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Education
T he P or i land O bserver • O ctober 9 , 1996
ÍÍ
Community asks for school monitoring
principal accounability”
A citizen coalition is seeking au­
thority to monitor minority student
perform ance in P ortland public
schools, and to make student achieve­
ment a part of school principal's job
evaluations.
The proposal was put before the
school board at its September 12
meeting by a coalition of organiza­
tions that includes the Black United
Front and Coalition of Black Men.
The group proposes establishment
of a 20-member Citizen Monitoring
Advisory Committee with represen­
tatives from the African-American,
Asian, Hispanic and Native Ameri­
can communities as well as low-in­
come people. Its task would be to
monitor the perf ormance of minority
students school by school, and to
make sure schools are taking appro­
priate steps to improve performance.
It would also hold a series of commu­
nity meetings to teach parents how to
track their children’s performance.
A key part o f the recommendation
is a demand that school principals be
held accountable for minority stu­
dent performance.
“Not to have the principals in­
volved in the education results de­
feats the whole purpose,” Halim
Rahsaan t>f the Coalition of Black Men
says. "I don’t know
re a lly d is a p ­
of another profes­
p o in te d
in
sion where perfor­
them.”
mance doesn’t fig­
A key issue
ure in y o u r jo b
in how minor­
evaluation.”
ity students will
Superintendent
do a c a d e m i­
Ja c k B ie rw irth
cally is whether
cal led the proposal
they are e x ­
"a serious offer for
pected to do su­
h e lp , and
we
perior work or
should take them
not, R ahsaan
up on this.” H ow ­
says. "W hen
ever, the coalition
kids o f co lor
and district is still
d o n ’t achieve,
aw aiting a more
the system al­
Lulu R. Stroud-Johnson
concrete response
ways blames the
to the proposal. Bierwirth was un­
parents,” he says. “When Caucasian
available for comment at press time.
kids don’t achieve, it sthe system that's
Rahsaan notes that the current pro­
to blame. There are variables internal
posal is basically the same as propos­
as well as external, but it all gets back
als that have been made since 1980,
toexpectations. Some of the kids we’re
by thedistrict’sDesegregation Moni­
concerned about are really bright;
toring Advisory Committee among
they’re just not being challenged.”
others. “There were some really ex ­
Testifying in support of this, Lulu
cellent proposals, but none of them
R. Stroud-Johnson, a single mother
was ever acted upon,” he said. In
of three daughters, told about her
addition, he says, the Coalition of
own experiences with the school dis­
B lack M en m et last year w ith
trict and Grant High School. All
B ierw irth , and with the school
three of her daughters were discour­
board’s new m embers. “T hey’ve
aged from taking SAT exams, she
been sitting there for a year, and
said, and she herself had verbal and
nothing’s happened,” he says. “I’m
even physical confrontations with
district personnel. Two of her daugh­
ters are now in college, the third a
Grant honors student
She also presented the board with
sta tistic s on m inority stu d e n t
achievement She said the average
grade point average for black stu­
dents in Portland high schools is 1.7,
ranging from 2.2 for Benson stu­
dents to 1.3 for those and Madison
and Marshall. She called on the su­
perintendent to "condemn racism in
all its ugly forms ” by district person­
nel, and offered to serve on the
CMAC.
“I don't understand the superinten­
dent and board’s reluctance todo this,"
she later told the Observer.
Rahsaan says he is seeking addi­
tional data from the district, including
the number of minority students on
college-track courses, their gradua­
tion rates by school, and whether they
receive standard or “modified" diplo­
mas The latter indicates that the stu­
dent did not meet academic standards.
“It’s basically a certificate of atten­
dance,” Rahsaan says.
“W e’ve been talking about thissince
1980, and here it is 1996. Unless we
do something drastically different,
our kids will go on going to high
school and then dropping out.”
Big learning at small schools
K ids u su ally go fo r big ice
cream co n es and g ia n t rid es at
the fair. But w hen it com es to
sch o o l size, re se a rc h c le a rly says
th at kids th riv e on sm a ll; it’s o f­
ten b e tte r for stu d e n t learn in g .
F or p aren ts w ho so m e tim e s w on­
der if a larg er sch o o l m ig h t o ffe r
m ore to th eir c h ild , it loo k s like
big g er is not alw ay s b e tte r when
it co m es to the re la tio n sh ip b e ­
tw een student learn in g and school
size.
A new rep o rt from the N o rth ­
w est R egional E d u catio n al L a b o ­
ratory finds o v e rw h e lm in g e v i­
d e n c e th a t s tu d e n ts a ttitu d e s ,
b e h a v io r, and p a rtic ip a tio n are
better when school size is sm aller.
As fo rstu d e n t ach iev em en t, small
sch o o ls ge, re su lts at le a st equal
to, and in m any c a se s su p e rio r to,
big sc h o o ls. T h a t’s g o o d new s in
the N o rth w e s t—A la sk a , Id ah o ,
M o ntana, O reg o n , and W ash in g -
Dr. Ballard
to Give
Lecture on
Titanic
Dr. Robert Ballard became inter­
nationally known in September 1985
when he and a team of oceanogra­
phers—using a deep-sea remote
viewing system that he developed-
discovered the remains of the most
famous shipwreck ever, the R.M.S.
Titanic. Dr. Ballard will share slides
and stories in Portland at the Arlene
Schnitzer Concert Hall on Fri., Oct
11 as the second distinguished
speaker in the STS Lecture Series.
Dr. Ballard has led or participated
in nearly 100 deep-sea expeditions
including the use of deep-diving
submeisiblesThecxpeditioasincluded
the first manned exploration of the
Mid-Atlantic Ridge in Alvin, the dis­
covery of underwater hot springs and
their unusual animal communities in
the Galapagos Rift, the first discovery
of polymetallic sulfides, the discovery
ot high temperature "black smokers
along our own Pacific Coast, the lost
ships of Guadalcanal, and the discov­
ery of the historic Bismarck to name a
few.
Dr. Ballard has Ph.D. in Marine
Geology and Geophysics, eleven
honorary degrees, dozens of other
honors and awards, and is the Direc­
tor of the Center for Marine E xplo
ration at the Woods Hole Oceano­
graphic Institution. He is the founder
and Chairman of the JASON Foun­
dation for Education exciting young
people in science and technology.
I
to n --w h e re 1,500 sc h o o ls en ro ll
few er than 138 stu d e n ts, a c c o rd ­
ing to one a n a ly sis. In O regon,
o v er 50 0 sc h o o ls have few er than
300 stu d e n ts. A nd ab o u t 1 I p e r­
cen t o f those sc h o o ls have few er
than 125 stu d e n ts.
“ R e se a rc h has re p e a te d ly
found sm all sc h o o ls su p e rio r to
larg er ones on m ost m easu res and
equ al to them on the r e s t,” says
a u th o r K ath leen C o tto n in the
rep o rt, S chool S ize, S chool C li­
m ate, and S tu d e n t P erfo rm an ce.
“T his h o ld s true for both e le m e n ­
tary and se c o n d ary stu d e n ts o f
all ab ility lev els and in all kinds
o f s e ttin g s .”
S tu d e n ts in sm all sch o o ls are
m ore likely to p a rtic ip a te in a c ­
tiv itie s, less lik ely to drop out,
m ore lik ely to atten d re g u la rly ,
less likely to en gage in risky b e ­
h av io r, and are m ore likely to
view te a c h e rs p o sitiv e ly .
R esearch ers p o int to a num ber
o f reasons for the success o f small
sch o o ls. For one th in g , stu d en ts
are less likely to be o v erlo o k ed
or iso la te d in sm all sch o o ls. To
have adequate num bers o f stu ­
d e n ts, e v e ry b o d y ’s p a rtic ip a tio n
is needed for c lu b s, team s, and
stu d en t go v ern m en t. And people
in sm all sch o o ls com e to know
and care about each o th e r to a
g re a te r d e g re e than w ould be
po ssib le in m uch la rg e r schools.
T his c arin g and in clu siv e e n ­
vironm ent leads to a greater sense
o f p e rso n a l e ff e c tiv e n e s s , r e ­
se arch ers found. S tu d en ts tend
to take on re sp o n sib ility when
c la sse s are sm aller. F u rtherm ore,
sch ed u lin g is m ore flex ib le than
in la rg e r schools.
Sm all sch o o ls tend to use in­
n o v a tiv e te a c h in g m e th o d s ,
am ong them :
• M ix in g stu d en ts a c c o rd in g to
skill and read in ess levels, not a r ­
bitrary age gro u p in g s
• In d iv id u alizin g learning a c ­
tivities
• G rouping students to work
c o o p e ra tiv e ly
• P ooling te a c h e rs’ skill and
a b ilitie s for team teaching
A n o th e r b e n e f it o f s m a ll
sch o o ls, acco rd in g to the report,
is that they are m ore likely to
make learn in g both active and
relevant to the w orld beyond the
c la ssro o m . K ids get to be in ­
volved in pro jects and a c tiv itie s
that keep them engaged in le a rn ­
ing, h elp in g to an sw er the age-
old, g ru m b le -g ru m b le , question:
H ow com e I have to learn this?
Bet I’ll never use it. By the way
th e y ’re organized, and by the way
te a c h in g is often carried out, it
seem s that sm all sch o o ls let stu ­
dents d isc o v e r early on: Bet I ’ll
use this w hen I grow up!
P age A 3
‘A few beers won’t
hurt anybody...will it?’
The poster announcing the O r­
egon Liquor Control Commission's
third annual essay contest asks: "A
few beers w on't hurt anybody...will
it?"
The essay contest poster poses
the question and asks seventh
through 12th graders to write an
essay on: "W hat’s the best way to
get students to recognize and obey
O regon's 21-year-old legal drink
ing age?" The deadline forentries is
Nov. I .
U.S. Savings Bonds will be
awarded to the first, second and
third place essayists in two grade
categories: seventh through ninth
and I Oth through 12th grade.
First prize is $4(X) in U.S. Sav­
ings Bonds. Second place winner
will receive $200 savings bonds.
The third place prize will be $100
savings bonds. Every student who
enters will receive a free soft drink
coupon from McDonald’s.
The maximum length for the non-
fictional entries is 400 words. Es­
says should be neatly handwritten
or typed on only one side of a
paper Your name, address, tele­
phone number, school name and
class level should appear al the top
of the essay.
Essays should be sent to: Essay
Contest, OLCC, P O. Box 22297,
Milwaukie, Oregon 97296 2297
Entries must have a Nov. I post
mark to be considered for the con­
test Winners will be invited to read
their essays at the O LC C 's annual
aw ards cerem ony on M onday,
Nov. 25.
More than 850 students entered
essays in the previous contests The
top essayists in 1995 were: First
prize: Will Anderson, Hermiston
High School; Ryan Gordon, St.
M ary’s School, Medford; Second
prize: Cila Warncke, Seventh Day
Adventist School, Lincoln City;
Tami Botts, Ashland High School;
Third prize: Ashley Hansen. Adrian
J u n io r H igh S c h o o l, N y ssa;
Bridgette Howell, Monroe Middle
School.
For more information, contract
the OLCC Public Affair office,
1-800-452-6522 or 503-872-5002.
Grand prize, free
year of college
College costs got you dow n?
Here’s the antidote. Starting Fri­
day, Sept. 27, students nationwide
can register to win a free year of
college by participating in “H onda's
Free Ride.” The on-line sw eep­
stakes runs from Friday, Sept. 27, to
Friday, Nov. 22. One lucky student
will be randomly selected to win a
free year of school. Other prizes
include concert tickets and 10,000
compilation CDs featuring rock acts
from Capitol Records.
“ H o n d a ’s Free R id e” is sp o n ­
sored by A m erican H onda M otor
Co. Inc., T ic k e tm a ste r, C ap ito l
R ecords and M asterC ard . The
unique m arketing cam paign is
targ eted d irectly to the co lleg e
m ark et, la rg e ly th ro u g h new
m edia. Info rm atio n on “ H o n d a 's
Free R ide” w ill be po sted on
c a m p u s W eb s ite s and new s
groups. Som e cam puses will also
be postered.
The sweepstakes is open to all
students attending accredited, four-
year colleges in the United States,
except for Florida. Entry forms can
be accessed through H onda’s col­
lege W eb s ite , lo c a te d at
www.hondacampus.com, or through
T icketm aster O nline, at www.-
ticketm aster.com .
At H onda’s advertising agency,
Rubin Postaer Interactive, George
Penner, manager of interactive com ­
munications, said, “Honda has been
supporting higher learning for years
— th is is a n o th e r ex am p le o f
Honda’s commitment to education.”
The winner of the “H onda's Free
Ride” sweepstakes will have his/her
college expenses paid for one year,
up to $20,(XX). Ten winners will
receive pairs of concert tickets. And
the first 10,(XX) entrants will receive
the Capitol Records compilation CD.
P a rtic ip a n ts can learn m ore
about all o f the sponsors by c lic k ­
ing s p o n so rs’ icons located on
the en try form s. O n C a p ito l’s
site, stu d en ts w ill find in fo rm a ­
tion on the bands featured on the
c o m p ila tio n CD. H o n d a ’s new
college m icrosite provides a great
trip up the C a lifo rn ia co a stlin e .
M a ste rC a rd ’s sites feature areas
d ev o ted to the in terests o f c o l­
lege stu d e n ts. T ic k e tm a s te r’s
W eb site links to th o u sa n d s of
live events.
We're more than a power company. We're your neighbors, too. That's why it's important for us to actively support education,
the arts, community and business development and other events that enhance quality of life and enrich the entire community.
SHEILA HOLDEN
GENERAL BUSINESS MANAGER
s.
’ ome of the most
important energy provided by Pacific Power
doesn't travel along utility poles,
flow through power lines or pass through
any meter. It's our power to make
a difference— something we do year-round
by actively supporting programs and
special events unique to our community.
True, this kind of energy can't illuminate a
single light bulb. But over time,
it could help our entire community shine.
Sheila Holden or
CarlTalton, (503) 282-4319
#
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A Division of PacifiCorp
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