July 3, 1991 -The Portland Observer-Page 5
„
Top Calculators
Matn: Report Warns That Rankings Can Be Deceiving
Oregon eighth-grade pupils rank near top in mathematical skills, according to a study
BY SURA RUBENSTEIN
ol The Oregonian stall
(From The Oregonian,
J une 6,1991 Issue )
Oregon students performed belter
than students in the rest o f the nation on
the first state-by-state comparison o f
mathematics proficiency conducted by
the National Assessment o f Educational
Progress.
The study was scheduled to be
released in Washington D.C., by the
National Assessment Governing Board
and U.S. Education Secretary Lamar
Alexander. The National Assessment,
known as “ the nation’ s report card, ”
has tracked student achievement in
various subjects for more than 20 years.
Oregon scored above the national
average in all five categories in which
eighth-graders were tested -ove ra ll pro­
ficiency; numbers and operations;
measurement; geometry; data analysis,
statistics and probability; and algebra
and functions.
This is the first time there has been
such state-by-state inform ation on stu­
dent performance.
The comparison includes data from
37 states, the D istrict o f Columbia,
Guam and the V irg in Islands, all o f
which volunteered to participate in the
study. Washington state did not partici­
pate.
Portland School superintendent
Matthew W . Prophet, a member o f the
National Assessment Governing Board,
said he was delighted to learn that poor
students in Oregon’ s urban areas were
ranked at the top when compared w ith
other poor students.
Oregon also ranked fifth in H is­
panic students’ math skills.
“ We serve the disadvantaged stu­
dents better than we do the advantaged
urban student,” Prophet said, noting
that Oregon ranked 15th in that listing.
* ‘This says we apparently do as w ell as
anywhere else in America in serving
the disadvantaged.”
The study defined disadvantaged
children as those whose parents were
on welfare or not regularly employed;
advantaged children had professional
or managerial parents.
In overall math mastery, Oregon’s
eighth-graders ranked 10th. However,
the report cautioned that rankings could
be deceiving. W hile Oregon was 10th
from the top, it was statistically low er
than only North Dakota, Montana and
Iowa, and on about the same level as
another 11 states.
“ The simple example gives an
incorrect sense o f precision,” the re­
port said.
Oregon ranked 12th in simple
problem solving, 10th in measurement
proficiency, ninth in geometry and
algebra skills, and eighth in data analy­
sis, statistics and probability skills.
Students in Guam, the D istrict o f
Columbia and the Virgin Islands ranked
at the bottom o f the list.
Oregon was 11th in per-pupil ex­
penditures, according to the most re­
cent inform ation available from the
National Center for Education Statis­
tics.
A total o f 2,708 students in 106
Oregon Public schools were tested in
February 1990.
Am ong the study’s other findings:
* A total o f 99 percent o f the eighth-
graders in Oregon, compared w ith 97
percent in the nation, have skills in
simple reasoning and problem solving.
* O nly 18 percent o f Oregon stu­
dents, and 12 percent nationally, have
skills to deal w ith fractions, decimals,
percents, basic geometry and simple
algebra.
* There appears to be no difference
in the average math skills o f eighth-
grade boys and girls in Oregon. Both
boys and girls in Oregon did better than
their counterparts across the country.
* States whose students watched
the most television had the lowest
average math skills. N ationally, most
eighth-graders reported watching at least
three hours o f television a day. A bout
one-third o f the students in the D istrict
o f Columbia said they watched six or
more hours a day.
N ationally, the study found that
Asian and Pac ific Islander students had
the highest levels o f performance, fo l­
lowed by white, Am erican Indian,
Hispanic and black students, a result
reflected in most state statistics.
The study also showed that stu­
dents attending schools in middle-class
urban areas had the highest math skills,
w hile those in poor urban areas had the
lowest scores. Catholic and other p ri­
vate school students outperformed
public-school students, although the
difference was reduced by the tim e
students reached grade 12.
The better-performing students also
had parents w ith some education be-
yond the high school, has access to a
greater number o f reading and resource
materials at home, did more home­
work, missed less school, and had both
parents at home.
M A T H P R O F IC IE N C Y :
H O W OREGON RANKS
Oregon ranks near the top nation­
a lly in mathematics, according to a
new state-by-state comparison o f math
skills among eighth-grade students.*
The T op 10
States ranked by average mathe­
matics proficiency o f public-school
eighth-graders:
RANK
1. North Dakota
2. Montana
3. Iowa
4. Minnesota
5. Nebraska
6. Wisconsin
7. New Hampshire
8. W yom ing
9. Idaho
10. Oregon
OREGON BREAKD O W N
RANK 1
U rban disadvantaged
Students who live in metropolitan
statistical areas and attend schools where
a high proportion o f the students’ par­
ents are on welfare or are not regularly
employed.
R A N K 15
U rban advantaged
Students who live in metropolitan
statistical areas and attend schools where
a high proportion o f the students’ par­
ents are in professional or managerial
positions.
RANK 5
H ispanic Am ericans
Students who identified themselves
as being o f Hispanic o rig in .**
Source: N atio na l C enter fo r
Education Statistics
*A uthors o f the report said overall
rankings are not a precise reflection o f
a state’ s performance. However, Ore­
gon students scored at about the same
level 11 other states and statistically
higher than all others lasted except for
those in North Dakota, Montana and
Iowa.
* * The study’ s samples o f other
ethnic or racial m inorities in Oregon
were too small to evaluate separately.
Justice Thurgood Marshall Retires
continued from front page
Negro leaders in every Northern city
were pointing out that the reason given
by the Supreme Court against segrega­
tion in school imposed by law were
just as valid against “ de facto” segre­
gation caused by residential segrega­
tion. The effects on the “ hearts and
m inds” o f the children were the same,
it was claimed. In every large city most
Negro children went to school only
w ith other Negro children.”
Proceeding from this concept o f
educational and residential segrega­
tion as the most traumatic social pa­
thologies o f the American scene, came
the bitterly-fought tactic o f “ Bussing”
to implement the “ Brown Decision.”
And based upon the precedent-shatter­
ing victories over institutionalized
racism previously considered as Ameri­
can as “ motherhood and apple pie,”
others seized upon the legal and social
momentum to make further gains. For
instance, in 1969, black economist Julius
Hobson won a key victory for “ equal
education” in federal court, “ Hobson
vs Washington, D.C. Board o f Educa­
tio n .” Using a significant amount o f
the data amassed by Attorney Marshall
in the Supreme C ourt case, Hobson
forced the government to demand
equality in the administration o f funds
Bank of America
Blazer Slam 'N Jam *91
Just when you thought it was safe,
along comes another shot o f Blazerma-
nia. This year’ s version o f the Blazer
Slam ’ N Jam w ill pick up right where
the season left o ff. Plan on an entire
afternoon and evening o f action and
entertainment Saturday, July 20, at Civic
Stadium beginning a t4 p.m. The Blaz­
ers have turned the Slam’ N Jam into a
fund raiser for former teammate Ra­
mon Ramos who was c ritica lly injured
in an auto crash in December 1989. The
1991 event features a three-point shoot­
out w ith several o f the league’ s greatest
players. Follow ing the game, the
Kingsmen, Body and Soul, and John
Day and Valerie Day o f Nu Shooz w ill
lead the Oregon all-star jam. Tickets
are available from the C ivic Stadium,
M em orial Coliseum, C ivic Auditorium
and Performing Ans Center ticket centers
as w ell as other G.I. Joe’ s Ticketmaster
locations. Or, charge your tickets by
calling 248-4496.
supplied to school districts for “ Disad­
vantaged Education” (Textbooks, labo­
ratory equipment, audio/visual tech­
niques).
We also wish to remember that it
was the inspired briefs o f attorney
Marshall that won Supreme Court
approval o f the “ 1965 V O T IN G
RIGHTS A C T .” And that it was in his
first year as a young practicing lawyer,
that he participated in a successful e f­
fo rt by the N A A C P to require the U n i­
versity o f M aryland’ s law school to
adm it a black student. I can ide ntify
w ith this fo r in my home state o f M is ­
souri, blacks were not admitted to any
o f the law schools before W orld W ar 11.
But, as in many southern states, the
state would P A Y TH E T U IT IO N OF
A N Y “ Q U A L IF IE D ’ ’ B LA C K S STU ­
D E N T A T A NO R THER N IN S T IT U ­
T IO N T H A T W O U L D A D M IT H IM .
Justice Marshall graduated from the
Howard U. Law School.
We should consider, too, the se­
verity o f the impact that this retirement
is proving to have upon the hopes and
ambitions o f A frican Americans from
every walk o f life. And, certainly, upon
the m ind set o f a ll Americans as dem­
onstrated by the broad and intense media
coverage. It is not just about the type o f
“ litm us test” the administration w ill
apply in selecting a new ju s tic e -c o n ­
servative, liberal, “ Roe” position, “ M i­
randa” p o s itio n -b u t about the deep
fears and apprehension o f those A m e ri­
cans who have the most to lose from an
escalation o f the illib eral trend o f the
present Supreme Court.
This attitude o f the “ disadvan­
taged” is best put by retiring Justice
Marshall him self: ‘ ‘ The m ajority sends
a clear signal that essentially a ll deci­
sions supplementing the personal liber­
ties protected by the B ill o f Rights and
the 14th amendment are open to re-ex­
amination. Power, not reason, is the
new currency o f this courts decisions. ’ ’
The media pundits are circulating the
names o f several possible m in ority
nominees; Am alya Kearse, a black
female federal appeals court judge in
New Y ork C ity; Ferdinand Fernandez,
a Hispanic who holds the same o ffice in
Los Angles; Clarence Thomas, a black
judge in Washington who once was
chairman o f the Equal Em ploym ent
Opportunity Commission (He d id n ’ t
like “ A ffirm a tive A c tio n ” ).
We don’ t know just how President
Bush w ill play this super-political hand.
W ill he appoint another “ Souter” -
another “ Scalia” ? And C hie f Justice
Rhenquist is clearly seen to abhor that
traditional advice given in the comic
opera by G ilbert and Sullivan; “ L et the
punishment fit the c rim e !” It is no
wonder that so many o f us, w hite and
black, are view ing the future o f this
country w ith apprehension as the Su­
preme C ourt overturns precedents fu n ­
damental to the liberties and aspira­
tions o f all.
This blow has come on top o f the
loss o f black congressional w hip, W il­
liam H. Gray, democrat o f Pennsylva­
nia. We do not yet despair but it is a
blow to the supposed citadel o f liberty
as we lament the departure o f our noble
warrior, Thurgood Marshall.
Footnote, M onday, July 10: Presi­
dent Bush has ju s t nominated the afore­
mentioned Judge "Clarence Thomas"
to f ill that vacanxy on the court. Sur­
rounded by adm inistration stlwarts at a
hastily called press conference, M r.
Thomas expredded his gratitude fo r the
"honor." D irector Benjamen Hooks o f
the National N A A C P anticipated this
turn o f events and has promised "T H E
M O T H E R OF A L L B A T T L E S ”
DMV to Reopen Lloyd Center
Express Office
The M oto r Vehicles D iv is io n ’ s
L lo yd Center Express office w ill reo­
pen July 9. The office was closed in
October as part o f the m all-w ide recon­
struction p ro je c t The new o ffice w ill
be located on the M ultnom ah level near
Lam ont’s and J.C. Penny, adjacent to
the northeast parking structure.
The o ffice w ill be open from 10
a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday
and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays.
D M V Express offices handle simple
transactions, such as driver and vehicle
license renewals and uncomplicated
vehicle title transfers. The offices do
not offer drive license testing or com ­
plicated vehicle title transactions, such
as title transfers requiring vehicle iden­
tifica tion number (V IN ) inspections.
••••••••••••••
I Have A Dream
Program Offers More Than College Funding
(Takenfrom "For The Record,”
June 1991 issue)
Nine months after learning that three
Portland attorneys wanted to sponsor
their college educations, more than 100
fifth graders from Northeast Portland’ s
M artin Luther K ing Elementary School
are boasting higher grades, higher read­
ing levels and improved attitudes.
Last September bar members Ken
Lewis, Leonard Girard and Pat Jacklin
announced their formation o f a local I
Have a Dream Foundation, patterned
after an experiment by New Y o rk busi­
nessman Eugene Lang. Lang promised
to pay the college tuition fo r a group o f
Harlem sixth-graders i f they graduated
from high school.
Each founder o f the Oregon pro­
gram is contributing $10,000 a year fo r
10 years, establishing a $300,000 down
payment on a college tuition fo r K ing
School’ s 1991 fifth grade class. A re­
cent court settlement by Pacific Power
and L ig h t provides the foundation w ith
another $ 1.3 m illio n , guaranteeing c o l­
lege educations for another five classes,
according to founder Ken Lewis. The
u tility has also pledged $875,000 in
matching funds.
“ O ur dream is to have many classes
around the state,” says Lewis.
The program does more than guar­
antee college tuition to children who
finish high school. I Have a Dream
provides children w ith educational en­
richment, emotional support, se lf c o n fi­
dence and an anchor.
In a class that w ould normally have
a 30 percent transiency rate from c h il­
dren m oving and leaving school, only
six percent o f the students have left,
according to Lewis.
Foundation board members and
founders regularly v is it the school and
participate in field trips and special gath­
erings. They have hired a program coor­
dinator, T im Seidle, to provide daily
support and m otivation to the children.
“ The more success these kids have
in school, the more school w ill be a
positive experience,” says Seidle. “ That
w ill low er their drop-out rate and in ­
crease the likelihood they w ill go to
college.”
For the fifth graders, Seidle coordi­
nates tutoring sessions, field trips, and a
Saturday School that features Portland
T rail Blazers and other professionals as
guest speakers.
Teachers report that the fifth grad­
ers’ report cards reflect higher grades
this year than last. Grades for the fourth
quarter are higher than for the first
quarter.
“ I remember one child who d id n ’ t
care i f he got Fs,” recalls Seidle. “ I
lite ra lly had to chase him o ff the basket­
ball court to get him to tutoring ses­
sions. Now he’s earning Bs and he comes
to tutoring on his o w n .”
Attitudes have improved too.
“ There’ s less anger now and they’ve
learned more constructive ways to deal
w ith it,” says Seidle.
The program has also provided
children w ith a goal. “ A guest speaker
recently asked the children what they
would do after high school,” says le­
wis. “ ‘ W e’re going to college!’ they
cried. ‘ Haven’ t you heard?’ ”
The foundation welcomes volun­
teers and contributors. For more in fo r­
mation, contact Lew is at 227-7447,
Leonard Girard at 464-8814, Pam Jack­
lin at 294-9406, or Susan Sandor at 227-
2439.
front Row Seats
To Blazer
Home Games.
If you are 19 years or older, with dance or
cheerleading experience, you're invited to try out for
the 1991-92 Blazer Dance Team!
The Blazers are looking for enthusiastic and
talented dancers to join in on all of the fun and
excitement of representing the Blazers at all home
games and promotional events.
Oregon Dome Team To
Discuss NFL
Expansion And
Stadium Efforts
Members of the Oregon Dome Team
(O D T) Executive Committee revealed
findings from a recent trip to the N F L
spring meetings and how Oregon stacks
up on the expansion team selection.
O D T founders, Roger Breezley, C hair­
man and CEO o f U.S. Bancorp, and
Ted Runstein, law partner at K e ll, A l-
terman & Runstein, gave a complete
overview on what has been accom­
plished in the process to gather support
for a domed stadium and N F L fran
Pick up your application
now at the Blazer Office:
700 NE Multnomah
Suite 600
Portland, OR 97232
Or, for more information,
call the Dance Team
Hotline at 231-5275.
chisc in Oregon.
Participants w ill include corporate
and government representatives, and
individuals who have purchased Founder
Seat rights, which is the Dome Team’s
first step in gathering private support
Portland
trailblazer/
Blazei Dance
Team Auditions
Tryouts July 13-14
Lewis 6 Clark College Gym
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