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February 21,1974 PHOENIX Page 5Results from City-Wide School TestsLocal Trend in Readingis 'Small but Significantsecond, fifth and eighth grades (as in the other grades) in Community School Districts 13 and 15 remain primarily below grade level, comparisons with April 1972 figures show an uphill move in the district, as in other parts of the city.Eighth grade results are less heartening than the elementary school averages in the five District 15 Junior Highs and Intermediate Schools, though one such institution moved from 5.9 in 1972 toiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitaiiiHitigiiiimuiiniiiiHiDistrict 13 includes the neighborhoods of Brooklyn Heights, Fort Greene, Prospect Heights and parts of Park Slope and BedfordStuyvesant. District 15 includes Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill, Windsor Terrace and parts of Park Slope, Sunset Park and Flatbush.IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUIIIIIIIIIIIIII6.2 in 1973. Three of the four eighth grades in District 13 show an increase, the most dram atic belonging to J. H. S. 258 which moved from 5.5 to 6.0. However, even with the slight rises in eighth grade, the doddering movement from grades five to eight seems to warrant strong focus, with a view towards action.fifth grade with a 4.7 score was a year behind the national norm and an eigth grade with a 5.6 score was lagging by three years and one month.Other school news reveals that there is some small hope for a reversal of the cutbacks deemed necessary because of budgetary miscalculations in various Community School Districts. State Senator Carol Bellamy has forwarded a letter to Board of Education Chancellor Irving Anker asking that he reconsider the lay-offs of %u201capproximately 2800%u201d teachers throughout the city,%u2019 %u00ab %u2022 %u2022 %u2014**__*._%u00bb------ ; i i ____ | . ___Jdim CtUVl&lUK uku out mu ovvn unuThe Environment Monthly, a national publication forprofessionals in the ecology and design fields, has recognized theDowntown Brooklyn Development Association in its first annual\(left), Environment Monthly editor, presented the award lastweek to Margot Wellington, the vice president who directs theAssociation's environmental efforts, and Major Max Shulman,DBDA's Environment Committee chairman and chairman of J. W.Mays, Inc., Department Store.support %u201cadequate funding for the New York City public school system,%u201d from the state.She asks however that the board review its \dition%u201d in an attempt to come forth with the money while the state funds are being sought, since she feels that the mid year cut backs \the quality of the city%u2019s educational program.%u201dThe scores listed below mean that 50 percent of the pupils, tested above the figure indicated (the median) and 50 percent had marks below that amount. The national medians for grades 2, 5 and 8 are 2.7,5.7 and 8.7 respectively. Thus aFigures released by the Boardof Education last week andpublished in daily newspapersshowed the fifth grade of P.S.7-8 in the Heights with areading level of 7.4, whichwould represent the highestjump over a previous year inthe whole city. That figure isin error, the PHOENIX haslearned. District 13 officialsand administrators at the schoolrefused to talk with a PHOENIXreporter about the matter. Onemember of the Board, however,suggested that the extraordinarylevel was simply the result ofa printer's transposition. Sinceschool authorities have refusedto comment, we have retransposed this figure.%u2666 %u2666 %u2666 %u00bb %u2666 %u2666 %u2666 %u2666 %u2666 %u2666 %u2666 %u2666 %u2666 %u2666 %u00abIt seems that District 15 which went over its allocations by $700,000. and had to dismiss 40 teachers (all permanent substitutes, some of whom were planning leaves) lost332 pupils last year while it added 37 jobs, according to a breakdown published last week. According to Board of Education spokesmen, the major problems in most of the overextended schools related to overestimation of pupil enrollment and underestimation of teacher salary as well as the expectation of accrual money which had come from the central board in previous years. The extra hiring would seem to relate to that expectation of %u201cfound money%u201d which didn%u2019t come through this time because the board of ed %u201chad not a penny left.%u201dDistrict 13, which has not dismissed any teachers seems to be moving toward balanced figures. The district had a pupil enrollment loss of 919 this year and had cut jobs before the beginning of the school year by 22.In the midst of reading score anxiety and district double entries, work continues in the classrooms. And a report from P. S. 321 on Seventh Ave. and First St. in Park Slope notes the happy visits made by first and second grade pupils to %u201c learning centers%u201d (or Open Classrooms) in the school.The Learning Centers headed by teachers Karen Norins and Phyllis Bilus use materials which are often donated by parents and teachers %u201cto reinforce and enrich classroom learning.%u201d The children who work in these less structured arrangements several times a week, use blocks, paints, puppets, filmstrips, and scales.Expressiveness is the aim according to school informants, and the children have been writing stories, and plays, creating puppet shows, and country scenes. They have been watching gerbils, making graphs and constructing balance scales. Reading, writing and arithmetic are of course used in this midst, but the manner is informal and the connection is to the child%u2019s project.BY CORRINE COLEMANLocal public schools followed the city trend of %u201ca small but significant improvement%u201d in reading scores according to results of tests administered in April 1973 and published last week.The tests, Board of Education spokesmen say, are standarized on a nationwide pupil population and are designed to measurevocabulary and reading comprehension. They are administered annually in April %u201cto satisfy a stipulation of the State Legislature%u2019s Community School District Act of 1970 and to provide central, District, and school administrators with objective bases for instructional, organizational and personnel policy decisions,%u201d the Board advises.Though median scores for the%u201c ---------------- --F o llo w in g are scores fo r some o f the schools in th e tw od is tric ts :D IS T R IC T 13:G R A D E 2 G R A D E 5(M E D IA N ) (M E D IA N )1972 1973 1972 1973P.S. 7-8 (B ro o k ly n2.3 2.9 4.2 4 . 7 *H eights-Farragut)P.S. 11 2.4 2.6 4.1 4.5(C lin to n H ill) P.S. 20 2.3 2.3 4.2 4.7(F o rt Greene) P.S. 67 2.2 2.0 4.6 4.3(F o rt Greene) P.S. 133 2.2 2.0 4.4 4.6(G ow anus) P.S. 282 2.1 2.3 4.4 4.9(Park Slope) P.S. 287 (F arragut)2.4 2.7 3.5 3.6G R A D E 8 (M E D IA N )1972 1973I.S. 117 5.8 5.8(W illo u g h b y Ave.)I.S. 258 (M acon St.)5.5 6.0J.H .S . 265 5.5 5.6(F o rt Greene) J.H .S . 294 (F t. Greene, C lin to n H ill)6.0 6.2*S E E BOX IN ADJOINING COLUMND IS T R IC T 15:G R A D E 2 G R A D E 5(M E D IA N ) (M E D IA N )1972 1973 1972 1973P.S. 10 2.2 2.3 3.9 4.8(Park Slope) P.S. 27 2.2 2.7 3.6 4.6(C a rro ll GardensRed H o o k)P.S. 29 2.5 2.5 4.1 4.4(C obble H ill) P.S. 32 2.1 2.5 3.8 3.9(G ow anus) P.S. 39 2.4 2.8 5.2 5.0(Park Slope) P.S. 261 2.3 2.4 4.4 5.0(B oerum H ill) P.S. 321 (Park Slope)2.3 2.9 4.3 5.0G R A D E 8 (M E D IA N )1972 1973J.H .S. 51 5.7 5.8(Park Slope) I.S. 88 (Park Slope)5.9 6.2J.H .S . 136 5.6 5 .6(Sunset Park) 1 8 293 (C obble H ill)6.0 5.6J.H.S. 142 (C arroll Gardens)5.3 5.3S c _ j