
DATE: Wednesday, July 30, 1997              TAG: 9707300495

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   88 lines

TEACHERS FEDERATION GIVES VIRGINIA TOP MARKS FOR ITS SCHOOL STANDARDS

Virginia, stand up and head to the front of the class. Everyone else, stay seated.

The state got a big gold star Tuesday from the American Federation of Teachers, one of the nation's largest teachers unions.

The AFT, in a report on curriculum standards across the country, rated Virginia the only state with ``exemplary'' standards in all four core subject areas - English, math, science and social studies.

The ``Making Standards Matter'' report called Virginia's toughened Standards of Learning - approved two years ago - ``extraordinarily clear, focused and well grounded in content. . . . They reflect some tough choices about what is most important for students to learn, rather than trying to cover everything.''

But the report complained that three-quarters of the states, including Virginia, offered no ``intervention programs'' to help students who have trouble meeting the standards.

The study, released during the union's annual conference in Washington, offers independent validation of both the strong support the standards have won in Virginia and the concerns about students who don't measure up.

Marian Flickinger, president of the Norfolk Federation of Teachers, affiliated with the AFT, echoed both sides of the report.

Although she praises Virginia's standards, she said, ``We've got to come up with plans for intervening when kids have trouble meeting those standards. That really hasn't been discussed much in Virginia, and that needs to be addressed. . . .

``All we're going to have to do is have all the pieces of the puzzle together. With proper standards and consequences and intervention in place, we're going to get the job done.''

State education officials were hardly complaining about the union's report card. ``The AFT is seen as a serious player in education reform in the United States, so it's exciting to see this,'' said Richard T. La Pointe, superintendent of public instruction.

Michelle Easton, president of the state Board of Education, noted that Virginia received across-the-board ``exemplary'' grades last year, too: ``For me, this says once again that we did a good job. It gives me confidence that we are absolutely on track with what we're doing.''

Easton said she believes there are enough safeguards - such as summer school and a push to reduce class size - that students won't fall through the cracks.

She noted that the proposed revision to Virginia's Standards of Accreditation, which the board is expected to approve in September, requires that 75 percent of each student's time in elementary school be spent on English, history, math and science. ``We don't want to have remedial work; we want them to get it, and one way to get it is to spend more time on it.''

Next spring, the state will offer tests in grades 3, 5 and 8 and in high school to evaluate mastery of the standards.

The AFT complained that students in most states, including Virginia, are given no motivating consequences if they don't meet the standards. Proposed accreditation changes will require Virginians to pass the high school tests to receive a diploma.

The AFT has 940,000 members. Its local affiliate is the Norfolk Federation of Teachers, which, Flickinger said, has 1,500 members.

Leaders of most local affiliates of the National Education Association, the other major teachers group, could not be reached Tuesday.

The report said only 17 states had solid standards in all four subject areas. The states ranked next highest to Virginia were California and Florida, and each received two ``exemplary'' ratings.

In the study, the union offered examples of hypothetical strong and weak standards. In science, it said, a weak standard would require students to ``compare patterns of change and constancy in systems.'' A strong standard would require them to ``describe the basic processes of photosynthesis and respiration and their importance to life.''

Virginia has moved to a much greater level of specificity in its standards. For instance, in third grade, students used to be required, among other things, to recognize the shape of Virginia on a map and ``demonstrate courtesy in social interactions.'' Now they must ``explain the term `civilization' and describe the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome.'' MEMO: PILOT ONLINE: A link to the American Federation of Teachers Web

site and standards information is on the News page at

(www.pilotonline.com). ILLUSTRATION: REPORT ON CURRICULUM

The good: The American Federation of Teachers rated Virginia the

only state with ``exemplary'' standards in all four core subject

areas - English, math, science and social studies.

The bad: The federation complained that three-quarters of the

states, including Virginia, offer no ``intervention programs'' to

help students who have trouble meeting the standards. KEYWORDS: STUDY EDUCATION STANDARDS