THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 10, 1997 TAG: 9702100048
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE WATSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 105 lines
Charles Mountain wants the best for his daughter Doris.
He expects her Lindenwood Elementary teachers to push her to her academic limits, to help her test scores reach the stratosphere, and to make her future brilliant.
But he doesn't want a teacher to lose a job if his 6-year-old daughter fails, the worst-case scenario under a new plan the district will implement this fall.
``I think it's unfair,'' Mountain said. ``Why should a teacher lose a job because students can't keep up? Teachers have to (qualify) for their jobs, so I feel they can do the job.
``Some students are just hard learners, you know?''
In September, the school system will begin its Norfolk Quality Schools Initiative, a program to provide schools with more resources and support while holding them more accountable for student achievement.
Under the plan, each school will set individual goals for raising test scores, attendance and the overall improvement of its students. Central administrators downtown will also be expected to be more responsive to the needs of the schools.
If schools don't show some improvement in three years, the jobs of Superintendent Roy D. Nichols Jr. down to the principals and teachers could be on the line.
Before pink slips go out, however, measures would be taken to help the schools improve.
``The main focus is not losing jobs; it's focusing the resources where they are needed,'' Nicholssaid.
``There are two ways to improve a team: one way is to get better players or teach the current players how to play better. Only as a last resort would we shuffle people.''
But the possibility is still a concern for many. John Medas, director of the Education Association of Norfolk, said some teachers are complaining that principals are already dangling that possibility over their heads.
``Too many building principals are taking on this Darth Vader mentality,'' Medas said. ``They are using this against their own staffs.''
But Medas said the education association believes the overall initiative is a ``fine plan.''
Supporters said a tough plan to raise the persistently poor performance of the city's many low-income students is necessary.
Proponents appreciate the shift from the traditional management style: central staff's role will be to help the schools, not direct them. Nichols envisions a $1 million to $2 million pot that would fund bonuses to schools that hit high marks.
Communication between principals and staff and the community at large is encouraged. For example, administrators formed an advisory panel of principals, which is helping outline the initiative. Surveys will soon go out to teachers and parents to get feedback on the schools' performance.
Their input will help form the goals. Once the goals are set, the schools will be judged against past performance, not compared with others.
``Accountability is not new,'' said Carolyn Harper, assistant principal at Campostella Elementary.
``My feelings are that while we have the kids, they should be learning. . .
But some teachers fear that the increased responsibility being placed on the district will encourage parents to shirk their obligation for their children's schoolwork.
There's concern about certain measures, too.
Improving attendance will be one of possibly 10 benchmarks. Some students said it's unfair to penalize teachers when ``you can't make anyone go to school.''
``It's up to the students,'' said Shanel White, a 17-year-old senior at Norview High School.
``Parents go to work and the students will go back home. . . The parents can't do anything about that.''
Monitoring test scores is another sticky measure.
Students from low-income communities tend to do worse on standardized tests because they may come from homes and areas with less educational stimulation, poorer nutrition, and inferior child care.
``Punishing teachers and administrators for problems that take place outside of the school doesn't make good educational sense,'' said Bob Schaeffer, public education director at the National Center for Fair & Open Testing - commonly called FairTest - based in Cambridge, Mass.
The watchdog organization pushes a move away from standardized tests and more reliance on individual student assessment.
Schaeffer and Medas agree that the pressure to increase test scores will also open the door to cheating.
``Any time you have a plan like that, I think there will be a problem with the principals doing that to raise their test scores,'' Medas said.
``There's a danger of that. It has to be monitored very carefully.''
Nichols said that observers will be used to watch kids as they are tested to deter cheating.
``I don't think test scores are the only measure of the quality of education,'' Nichols said. ``But they are a measure of what's going on and we need to look at them.''
But Nichols stressed the need for patience with this first-time plan. The first year's evaluation won't count officially, and the plan will need tinkering along the way.
``Obviously, this is a brand new plan and there's bound to be some glitches,'' Nichols said. ``I hope people will allow us the luxury of fine tuning as opposed to expecting it to be perfect right out of the box.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
HUY NGUYEN
The Virginian-Pilot
Charles Mountain wants his daughter Doris, 6, to excel at school,
but he's worried that a new education initiative will unfairly
penalize teachers for students' shortcomings.
KEYWORDS: QUALITY MANAGEMENT NORFOLK PUBLIC SCHOOLS