| OCR Text |
Show Uinvah slightly ahead ov national study Modesto Plan follows recommendations By Steven Wallis Express News Editor Editor's note: First of a two-part series and weekly column. The first two articles will deal with the Modesto Plan of school discipline which started last year in the Uintah School District. The subsequent column will deal with education issues as suggested by the Community Council Public Relation's subcommittee. A burning ember has been set on public schools nation-wide as the National Na-tional Commission on Excellence in Education released a dismal report on the national quality of education. In 19 academic tests American students were never first or second. 23 million American adults are functionally func-tionally illiterate, 13 percent of all 17-year-olds in the U. S. are functionally functional-ly illiterate, average achievement of t high school students on most standardized standar-dized tests is now lower than 26 years ago the commission's findings are lengthly and support the title of their report, "A Nation At Risk." A nation, a state, a district, a school the national commission's report hits in everyone's backyard. Last summer the Uintah School District got a jump on some of the suggestions sug-gestions and recommendations brought to light by the national commission's com-mission's report by adopting the Modesto Plan. Dr. James C. Enochs, assistant superintendent, curriculum and instruction in-struction Modesto. Calif, city schools, presented last summer to school administrators ad-ministrators a plan which is working in the Modesto schools to restore standards. The Modesto Plan, which has been approved by the Uintah School Board in modified form, came about after innovative in-novative types of education were tried in the Modesto district in the 1960s and 1970s. "We looked at the results of national trends, polled our own community," Dr. Enoch said. "We looked at how we were doing, national reaction and local reaction and decided that unless we did something different we wouldn't escape the consequences." The Modesto Plan basically involves a change in philosophy. Dr. Enochs backs his change in philosophy with a quote from"No Easy Victories" by John V. Garner: "The best kept secret in America today is that people would rather work hard for something they believe in than enjoy a pampered idleness." The Modesto Plan was adopted by the Modesto City schools in 1976 "to restore educational standards and the confidence of our clients." The program, "Academic Expectations Expecta-tions and the Fourth R: Responsibility," Responsibili-ty," was not offered as a cleverly innovative in-novative panacea. "It was a modest proposal to get back on the high road from which we strayed in the mid-1960s. Most of the components, we unblushingly conceded, conced-ed, represented a return to some fundamentals fun-damentals we should never have abandoned." aban-doned." Dr. Enochs said. Encompassed in the Modesto Plan is the requirement that a public institution in-stitution clearly define itself; to say unequivocally what it believes in and stands for. The Modesto district took as a starting point a 1976 Gallup Poll on education. Results of the poll confirm that 84 percent of children in school favored instruction in morals and moral behavior; 55 percent would send their children to schools with strict discipline codes and strong emphasis on the three Rs; 54 percent didn't think students were required to work hard enough; and 96 percent favored school graduation requirements that demand that a student be able to read well enough to follow an instruction manual, write a letter of application using correct grammar and spelling, and know enough arithmetic to be able to figure out such problems as the total square feet in a room. The second step to enacting the proposal pro-posal is the belief that creating responsible respon-sible adults is a task requiring community com-munity commitment. It cannot be left solely to the public school. "Our intention is not to shift responsibility, respon-sibility, but to insist upon shared responsibility in some areas," Enoch said. Enoch sites cases where parents helped with truancy and provided recognition to outstanding students. On the local level, Dr. John Childs, ,,,j , ? School... Continued from page 1 principal at Vernal Junior High where the Modesto Plan has been im-plimented, im-plimented, said that the Vernal Elks is greatly helping by recognizing a student stu-dent a month for academic achievements. The school also initiated a High-5 Club which gives special privileges to students who receive five honor marks each term. The last term of the year, 150 students who were High-5s were able to see Rocky III after school hours. Dr. Childs said the Modesto program pro-gram was first impemented in the writing competency of students at Vernal Ver-nal Junior High. Students were required re-quired to write a composition once a week. "Grading the compositions was hard on the teachers, with all the other things they have to grade," Childs said. Dr. Childs said that they followed the Modesto Plan three-fourths of the way because they didn't post-test students to see if the program worked. In the Modesto City Schools, the pro-grant pro-grant saw "dramatic changes" after two years and studies show a steady increase in student proficiency thereafter, Dr. Enochs said. "You can't expect immediate results, because initially kids turn away from it because they have heard it all before," Dr. Enoch said. "You have got to let them know you mean business." The program sets high performance in a framework of expectations. "The trick is this is not only to set standards but from top to bottom to have the integrity and courage to enforce en-force them," Dr. Enochs said. The principle tasks of the public schools cannot be achieved if a disproportionate amount of time and resources must be given to maintaining maintain-ing order. Public schools are not obligated to serve students who, through persistent and serious acts, disrupt school and violate the rights of others. Dr. Enoch emphasises "serious and persistent acts" which make it impossible im-possible to teach. These problems are dealt with by alternative programs and other agencies are brought into play. At Vernal Junior High, Dr. Childs said he doesn't like to encourage the alternative for those who impair the education of others because sometimes they provide an easy out. But the school has used alternatives in extreme cases. "The program requres kids to be responsible," Dr. Childs said. "Most kids in school are doing that." |
