The skanner., June 15, 2011, Page 9, Image 9

Seattle News
State Tests Show Improvement
Gordon
D
espite years of state budget
cuts
for
education,
Washington high school
students continue to do well on
statewide tests in reading and writ-
ing, and both graduation and
dropout rates are improving, state
officials said Tuesday.
“But the future will hold the key
to whether reduced resources, I
believe, will have an effect on stu-
dents
in
the
future,”
Superintendent
of
Public
Instruction Randy Dorn said.
Starting with the class of 2015
— next year’s high school fresh-
men — students in Washington
will have even higher hurdles to
jump to graduate from high
school: five statewide tests includ-
ing two in math and one in sci-
ence, and more credit require-
ments.
“While resources are going
down to help students meet the
standard, the standard is going
up,” Dorn said.
Dorn commended Washington
students and educators for improv-
ing graduation rates over the past
three years, despite decreasing
state dollars for education.
Course completion continues to
be more of a challenge for gradua-
tion than passing the statewide
exams, but Washington continues
to have a dropout problem, he
said.
Dropout rates have dropped in
every racial group except for
Pacific Islander students, who
have seen their dropout rates
increase over the past few years,
but every racial group has a
dropout rate above 10 percent. The
overall dropout rate decreased
from 19.4 percent in 2009 to 17.6
percent in 2010. Final numbers for
2011 are not yet available.
Preliminary results show overall
state graduation rates went from
70.4 percent in 2006 to 76.5 per-
cent in 2010. State officials expect
the extended graduation rate for
the class of 2011 — including kids
who make up credits over the
summer or during the next school
year — will continue to be above
80 percent.
“It’s going to be difficult to sus-
tain the increases in graduation
rates” with state budget cuts tak-
ing money away from schools,
Dorn said.
“We’re going to need the
resources for a 21st century educa-
tion,” he said. Dorn urged govern-
ment leaders and the public to
push for more dollars for educa-
tion, especially as the economy
starts turning around.
He acknowledged, however, that
the effect of changes in
D’Wayne
Stelivan
curriculum, test formats,
shows
his
son
state academic goals and
De’Lveon, 5, how to
extra help for students
fold
a
paper
doesn’t show up immedi-
airplane Saturday,
ately in test scores, so the
June 11, at the
improvements being seen
annual Juneteenth
this year likely have been
Celebration at Pratt
in the works for years.
Park.
The 3-day
Individual new programs
event included a
around the state, especially
Walk for Youth, live
in struggling districts,
music, good food, a
seem to be showing up in
poetry contest and
the statewide scores, from
lots of activities for
online courses for students
kids.
to retake classes to pro-
grams that bring dropouts
back to school.
The president of the
state’s largest teachers
union said the success on
statewide
tests
and
improvement in graduation
rates shows teachers and
support staff are doing a
great job, despite cuts in
“I hope it turns around, but I’m
state dollars, larger classes and
fewer people to help struggling not terribly optimistic that it’s
going to. And our kids are going to
students.
“Despite increasingly challeng- suffer,” Lindquist said. “If I were I
ing times, we’re helping kids be parent, I’d be pretty angry.”
The League of Education Voters,
successful,” said Mary Lindquist,
president of the Washington a school advocacy group, has a
Education Association. She said different take on the relationship
she is hopeful but not optimistic between school funding and stu-
about the economy and the dent achievement.
“We think the fact that we’re
chances of continuing to improve
in test scores and graduation rates. getting progress with declining
PHOTO BY SUSAN FRIED
By
Donna
Blankinship
Associated Press
Pratt Park Juneteenth
resources shows that districts are
becoming more efficient,” said
Lisa Macfarlane, the league’s sen-
ior adviser. School budget cuts are
not a new phenomenon, so this
year’s progress comes after years
of decreasing dollars and increas-
ing focus on boosting student
achievement, she added.
“This progress says everything
about the power of high expecta-
tions,” Macfarlane said.
Poppins
continued from page 7
tically speaking, they’re kind of two separate things. Because in Victorian England they
didn’t have slavery per se. Africans and people from different parts of the (Caribbean)
Islands, they worked in London, you know what I mean? And they may have ended up as
servants, but a lot of them were just free citizens. And a lot of people don’t know that —
that Europe was in the forefront of freedom for Africans and for Islanders. And so they had
regular jobs like we do today. A lot of them did have power, a lot of them were wealthy, a
lot of them just had a regular normal life.
But artistically speaking, it’s very rare – I am the first African American to play a lead-
ing role in this show. If you look in London, or New York, Broadway, there hasn’t been a
principle character that’s been African American. So this is a first for Disney, it’s a first for
me, and I’m so glad because that’s kind if my plight in life – is to open doors to let people
know we can do anything. Once the show starts you don’t even think about ‘what color is
she? Where is she from?’ People just want to listen to the story. So if we trust our audiences
enough to understand the kind of story we’re telling, they’ll get over the color barrier
quickly. Especially if you’re doing a good job. And that’s why I really want to encourage
theaters and anyone in the arts – television, film, theater – to go forward and cast people
according to their level of ability, not color.
And in “Mary Poppins,” it doesn’t matter. Our show is very colorful, you’ll see people of
all ages, all ethnicities, all types of people in our show. And it’s so beautiful to bring your
shows into this and see all the colors onstage because a lot of times, and particularly shows
like the “Lion King” – no offense or anything like that — that are majority Black, it takes
place in Africa. It’s awesome for people to come and see our show with a wide variety of
ethnicities, and I applaud Disney for that, because they do that often. It’s wonderful for me
and wonderful for the person who plays this part after me.
TSN: Who are your role models?
QS: Audra McDonald, she’s won two Tonys now (for 2001 Best Actress Featured in a
Play in “King Hedley,” and 2010 Best Leading Actress in a Play for “Fences”), she’s an
African American female who has done a variety of roles and who has crossed all kinds of
barriers. An amazing, amazing woman and I will really need her in my book. I’m writing
book about what we’re speaking about, actually. She’s inspired me. A woman named Viola
Davis, has inspired me, she comes from the theater but now she has gone on to a life in
film, she was nominated for an Oscar for “Doubt” (in 2008). She is a strong, amazing
African American woman who is so wise, and so how she has conducted her career and
conducted herself as an artist – you know we are artists, we are not just Black, we are not
just one thing. We are many things. We don’t just sing gospel music, we don’t just rap – I
don’t even know how to rap. It’s so amazing you just walk into a room to audition and
before I started making my career people just assumed I was one thing. And so this oppor-
tunity to appear in “Mary Poppins” has given way for me to really show what I can do.
Hopefully it will help others to understand that people can do anything if — you give them
a chance to do it.
TSN: I was excited that Nikki James won a Tony on Sunday night (for Best Featured
Actress in a Musical, in “The Book of Mormon”).
QS: Yes, she’s a friend of mine, I’m very excited for her and her career. I am so proud of
her.
“Mary Poppins” runs at the Keller Auditorium from June 22 to July 10. For ticket infor-
mation go to www.broadwayacrossamerica.com/portland/ , or call 503-241-1802.
The Portland and Seattle Skanner June 15, 2011 Page 9