DATE: Friday, August 1, 1997                TAG: 9707310565

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Education 

SOURCE: BY DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:  135 lines

NORFOLK PRINCIPALS GET MARCHING ORDERS SCHOOLS HAVE A HIGH BAR TO CLEAR IN THE NEXT FOUR YEARS

Gone are the school days when doing better than the year before was enough.

Norfolk principals received new gauges this week: detailed, numerical goals to increase test scores, decrease dropout rates, narrow the achievement gap between white and minority students, measures that must be met over a four-year period.

If they aren't met, people in the schoolhouse to the central administrators who oversee their work, could be reassigned after four years.

These are the long-awaited measures teachers and principals have anticipated with the Norfolk Quality Schools Initiative, a student academic improvement plan which begins in September. Meeting the goals will also comprise 60 percent of a principal's annual evaluation.

The initiative calls for improving student academic performance by pushing the schools to meet certain goals. The goals are specific so that schools know exactly what's expected. For example, Granby High School's current dropout rate is 8.4 percent and the school must reduce it to at least 4.9 percent in four years.

With the bar being set, central administrators are promising more staff training, more resources and support to help the schools.

In addition, this school year will be a ``free'' year - the measures will be in place but won't count - and schools will have some leeway for negotiating goals that seem unrealistic.

``You're not alone in this,'' Norfolk Superintendent Roy D. Nichols Jr. told school principals on Tuesday during a principals meeting.

``We don't have to start from scratch. We've been doing a good job. . . We just need to work harder.''

The school targets are designed to meet overriding district goals:

Improve the achievement rates for third-, fifth-, eighth-, and 11th-graders taking the Stanford 9 standardized tests.

Improve the passing rates of sixth-graders taking the Literacy Passport Tests, which all students must pass in order to graduate from high school. This year, 56 percent of sixth-graders passed the reading, writing and math sections of the test. The goal is to increase the passing rate to 71 percent.

Increase the number of students taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), college entrance exams, and the math and verbal scores on those tests.

Increase the number of 11th- and 12th-graders taking higher level courses and advanced placement tests, and improving the pass rates of those tests.

Decrease the number of students absent 15 days or more a year.

Reduce the yearly dropout rates.

The schools and the district will also have different goals for white and minority students. For example, 55 percent of 11th-grade minority students scored in the bottom quarter of the Stanford 9 math test. Twenty-one percent of white 11th-graders fell into that bracket. The four-year goal for minority students is decreasing that percent to 30 percent, while the goal for white students is 14 percent.

The goal isn't as high for minority students but minority students will have to outperform their white peers triple fold, pushing for a 25 percent decrease as opposed to 7 percent for whites. [3 paragraphs of text missing from electronic version.]

Test scores have shown that black students lag behind their white counterparts, by four grade levels at some points, and district officials said success had to be tracked at a different pace.

The School Board and administrators have endorsed the plan as the key to steam-rolling a needed increase in student performance.

Even though the district has seen a steady improvement in LPT test scores during the past two years, many Norfolk students scored below the national average on the Stanford 9.

But there is some concern that the goals might not only be far-reaching for some students but the incredible detail might become too complex to manage.

Azalea Gardens principal Noah V. Rogers said he appreciates the detailed goals. His test scores have increased over the past three years and he believes the goals will help the school stay on track.

``I don't think they are unrealistic. I think they are goals we need to address to prepare for the 21st century,'' Rogers said.

``I'm really excited about the program. It holds me accountable as a principal and gives me goals I can share with my teachers so that we can work together.''

Behind the scenes, some worry that the plan asks too much too fast. They fear that too many of Norfolk's children are impacted by poverty and lack of support at home that prevents them from doing well in school.

``Even with the support, I just worry that some of these kids won't make it and we're going to be held responsible for that,'' one teacher said. ILLUSTRATION: BETH BERGMAN

The Virginian-Pilot

Dr. Rose M. Ward, second from right, coordinator of social workers

and visiting teacherrs for the Norolk Public Schools, listens as

speakers address the group of Norfolk principals at the Lake Wright

Hotel in Norfolk.

BETH BERGMAN

The Virginian-Pilot

Norfolk Public Schools Deputy Superintendent Thomas Lockamy Jr. says

the goals have been accepted in al corners.

SAMPLE: NORFOLK HIGH SCHOOLS' MATH GOALS FOR 11TH GRADERS

GRAPHIC

The Virginian-Pilot

Each school will have goals to improve student academic

performance in several areas, including scores on standardized tests

and enrollment in higher-level courses.

Schools will have individualized goals so that they can compare

their future progress to their present performance. In addition,

schools will have different targets for white and minority students

because a wide performance gap between the groups exists.

SOURCE: Norfolk Public Schools

[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]

NORFOLK PUBLIC SCHOOLS DISTRICT BENCHMARK GOALS

Goal area 1: Standardized Testing

The percentage of students in grades 3, 5, 8 and 11 scoring in

the bottom quarter will decrease while the percentage of students in

grades 3, 5, 8 and 11 scoring in the top quarter will increase.

Goal area 2: Literacy Passport Testing

The percentage of students passing, reading, writing and math

will increase.

Goal area 3: SAT Testing

A. The average highest math and verbal score of graduating senior

taking the SAT will increase.

B. The percent of graduates taking the SAT will increase.

Goal Area 4: Higher Level Classes

A. The percent of 11th- and 12th-grade students taking higher

level classes will increase.

B. The rate of advanced placement tests taken in advanced

placement courses will increase.

C. The passing rate for students taking advanced placement

courses will increase.

Goal Area 5: Extreme Absenteeism

The percent of students absent 15 or more days will decrease.

Goal Area 6: Dropout Rates

The yearly dropout rates as defined by the Virginia Department of

Education will decrease. KEYWORDS: GOALS TESTING NORFOLK PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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