THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 26, 1996 TAG: 9605240222
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Vanee Vines
LENGTH: 55 lines
Superintendent Richard D. Trumble says the school administration will present its ideas for a districtwide ``character education'' program at the board's June 27 meeting.
A special committee has studied such programs for most of the school year. They vary in districts across the country, but most stress teaching basic values - such as honesty, responsibility, citizenship and tolerance.
The district has yet to publicly disclose its plan, but Trumble says it borrowed bits and pieces from existing programs.
Last August, board member Charles H. Bowens II, a minister, urged the board to look into the programs. Lakeview grading practice disbanded
Teachers at Lakeview Elementary used to grade students in reading based on their grade level.
If a student performed beneath that level - a third-grader doing second-grade reading work, for example - the student automatically received an F.
And that was the case even if the student earned passing marks on the work.
The administration recently told the school to drop the practice, reportedly followed for at least five years.
The practice, Superintendent Trumble says, placed Lakeview ``out of sync'' with the rest of the district's elementary schools.
Several parents recently brought the matter to the administration's attention after school officials notified them that they decided to drop the practice and, subsequently, changed some children's failing grades from previous report cards this school year.
Trumble said about 21 Lakeview students had previous, 1995-96 reading grades changed after the practice was dropped.
Like other city elementary schools, Lakeview now grades students according to their ``instructional level.'' In other words, students' grades are based on their performance.
If a student earned all C's on reading work, for example, the student's report card would reflect a C reading grade.
That was the guiding policy when the recent grade changes were made, Trumble said.
Lakeview Principal Isaac Askew described the previous practice of automatically assigning F's as a sound one. It ``let parents know up front'' that their children were not doing well, he said.
But some parents' concerns led the school to reconsider the practice, he said.
Even so, Askew emphasized, what is often misunderstood is that students with passing reading grades still may not be promoted at the end of the school year if their overall performance remains below grade level. by CNB