ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 3, 1995 TAG: 9512060027
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LISSY RUNYON
OF ALL THE institutions in American society, the one with the greatest potential to provide equity and equality for young people is public education. For the majority of Americans, the one common denominator we share in life is our public schooling.
Critics of public schools can be found around every corner. Most are very vocal about what they believe. Unfortunately, much of the criticism is based on half-truths, misunderstandings and false information.
Before accepting sweeping generalizations, ask about the source of the findings. Were they grounded in solid valid research reported in respectable publications and journals?
The next time someone tells you today's schools just aren't doing the job they used to do, how about using the following facts to counter those myths. Tell them the critics are right on one count: Things have changed. More Americans are high-school graduates today than at any other time in history.
According to educational consultants Gerald Bracey and David Berliner, "The top 10 percent of American students test well compared with the top 10 percent of other countries. The number of high-school students taking the Scholastic Assessment Test increased from 33 percent in 1983 to 41 percent in 1993, without a decline in the percentage of high scores. The United States Department of Education findings from the Condition of Education, 1994, reports [that] high-school students are taking more difficult courses as well as a greater number of courses than in 1982."
A Rand Corporation study on student achievement between 1970 and 1990 concluded that public-school test scores have not declined during the past 20 to 30 years. The findings of the American Association of Secondary Administrators (AASA) concurred. The number of students taking math and science courses increased from 13 percent to 47 percent, and students' proficiency has increased between 1982 and 1992 as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress of 17 year-olds.
When critics say the dropout rate in this country is terrible or let's return to the "good old days," let's enlighten them with this quote from Mike Males writing in the Phi Delta Kappan: "If the public schools today kicked out pregnant girls, warehoused disabled and troubled students from public view and excluded three-fourths of all minority and low-income students, we'd have a fair facsimile of the public high schools of 1940."
In 1940, 49 percent of all young people did not graduate from high school. According to U.S. Census data, more Americans - 78 percent - are high-school graduates than at any other time in history.
Research cited in American Demographics magazine indicated most students who do not complete high school by age 18 go back and finish their education. Ninety-one percent of the class of 1980 had completed high school and received a diploma, or the equivalent, by 1986.
Paul Houston, executive director of AASA, states, "There are positive economic returns from education. More high-school graduates are employed than nongraduates (64 percent to 47 percent). Earnings are also greater for those employed."
Often heard is the statement, "Research shows that in 1940 the top school problems were talking, gum chewing, making noise, running in the halls, getting our of line, wearing improper clothing and not putting paper in the wastebasket. Today the top school problems are drug abuse, alcohol abuse, pregnancy, suicide, rape, robbery and assault."
What is the source of this statement? Who did the study? The fact is, there was no such study. This information seems to have come from a wealthy man in Texas who made the list and circulated it. It was only his opinion. When tracked down and interviewed by a writer from the New York Times magazine, he said, "They weren't done from a scientific survey. How did I know what the offenses in the schools were in 1940? I was there. How do I know what they are now? I read the newspapers."
This fictitious survey has been quoted for 15 years in one form or another by CBS News, Dear Abby, Rush Limbaugh, Phyllis Schlafly, Herb Caen, Anna Quindlen, Derek Bok, Harper's magazine and many other prominent people and major magazines and newspapers. This is a good example of how people seize upon bad "news" and keep it alive.
This country spends more than any other country on education, say the critics. Nonsense, says the Select Committee on Children, Youth and Families as reported in the Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation's "How America Views Its Schools." The United States was spending 4.1 percent of its gross domestic product on grades K-12 in 1984. That compares with 7 percent for Sweden, 4.8 percent for Japan and 4.7 percent for Canada. In fact, the United States was third from the bottom of the list of 16 countries whose education spending is often compared to our country's. The non-U.S. average was 4.6 percent.
Is the public fed up with public schools? Not according to the annual Gallup poll. Nationally, schools rank with the church and the military as the most highly regarded U.S. institutions, ahead of newspapers, television, the courts, federal/state/local governments, big business, unions and Congress. The grade given to public schools has risen every year since 1983.
We're not perfect. We have our faults. There is room for improvement.
When faced with enormous social problems, however, Americans always turn to their schools for solutions. The schools cannot solve all of them, so someone looking for flaws in schools will always be able to point to some problem.
However, some test scores are at an all-time high, graduate rates are up, attendance is up and our schools, unlike those in many other countries, continue to prove themselves by producing Nobel Laureates. Sixty-two percent of the 1992 high-school graduating class went on to college compared with only 49 percent of the class of 1972.
Let's bring these facts a little closer to home and examine the evidence of progress in Roanoke's public schools:
nEighty-four percent of the 1994-95 graduating class continued their education at post-secondary programs, including two- and four-year colleges and business-technology programs.
nAnother 12 percent completed their education through high-school vocational programs and planned to enter the work force.
nThe number of students taking higher-level courses and accelerated programs continues to increase while the dropout rate is decreasing.
nThe number of students enrolled in advanced-placement courses has increased 35 percent over the past two years.
nEighty-five Roanoke city students attend the Roanoke Valley Governors' School for Science and Technology.
nThe city schools had four National Merit Scholars in 1995, three in 1994 and three in 1993.
nStudent scholarships grew from $755,000 in 1991 to $1.2 million in 1995.
nStudent performance on the Virginia State Assessment achievement tests for grades 4, 8, and 11 showed improvement over last year's scores at each grade level.
nFifty-two percent of Roanoke city graduating seniors took the Scholastic Assessment Test in 1995 compared to the national average of 41 percent. The average SAT scores for students in the top 10 percent of the graduating class were 587 in mathematics portion and 505 in the verbal component.
We should be proud of our public schools, and join together to make them even better. We invite all adults in our community to work with us as we address the challenges we face.
Lissy Runyon is the public-information officer for the Roanoke city schools.
LENGTH: Long : 128 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: NANCY OHANIAN/Los Angeles Timesby CNB