have 25 or more students, physical conflicts and weapon possessions are rising, a third of all school buildings in the country need extensive repair or replacement - 63 percent in Virginia, according to a state Department of Education study. Virginia got a C-minus.
Adequate spending on education - C-plus for the country. How the money is spent - C-minus. How fairly the money is distributed - B-minus.
Money going into public education has increased - ask any taxpayer - but much of it is diverted from classroom instruction to special-education programs, growing enrollments and rising salaries for teachers, the report said. Disparities in school spending within states remains widespread.
Virginia's grades for resources were B-minus for adequacy, B for allocation and B-plus for equity.
Student achievement, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress tests that most states administer to their children. No letter grades here, but 28 percent of American fourth-graders were at a proficient or advanced level in reading in 1994, and 21 percent of eighth-graders were at a proficient or advanced level in math in 1992.
In Virginia, the scores were lower: 26 percent proficient or advanced at reading, and 19 percent proficient or advanced at math for their grade levels.
Not so hot, said Virginia Board of Education President Michelle Easton, who hadn't seen the report. But changes in state standards for instruction, schools and teacher certification, and a new state standardized testing system - all in place or on the way - should improve things, she said.
The state superintendent of public instruction, Richard T. La Pointe, said the Virginia section of the study was ``balanced,'' and showed that the state is headed in the right direction, particularly concerning its new, more-rigid academic standards that the report called ``one of the most successful standards efforts to date - if not one of the most challenging.
``We're in position to move into a whole different category on a national level,'' the state superintendent said. ``Our standards are not mushy.''
At Kilby Shores Elementary School in Suffolk, Principal Carolyn Dixon agreed with the ``Quality Counts'' report that clear expectations and a safe, orderly school are needed for maximum learning.
To demonstrate, she turned to fifth-grader Terrell L. Johnson.
What do you do when the teacher asks for quiet? Get quiet, Terrell said.
``What about homework?''
``Do it.''
``And are there any excuses for not doing it?''
``No.''
``Generally, when you expect a lot, you get a lot,'' Dixon said. ILLUSTRATION: "QUALITY COUNTS" REPORT CARD
SOURCE: Education Week
The Virginian-Pilot
GRAPHIC
[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]
KEYWORDS: EDUCATION REPORT CARD RANK