ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 10, 1996 TAG: 9602120014
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
SOME EDUCATORS are worried that academics will suffer because children have missed so many days this winter. How can schools make up so much lost learning time?
While Roanoke County schools were closed this past week, Elizabeth Willett, a fifth-grader at Oak Grove Elementary School, went to the county's Headquarters Library to gather more information for a science report on lithium.
She worked on the assignment for two days at home and one day in the library. "It is due when I go back," she said, "and I want to have it finished."
Meagan Cohen, another fifth-grader, was in the library reading back copies of The New York Times on microfilm while researching a report on basketball star Magic Johnson.
Several Cave Spring High School students were checking the library's computerized reference sources for materials for school projects.
The scene was similar at libraries throughout the Roanoke Valley as the weather warmed up but schools remained closed because of slippery streets.
"We've had lots of students doing projects. They have more time to work on them since they're off from school," said Diane Rosapepe, assistant director of the county library.
Still, some educators are worried that academics could suffer this year because the schools have been closed so much.
"Any time you are in and out of school as much as we've been, it has a disruptive effect," said James Sellers, Montgomery County's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
In the 50 days since the winter break began in December, most students in the Roanoke and New River valleys have been out of school more than 30 days, either because of bad weather or weekends.
Most have attended school only one full week. The other weeks have been cut short by bad weather or holidays. Most localities have missed at least a dozen days; Floyd County has missed 15 days.
Missing so much time will definitely have an impact on students - academically and psychologically, said Paula Stanley, associate professor of counselors education at Radford University.
It takes some students a few days to get back into the rhythm of school and readjust to the daily schedule after a long break, she said. Some might not go back to school at all - "especially those we call 'psychological dropouts' who have lots of absences," she said. "This could cause some to quit."
Students and teachers now face added pressure to do more work in a shorter period of time, Stanley said. Teachers are likely to assign more homework and proceed faster in classes.
And high school seniors trying to get into college and taking advanced placement examinations are likely to be more anxious because of the lost instruction time, she said.
In some localities, the snow days interrupted sixth-graders' preparation for the state's Literacy Passport Test, which was to begin this week. Now the test of reading, writing and math must be rescheduled.
Several localities canceled first-semester exams because teachers thought the time could be better spent on instruction and covering new material rather than reviewing what had been covered earlier. Taking time to review and test students on the first-semester material would have delayed the beginning of the second semester and reduced instruction time, teachers said.
Some localities, such as Roanoke, held exams despite the lost time because they considered them to be important for the academic program.
"We are committed to trying to stay focused and do what we can to make up all of the lost time," said Rita Bishop, Roanoke's assistant superintendent for instruction.
Studies have shown that, during the summer, students forget part of what they have learned. The same thing happens when they are out of school for a week or longer because of bad weather, Bishop said, but "a good review will help bring them back up to speed quick."
Roanoke's strategy for dealing with the lost time will depend partly on the makeup schedule still to be set by the School Board, she said.
"The students will face a difficult and vigorous period in making up the work, but I think they know what they have to do," Bishop said.
Students "will have to buckle down" and concentrate the rest of the school year, but that will be more difficult as the weather gets warmer and their attention turns to spring, said Beth Obenchain, an English teacher at Addison Middle School in Roanoke.
Crystal Jones, a teacher at Highland Park Learning Center in Roanoke, faces a tough task because she teaches special education students, who have shorter attention spans and forget more quickly, she said.
"We will have a basic review before we start on new materials. You must allow time for them to catch up," Jones said.
But Jones said there is a positive side to the snow days.
"All the students and teachers should be well-rested," she said. "I think we are ready to go back to work."
But what happens if there is more bad weather?
"It's going to be hard enough even if we don't miss more. We'll have to push the kids and try to work together," Obenchain said.
Even some children don't want any more days off.
"If we get any more snow, I'm going to be sick of it," Willett said. "I like being off sometimes, but school gives you a lot to do during the day. I don't want to miss any more."
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. Oak Grove Elementary Schoolby CNBfifth-grader Elizabeth Willett spends some of her time off at the
Roanoke County Library. color.