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Show Thursday, October THE HLKALD, frovo, Utah, 29, 1992 Page B5 Educator says low test scores fault of system not students By CLAUDE LEWIS Knight-Ridd- er that there may be a flaw in the process or the teaching technique," Moloney said. Americans, he believes, can handle bad news about kids who don't do well. "What they want is the truth," Moloney said. "If they are told the facts, they will get involved in trying to find ways to correct the Newspapers When students don't do well on sUndardized tests, William J. Mo-lorargues, "those "scores should sere as an engine to effect meaningful change." ey Noloney, superintendent of schcols for the Easton (Pa.) Area Schtol District, is novel among educators. He talks about viewing low tst scores not as the students' failuie to learn but rather as the schools' failure to effectively in- self-estee- m problem." Moloney is convinced that American schoolchildren are too often tracked too soon. Typically, by age 5 or 6, they are judged to be either on track or "slow" incapable of learning the curriculum designed for children their age. "Many of these children are simply suffering from the effects of poverty. Quite often, they are fully capable of learning, though struct Alhough Moloney doesn't say it, many educational professionals would rather hide low test scores than use them to argue for altering curricilum or teaching practices. "It i; easier to find fault with the childrei than to seriously consider some might need some bolstering to get them up to speed, especially in the beginning." Countless minority children are placed in classes composed of "slow learners." Often children in such settings never quite recover. If you start on the slow track, how can you get up to speed? Occasionally, if one bothers to can listen, the lack of be heard from the mouths of the youngsters themselves. "I'm in the dumb class," some kids say with a shrug. Children who see themselves in such demeaning ways usually lack the needed to learn. Some become behavior problems. Others tune out because they sense that nobody expects them to learn. Ask any minority parent inter- self-estee- m President still has strong support By J CRAIG CRAWFORD Orlando Sentinel People don't talk the same way they do in private when someone flashes a notebook and writes down everything they say. Usually when overhearing three voters talking politics, the impulse is to sit right down and intrude. But with a week to go before the presidential election and hearing three Southern white men evaluate the race, it seemed a better idea just to listen without interference. And this group demonstrated why Bush could still win the election: many Southern, white men are quietly sticking with him. - WILSON. N.C. The three white mei sat down for breakfast at the Hotiday Inn here Tuesday. Two were city police officers in uniform. Tne third, wearing a gray suit, said, "Now that was acrowd of people last night." He had been to Bill Clinton's appearance late Monbus-carav- an day outside Wilson's community center. "Had to be. five, six, maybe eight thousand people, and I'm telling you, it was getting cold," the man said. "They must have kept warm with all that hot air," said one officer, who looktd to be in his late fifties and later Ulked about retiring soon. "If I'd been there, I would have carried a BushQjayle sign," added 'the other officer, who was younger. At moments like that reporters are expected to get names and ages, and pester people with questions they would rather not answer in public. While that leids credibility to articles, on rare occasions it detracts from reading the main goal: truth. They have mostly backed Republican White House hopefuls since Bush and Ronald Reagan burst on the scene in 1980. The difference this year is that they seem less comfortable openly talking about their support for the GOP ticket. Somehow, it isn't as politcally correct as when Reagan strode the stage. But to each other these men freely side against Clinton. "What's his latest position on anything?" the older officer asked when the subject of Clinton's stands on issues came up. "Now, look at abortion," he said. "He's been all over the place on that. Hell, he flips and flops on everything. But all you hear is how great he is." "And you're not going to hear anything else," the younger officer said. "Last night they was a bunch of BushQuayle folks at the Clinton thing. But they weren't on television." looked embarrassed when ested in their childrens' education and they'll tell you that once a child is labeled "ineducable," learning vanishes. One such mother, Irene McKel-vewould agree with Moloney about the drawbacks of tracking. This southern New Jersey mother of four recalls that when her children were young, some guidance counselors and teachers had low expectations for them which, she insists, was based on their color. "It was clear because often these educators had spent no more than a day with the children before deciding whether they should plan on college," she said. McKelvey says once a child is convinced he or she can't learn, little or no effort goes into study- I miraculous asked her if she had ever asked him, "said McKelvey. Speaking for many minority parents, she added, "Our kids are routinely shunted off into these special classes, where they are never sufficiently challenged because expectations for them are persistently low. The whole experience becomes a ' prophecy.' With a mixture of longstanding bitterness and maternal pride, McKelvey confided, "I learned when my first child went to school, I was going to have to fight to keep them from putting labels on her. The teachers hated it when I showed up at school, but that didn't bother me one bit." Because of her involvement and intervention, each one of ing. "One teacher complained that McKelvey's children graduated my oldest son just sat in silence from college. "And finished on during reading class. time," she added. "When I asked Bryan why he "Just because a child is poor, didn't participate, he said, 'the doesn't mean he or she can't learn. teacher never asked me to.' I near- What they need is support from their parents and respect of their ly flew to the school," McKelvey recalled. teachers. If they're inspired and '"He never told me he could are convinced that somebody has read,' the teacher said to me. She faith in them, they'll perform in y, "They interviewed one guy," the older officer said. "He had a sign saying, "If character don't ways," McKelvey said. Moloney would agree, although he does not believe every child should go to college. He is con- vinced that far too many are pushed into areas such as cosmetology or auto mechanics, areas of study that often will lead to deadend jobs. "One has to ask," Moloney says, "what will become of the lives of these children?" But in his v iew, problems in education are hardly confined to the poor. self-fullfilli- "We're admitting kids to college who lack eighth-grad- e skills," Moloney said. Not just minority kids, he stressed, "I'm talking about kids across the board. "Sometimes, I feel we package, staple and label kids so often that we wind up setting limits for them. I don't believe it's intentional. But our mistakes can place harmful limits on people from which they never escape. There are no villians here, I sometimes think it's just a tragedy of good intentions gone awry," Moloney said. Claude Lewis is a Philadelphia Inquirer columnist. SO... WHO ARE to(J VOTING matter, why ain't Ted Kennedy president?" ir All three men laughed. "Yeah, there were a couple of signs that said 'Go Back to Russia,'" the man in the suit added. They laughed again. "But I'll tell you what," he "That crowd was amazing. said. All those people stayed, even though Clinton was a couple of hours late. It was almost mid- night." "And as soon as he was up there AiiNiti mm talking, folks were wandering off," the man said. "You could i kA mm m a tell they were determined to say they saw him, just in case he wins." Craig Crawford is a national correspondent in The Orlando Sentinel's Washington bureau. . What if columnist ran for presidency? ing time than J. Walter Thompson on amphetamines and sell my program harder than an air conditioning contractor at the South Pole. By JIM SPENCER Newport News Daily Press Now then, let's get right to the heart of the bullstye. Say I'm run- Then, the news breaks about ning for the presidency of the United States. Say I have a bllion dollars and big ears. Say I've also got skin as thin as the negligee on a centerfold. Now, what am going to do? Well, let's put it on a personal basis. First, I why I dropped out of the race in the first place. When reporters ask me for proof of the character assassination plot, I don't have any. So I turn the tables and accuse the media of writing bizarre, twisted and slanted stories. Then, I tell them how a guard dog bit the butt off of a terrorist in my front yard in 1970. 1 tell them I didn't see it happen, and I won't give them the name of the only person who did. Then, I tell them I'm sick and tired of them questioning my integrity without a basis for it. Now, let's cut to the core, of the apple. I've got the patience of a pregnant woman with a full bladder. That's why I like these advertising spots. Nobody interrupts me while I'm talking. Trouble is, I still can't seem to call all the shots. Here I finally explain why I dropped out of the presidential race for a while, and nobody believes me. I've been rich and powerful for so long that I don't remember what it feels like to be crossed. When I speak, people usually fall in step faster than a Marine drill team. So when I start getting more questions than a nun in a maternity ward, it makes me as nervous as a d cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Now then, what do the American people care if I believe a little promise to bail the coun- of debt in fve years. Then, I heat from several sources that one f my opponents try out plans to ruin my daughter's wedding by circulating a doctored picture of her in a semdalous pose. I don't make that act public, but I get out of the residential race quicker than spoiled tuna salad through a large inestine. Then, many oimy disappointed supporters brand ne a quitter. Now then, let',1 get to the vent of the spleen. A ouple of months after I drop out, Isee that the other candidates believe balancing the budget in five yeirs is as smart as running keroscrc through a fire hydrant. So I get back nto the presidential race just bfore a series of debates. I make fun o' my big ears and get a big laugh. I talk about drug dealers who aretoo dumb to get a job on the third shift at the Dairy Queen, but wto drive around in BMWs. I throv out enough to fill anevening at the one-line- rs long-taile- Im-pro- v. Then, I buy tiore TV advertis mill M NOT TRJ5T MEL. LIKE ALL THOSE OTHR X J F1 Pi conspiracy theory every now and again? All the other side has to do is deny it. I mean, if I said to you, "I heard you slept with your neighbor's Siberian husky." You'd say, "Jim, I don't even fit through the door of the dog house." The reporters don't want to talk about that. All they want to talk about is how I didn't bother to measure the door. Folks, it's time to gnaw on the pit of the peach. If you want a man in the White House who takes to scrutiny like a rattlesnake takes to a tonsillectomy, vote Here's the de,al: I say anything I want. You accept what I say, do what I tell you and don't ask any questions about it. Take it or leave it. But don't come sniffing around here like I stepped in something. Let's get right to the slice of the cow pie. We all know the presidency is a bully pulpit. All I'm trying to do is act presidential . Jim Spencer is a columnist for the Newport News (Va.) Daily Press. for-m- Slip Red Delicous Apples 30 Fryer Breast lb. minimum jumbo pack frozen U lb. 2 Liter Notice weight AT Includes: Barq 's Rootbeer, Sprite, Squirt, Sunkist Orange, Hawaiian Punch, Diet Sprite, Fresca The 1992 election has produced unprecedented numbers of politically related letters. We have printed as many as possible but there are a number of recent letters that will not run before the election due to space limitations. We thank all who took the time to write and encourage them to write again on other issues. .vix, (6j$ Smith'sCoupon)! jW MP 7 oas Smiths Coupon nou Good For! SPEND mi Party Trays for 1 oz. 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