
DATE: Sunday, October 5, 1997               TAG: 9710050080

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER  AND ALETA PAYNE, STAFF WRITERS 

                                            LENGTH:  175 lines

4 SCHOOLS, 1 RESULT: BETTER TEST SCORES FOR BLACK STUDENTS

On the surface, Thoroughgood Elementary, Great Bridge Intermediate, Willard Model Elementary and Churchland Primary schools share few characteristics.

Suburban, urban, affluent, poor, homogeneous, diverse - the schools and the communities they serve are different in obvious ways.

But it is how they are alike that could provide valuable lessons for solving one of education's most intractable problems: low test scores among African-American students.

Statewide, African-American students ranked in the 39th percentile at the third-grade level and the 42nd percentile at the fifth-grade level on last year's Stanford 9 standardized test. The national average for all students is 50.

At those four seemingly different schools, black students beat the national average and posted some of their highest average scores in the region. Each school had the highest average score for black students in its city. One city, Suffolk, had no school with an average score above 50 for black students.

African Americans at only 23 of the area's more than 200 elementary and secondary schools ranked above 50 on the Stanford 9. The test is given in grades three, five, eight and 11.

Thoroughgood, in Virginia Beach, was the South Hampton Roads school with the highest average for its African-American students - 65. Thoroughgood's black students exceeded the scores of nearly two-thirds of all U.S. students who took the exam.

In South Hampton Roads, every city reported a gap of at least 20 points in the average scores of blacks and whites on the test. Although the averages for white students are higher at all four schools, the gap between the races is narrower. The difference ranges from 7 points at Churchland Primary to 15 1/2 at Willard.

The four schools are hardly mirror images. While Great Bridge serves one of the more affluent sections of Chesapeake, Willard taps into a wide range of Norfolk households, including some where children come to school hungry, Willard Principal Lillian Brinkley said.

Churchland Primary, in Portsmouth, is three-fifths black; Thoroughgood's enrollment is about 10 percent black.

None of the schools could pinpoint a ``magic formula'' for its above-average test scores, but they share a commitment to four strategies they say lead to success: strong parental involvement; a conviction that every child can succeed; an emphasis on reading skills; and a reliance on teamwork, among teachers and students.

Active parents: Cheryle Parker quit her job as a bookstore manager last year to get more involved at Churchland Primary. Now she's PTA president, a substitute teacher and a daily presence at the school, whether she's helping children open their milk cartons at lunch or handing out assignments in a class.

She's not alone. One day recently, five other parents gathered with Parker in the conference room for a PTA meeting. Outside, others were at work, helping record attendance, cut poster boards, administer tests.

Their help, even with routine tasks, allows teachers more time to really teach students, Parker said. And, said Sylvia Armistead, first vice president of the PTA, it motivates children to do their best. ``When a child sees you working,'' she said, ``they want to work.''

High expectations: In a kindergarten class at Willard, teacher Ronald McGarity asked a student what happens in fall. She paused, looked perplexed.

Long moments passed. He didn't give up. He kept his gaze on her while making sure the others remained patient and quiet. ``I like how you're waiting on her and she's thinking,'' McGarity said. ``She's getting one, I know it.''

Finally, she did: It's cold in the fall.

``The expectations for the little folks have to be high,'' he said later. ``If I get them believing and thinking they can do it, they can do it.''

Race, principals and teachers say, is simply a non-issue. ``I can't think of a single teacher who that makes a difference to,'' said Sandra Pittman, a third-grade teacher at Churchland Primary. ``The things I want for all the children are the same.''

Stressing reading: In a Great Bridge hallway recently, students sat against the wall, waiting for a turn in the restroom. But they weren't jabbering or jabbing each other with elbows out of restlessness. Each one was reading a book.

``You have to use every minute you've got,'' said the principal, Rebecca Adams. ``You really do.''

Some researchers say early success in reading is the key determinant for later success in school. All four schools have the Accelerated Readers program, which uses bonus points to encourage students to read beyond their grade levels.

``Reading, for me as a kid, unlocked imagination,'' said Karen Phillips, a third-grade teacher at Great Bridge. ``Reading can take you anywhere. Reading is the basis for everything we do.''

Team approach: In all the schools, classes often break up into small groups of five or so students to work on problems together.

In Bruce Williams' fourth-grade class at Churchland Primary, they tried to estimate how many handfuls of cubes fit into a canister. Karin Garner's fourth-graders at Willard measured the length of peanut shells in millimeters to determine whether they'd probably contain one or two nuts.

``It gives children a sense of responsibility for themselves,'' said Sara Flippens, the principal. ``Teachers don't have to direct everything in the classroom.'' And students are more likely to take chances because they know their peers will correct them if they're wrong, said Penny Creed, a fourth-grade teacher at Great Bridge.

The teachers work together, too. At Willard, Brinkley said she makes sure that teachers at the same grade level meet every nine weeks to assess their progress. And teachers from different grades - such as first and kindergarten - meet to swap ideas. ``I've never had a school like this, where everybody works together for one goal,'' said Willard parent Linda Wassenaar.

Researchers say high family income sometimes is linked with high achievement. None of the four elementary schools is entrenched in poverty, yet two have significant numbers of needy students: The proportion of children eligible for free or reduced-price lunch - a frequently used indicator of income level - is about 53 percent at Willard and 50 percent at Churchland.

Brinkley said the problem is not insurmountable. ``I can't let poverty decide that I can't teach those children,'' she said. ``I'm a firm believer that I have to control the education when they walk in the door.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

STEVE EARLEY/The Virginian-Pilot

At Great Bridge Intermediate in Chesapeake, black students' scores

on the Stanford 9 beat the national average. Here, Jessica Johnson,

right, with Alycia Daniels, listens in Penny Creed's fourth-grade

class.

Graphics

SCHOOL SUCCESSES

The schools, the cities they're in and the average percentile

ranking of their their black 3rd and 5th grade students. Fifty

percent is the national average for all students.

Thoroughgood Elementary

Virginia Beach; 65