THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 6, 1995 TAG: 9504050148
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 216 lines
TRYING TO KEEP his new tennis shoes clean, kindergartner Joshua Bouldin hacked away at dirt clods in a plot of barren ground outside Chesterfield Heights Elementary School.
Joshua, who worked alongside classmates on a recent sunny morning, shares responsibility for preparing this rectangular garden space for planting later this spring.
``I'm trying to figure out how to break these up,'' Joshua said of the hard clumps of black soil, a metal trowel in hand. ``They're too big. Things won't grow.''
Just then, one of the budding gardeners unearthed a fat worm. The kids squealed and gathered around.
``It moved!'' one child shouted.
``That's a big one!'' exclaimed another.
``Don't squeeze it because we're going to put him back in his hole,'' cautioned Christine Caskey, the school's science resource teacher. The excitement over, the kids returned to their chores, invigorated.
Kids in every grade have been assigned roles in the project, from hand-tilling the ground and nurturing seedlings to harvesting the vegetables that will reward their labor.
It is such hands-on learning at Chesterfield, one of the city's 10 majority-black community schools, that teachers say has contributed to significant strides in student achievement over the past four years.
``It expands their horizons as far as problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, not just rote,'' first-grade teacher Cheryl Ewart said of the school's estimated 400 students, the majority of them drawn from the Grandy Village public-housing neighborhood.
Their academic progress is evident in the state's annual report card of Virginia's schools, released last month: The percentage of Chesterfield fourth-graders scoring above the national median on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills has increased dramatically, to 47 percent last year from 19 percent in 1990-91. The test measures understanding of math, reading, science, social studies and study skills.
At 22 of the city's 35 elementary schools, at least 50 percent of the pupils scored above the national median last year.
Tarrallton, the city's best Iowa performer with 89 percent of its students above the median, was among the top three elementary schools in south Hampton Roads. More than 70 percent of elementary kids at Larchmont, W.H. Taylor, Willard Model, Crossroads and Bowling Park scored above the national norm.
But Chesterfield's gains - an increase of 28 percentage points over the four years - are the largest of any of the district's schools.
That success is one of many encouraging signs that the city's school system is headed in the right direction, said Superintendent Roy D. Nichols Jr.
The state's Outcome Accountability Project, an annual measure of the pulse of Virginia's public schools, reveals that Norfolk is doing a better job of preparing kids for both college and work than it was four years ago.
More students, including a higher number of black kids, are taking advanced courses and at an earlier age.
One goal, Nichols said, is to sharpen students' critical-thinking skills. A learning method that Nichols said holds great promise, student ``exhibitions,'' is being tested by Tanners Creek Elementary, Rosemont Middle and Norview High.
Students in fifth, eighth and 11th grade spend the year researching and writing a position paper that they must orally defend before a three-teacher panel. They tap into computer databases and learn their way around university libraries.
Sandy Evans, who coordinates the exhibitions at Norview, calls them ``benchmarks'' to ensure that students are learning the skills they'll need to succeed in life. ``It's the point at which we feel students should be able to demonstrate certain skills and habits about the things they're studying,'' Evans said.
One junior, Nida Narcisco, is doing her exhibition on river pollution, arguing that the federal government should do more to prevent it and clean it up.
``We really need to use our time wisely and keep on a schedule,'' Narcisco said.
Nichols thinks exhibitions could ``be a significant turning point'' in the battle to raise standardized test scores, which have stagnated in Norfolk middle and high schools.
``We should get to the point where every child should do an exhibition to get them so used to doing research and presentations that it will become second nature,'' Nichols said.
In a system that serves a large population of poor, inner-city kids, Nichols said, the numbers indicate that gains are occurring at all levels of the socioeconomic ladder.
``When you look at the numbers of minority students taking foreign languages and algebra and the number of kids taking advanced placement courses, we obviously are going beyond our white, middle-class folks,'' Nichols said. ``We're picking up kids that would be considered coming from poor, disadvantaged families, and they are succeeding. But the numbers are still small.''
The results from the district's majority black schools illustrate the challenges ahead. With the exception of Bowling Park and Chesterfield, the report card's assessment of the other eight community schools shows little progress. In some cases, those schools have fallen behind what they were doing four years ago.
Nichols hopes an effort started this year to re-focus on the problems facing these schools will bring improvement. Part of the plan involves importing the types of programs that have worked at Chesterfield Heights:
Computer labs where kindergarteners learn to read and write in a ``risk-free,'' self-paced environment.
Hands-on math and science labs where kids in all grades are involved in fun projects that teach social and academic skills. Students in the garden project learn observation skills, following the scientific method of investigation, and also learn how to help each other solve problems, an important skill to prepare for jobs of the 21st century, educators say.
One-on-one reading instruction for slower learners.
``My goal is to raise up the kids who come from those disadvantaged homes so you won't be able to see the difference between (them and) the middle- and upper-income kids,'' Nichols said.
While the district has made strides, it still lags behind the statewide average in most measures on the state's report card.
Even though the district improved across the board in preparing students for college, for instance, it remained below the state average in every category except foreign languages.
The city trailed in the percentage of students earning an advanced diploma, middle schoolers taking algebra and kids scoring above the national median on standardized tests. On the statewide Literacy Passport Test, 70 percent of sixth-graders overall passed it last year, compared to 53 percent in Norfolk schools.
Part of that gap may result from social and economic disparities. Compared with the state average, the city has a higher percent of people in poverty and a lower percent of adults with high school diplomas. National studies have shown that a student's performance in school is linked closely with family income and the education level of parents. The lower that both are, the harder it is for students to succeed.
When stacked up against urban school districts with similar demographics, however, Norfolk comes out looking better. Norfolk schools, for example, outperformed Richmond schools on practically every measure on the report card.
On two problems that have long plagued Norfolk - school attendance and dropouts - Nichols said there may be light at the end of the tunnel. Last year, 43 percent of students in all grades missed more than 10 days of school. This year, after the School Board toughened its attendance policy, more students are coming to school. Attendance is up 2 percent overall, and some schools, such as Granby High, have had gains of 5 percent.
Last year's dropout rate, at 7.9 percent the highest in the state, was blamed on a crackdown on misbehavior. School officials hope the increase is merely a blip to reflect the tougher discipline and eventually will help reverse the trend. In the meantime, a less disruptive atmosphere has been conducive to learning, Nichols said.
``We're telling principals that you want to make school a more disciplined place rather than worry about being evaluated on suspensions and expulsions,'' Nichols said. ``The fact that it's (the dropout rate) jumped up is not necessarily a bad indicator at this point.''
Beyond academics, local educators are eyeing a troubling trend: Fewer kids are able to pass physical fitness tests. The percentage of fourth- and fifth-graders who passed fitness tests declined to 48 percent last year from 53 percent in 1990-91.
``I think we have more couch potatoes today,'' Nichols said. ``More kids are spending time in front of TV's and less time playing outside after school.''
Nichols said children cannot build up the upper body strength needed to pass the fitness tests if the only exercise they get is the 30 minutes of daily physical education offered at school.
``I really think that's a symptom of our society. We're getting soft, particularly in urban areas,'' Nichols said.
Besides efforts to beef up academic offerings, school officials point to more intangible things that have improved schools, such as parental involvement and committed teachers willing to volunteer time to help struggling students.
``We don't look at the equipment as being the answer,'' said Lillian M. Brinkley, principal of Willard Model Elementary, which has plenty of computers and other technology for students. ``It is the commitment of the staff and the atmosphere you create.''
The atmosphere needs to encourage learning, she said.
``They are told every day what we expect of them.'' Every morning, students repeat a pledge that includes this line: ``I believe if I work hard I can achieve.''
``Children must have a belief system, a belief that they can do,'' Brinkley said.
At Lafayette-Winona, Principal Stephen Peters speaks of the need to ``capture'' students. One day after school, Assistant Principal Meldine Lee sat on the carpeted office floor with several students engaged in a game of ``Pogs,'' played with wafer-like cardboard discs. ``We set a very positive tone in the building,'' Lee said. ``Students respond. We teach them self-respect, respect for others, doing the right thing.''
``We're cheating them if we just teach them reading, writing and arithmetic,'' Peters said.
U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley has said that studies show parental involvement is more important than family income in students' success in school. At schools like Willard Model, teachers take that seriously, Brinkley said.
About 90 percent of the parents there belong to the PTA. Systemwide, PTA membership has doubled this year, to 10,456 members from 5,857. Members of W.H. Taylor Elementary recently presented a plaque to Nichols crediting him for his work in promoting ``model'' PTAs in Norfolk.
``I realize that schools can't do anything,'' Nichols said, ``unless we're in tandem with parents.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by JIM WALKER
First-graders and kindergartners participate in Pamela Kumar's
``writing to read'' computer class at Chesterfield Heights
Elementary.
Teachers at Chesterfield Heights Elementary School use all sorts of
interesting ideas to get their students talking about math concepts.
Students such as first-grader Danielle Rogers, left, blow bubbles,
then measure their diameter after they burst. The students also time
how long the bubbles last.
Graphics
ON THE COVER
Cover and inside graphics by John Corbitt and Bob Voros.
SCHOOL REPORT CARD
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: NORFOLK SCHOOLS REPORT CARD by CNB