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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 12, 1997)
M arch 12, 1997 • Iin P oru ani ) O bservfr P agi A4 Glickman announces pilot Program For School Lunches Oregon eighth graders boost math scores A 1996 national mathematics test shows that Oregon eighth graders scored significantly higher than they did in 1990 Less impressive but still above the national average were the scores o f Oregon fourth graders. Oregon eighth graders scored 276, five points high than in 1990, on the test administered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. That’s a significant increase, ac cording to NAEP. “ I am pleased that the eighth grad ers comparisons show we are clim b ing up the ladder o f higher achieve m ent,” said State Schools Supt. Norma Paulus. "We know that we are headed in the right direction. We must stay the course and intensify our efforts.” Paulus said the national test vali dates the results o f O regon's state assessment which showed similar gains for eighth graders between 1991 and 1996 NAEP ranks four levels o f math achievement: below basic, basic, pro ficient and advanced. Oregon eighth graders advanced in each o f the top three levels with a smaller percent age in the below basic level. ‘It’s not just our top students who raised our score,” said Paulus. "O r egon students at all achievements levels have improved. “ It’s remarkable that Oregon ac complished this growth in the lace o f severe budget cuts and record enrollment,” she added. Eight states scored significantly higher than Oregon on the eighth grade test. They are North Dakota, Maine, Minnesota, Iowa, Montana Wisconsin, Nebraska and Connecti cut. Oregon tied for 14th among the 40 participating states. The national average was 271. "W e need to build a solid founda tion in the early grades," said Paulus, “ it’s critical that we provide more training for teachers. T hat's why we held a M athem atics Summit for A g ric u ltu re S e c re ta ry Dan Glickman announced a pilot pro gram that will provide additional purchasing power to states that adm inister the National School Lunch Program. Glickman made the announce ment at a meeting o f the American School Food Service Association. “The program — which will be piloted in South Carolina and Iexas - will allow USDA to use its con siderable purchasing power to buy foods on behalf o f the states,” Glickman said. “ Purchases will be made with state and local funds provided under the National School Lunch Program. This is yet an other example o f how federal and state governments can work in part nership to save money and im prove services." G lickm an noted that, for a num ber o f years, states and local school districts participating in the N ational School Lunch Pro gram have expressed an interest teachers in February,” She said there was room for 400 teachers, but 800 requested the training. So a second summit will be held in April At the M athem atics Sum m it, Wells Fargo announced it will pro vide $300,000 in grants to school district to help students meet the new high mathematics standards. In Oregon 2,323 eighth graders in 98 schools and 2,233 fourth grad ers in 95 schools participated in the national test. Students were selected based on a random sample o f a cross section o f Oregon students. NAEP in June will provide a more compre hensive report for Oregon. Among other things, the report will list char acteristics about students and teach ers and describe how various factors - some outside the classroom - affect achievement. Oregon eighth graders also took the NAEP science test last year Results o f that exam will be an nounced in May. in the D ep artm en t p u rc h a sin g foods forthem . In accordance with the national School Lunch Act, USDA is m andated to purchase prescribed levels o f foods for use in the school lunch program . B e cause USDA purchases in such large quantity, it can buy at sig nificantly lower costs -- as much as 5 percent to 10 percent low er - - than states or local schools. In November 1994. the Healthy Meals for Healthy Americans Act amended the NSl.A and provided authority for the Secretary ol Agri culture to enter into agreements with states to use funds available to them under the NSLA to purchase food for their participating schools. “State interest in the pilot pro gram is h ig h ,” G lickm an said “They re excited about the potential this program offers to better use their shrinking funds and improve th e ir p ro g ra m s U sing the Departm ent's substantial purchas ing power should lower the cost of foods purchased by states and local schools." USD A ’s Agricultural Market ing Service and Farm Service Agency hosted a roundtable dis cussion in May 1000, where repre sentative from 10 states provided valuable input on how to best struc ture the pilot program to be respon sive to state and local needs, in cluding delivery schedules and method o f payment. Items identified by Glickman tor potential purchase include bowl- packed cereal in individual serving size packages, assorted fruit juices in 4 -once containers, fruit cups, and low-fat shredded and sliced processed American cheese. "After the pilot is evaluated, the program can be offered throughout the country,” Glickman said. I his is good, common-sense procure ment policy and it allows us to help state to get more high-quality and nutritious foods for their school lunch and other feeding programs." OASIS and Sunset High team up for Intergenerational learning teen student v o lunteers and 15 O A SIS m em bers meet for an hour long session each Tuesday after noon from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., March 1 1 through April 29th in the high school com puter lab. (No. class on 3/25.) The seven-w eek class offers individualized instruc tion in com puter basics. OASIS participants in other cit ies were enthusiastic about their ex perience. “One-on-one tutoring is terrific,” said an OASIS member. “ It was because of this additional support that I finally signed up for a computer course.” Another senior adult reported, “ My personal tutor is very informed and has already helped O A SIS (Older Adult Service and Inform ation System ) and Sunset High School are team ing up to offer a unique intergenerational learning experience called "B ytes B u ild B rid g e s : An Intergenerational C om puter E du c a tio n P ro je c t.” T h ro u g h th is project older adults are entering the com puter age, and teens are perform ing valuable com m unity service. The project “turns the tab les’ on the typical in tergenerational ment«i*»g program. This tim e the m entors are high school students sharing their expertise w ith m em bers o f an older generation. Fif- Thinking About Thinking Let’s have a “little tink,” as Ein stein would say as he pondered a stu b b o rn p ro b lem . L et us, fo r a moment, think about thinking, how o u r m in ds w ork, how we th in k , learn, remember. We have had w hat som e have called a “breakthrough” in discov ering how kids learn, even com par ing it to the educational equivalent of life-saving vaccines. T he d isco v ery som e 30 y ears ago occurred som ething like this: Researchers studied and compared e x p e rts and n o v ic e s in v a rio u s areas to figure out how experts got to be that w ay. W hat w ere th eir th in k in g p ro cesses? R esearch ers then laid out the fram ew o rk s of how e x p e rts cam e to gain th e ir understanding, and how they used their knowledge. Using these learn ing frameworks, novices could then build their learning, developing and becoming experts. A d e fin in g d iffe re n c e found between the novice and the expert was that the novice is naive about w h at th e y 'r e d e a lin g w ith . T he w o rd “ c lu e le s s ,” m ig h t a p p ly . Novices see only small parts of the la rg e r and com plex w h o le; they don’t notice all the critical informa tion that they must have to solve a problem. At school, o f course, all students delving into new subjects are novices. But over tim e, in an instructional atmosphere that gives th e s tu d e n t’s b ra in th e tim e to mature and notice, to encode and to m odify memory accordingly, stu dents m ove through enligh ten in g stages from novice to expert. Now comes the first results from the Third International M athem at ics and Science Study (TIM SS) that te ste d a h a lf-m illio n k id s in 41 n a tio n s at five d iffe re n t g ra d e s. K id s w e re e x a m in e d . C la s s e s videotaped. Curriculum analyzed. Policies probed. In the initial results that pertain to only the eighth grade, our math scores overall were below the aver age of the other TIMMS countries, although there were some areas of promise. The findings are illum inating. Japan w as the h ig h est scorer in m ath, using instru ctio n al a p proaches sim ilar to those now on o u r a c a d e m ic -re fo rm ta b le . Although TIMMS researchers cau tion against drawing any solid con clusions without further research on th e in s tru c tio n a l a p p ro a c h e s o f other high scoring countries, this grueling examination showed clear differences between American and Japanese instruction. The Japanese approach to teach ing math is laser-focused and cen tered on student understanding of m athem atical c o n c e p ts— narrow , thorough. Our approach has been a m ile w ide, an inch d e e p — co v er more, faster. Just now our current e d u c a tio n a l re fo rm e ff o r ts are building on w hat we know about how students learn— too early to have an impact in this study. And although most U.S. math teachers said they were aware of the reform m ethods, few said th at they use them . T he point is that Japanese teachers teach math the way that our National Council of T eachers of Mathematics says that we should teach math. T hey’ve said it since 1989; y et we s tru g g le w ith widespread implementation. TIMSS results may cause reform critics to re-think their position, and the public to re-think how we teach and w hat we teach in m ath. We have a conspicuous “clue." Yes, it’s time for a "little tink.” This colum n is p ro v id e d as a p u b lic se rv ic e by the N o rth w e st Regional Educational Laboratory, a nonprofit institution working with schools and communities in Alaska, Id a h o . M o n ta n a , O re g o n , a n d Washington. ... .. me more than you would imagine ” Student volunteers shared their enthusiasm, too. One student said, “ I enjoyed helping the OASIS mem bers learn how to use the computer I found it challenging, yet reward ing to teach something that has be come second nature to me.” Another ....... i. i.:_ :.i said, “ I thought working with older adults might be a little difficult , but it was fairly easy because my OASIS partner is persistent and really wants to learn.” Student volunteers shared their enthusiasm, too. One student said, “ I enjoyed helping the OASIS mem- National essay scholarship competition Through a national essay com petition known as Project: Learn MS '97, high school and college students can compete for separate $8,000 college scholarship awards and raise funds to assist those suf fering from m ultiple sclerosis. Sponsored by the Multiple Sclero sis Association o f America, Project: Learn MS ‘97 is an awareness/ scholarship program open to high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors; and college freshm en, sophomores, and juniors. Official registration forms are available at high school guidance offices or by calling 1-800-Learn MS. Now entering its fourth year, MSAA’s Project: Learn MS ‘97 encourages students to write a 500- 1000 word essay on multiple scle rosis, its effect on the family, and how society can improve life for the physically challenged. MSAA will appoint two independent pan els to judge the essays separately for high school and college levels. All essays must include an official registration form, a minimum o f $7.50 in prepaid sponsorship, and must be postmarked by April 11, 1997. Students are encouraged to raise additional sponsor money to win various prizes. Know as the most common neu rological disorder o f young adults, multiple sclerosis affects as many as 500.000 Americans. Symptoms can include blindness, extreme fa tigue, tremors, and varying degrees o f paralysis. At present, there is no known cause, cure or prevention for MS MSAA is a national non profit health care agency provid ing direct patient care programs and services to assist those suffer ing from MS MSAA services in clude peer counseling, support groups, free loan o f therapeutic equipment, barrier-free housing, symptom m anagem ent research and therapies, educational litera ture, no-cost MRI’s and other vital patient programs. a m hr>w tn iisp h e computer. c o m m ite r . bers lo learn how to use t the I found it challenging, yet reward ing to teach something that has be come second nature to me." 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