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.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i m u i i i i i i i i i i iK l C %u2022 I C ^ ^ ^ ivO riTiui sjCG ik j o !P.S. 7-8 Principal SaysReading Tests Phoney'BY CORRINE COLEMANAdvising that the median reading score of 7.4 (grade level) for the 5th grade of P.S. 7-8 was accurate for the group it tested, Mrs. Blanche Kassindorf, the Principal of the paired school produced some little known information about the nature of the \tests designed,%u201d as the City Board of Education says, \measure vocabulary and reading comprehension %u2014 and to provide central, district and school adm inistrators with objective bases for instructional, organizational and personnel policy decisions.%u201dReferring to last week%u2019s PHOENIX story which afterlearning of the inaccuracy, turned the 7.4 score around to the 4.7 which more nearly related to the previous year%u2019s median of 4.2, Mrs. Kassindorf advised that the 7.4 figure published in the metropolitan daily press reflected the reading level of between 35 and 40 per cent of the fifth grade pupils tested - those who were given the more complicated test, but not the entire grade.It seems, the Administratoradvised, that groups in each grade are tested differently, with children known to read on a higher grade level given one set of tests and children with %u201c less reading ability%u201d getting a more elementary form. In some schools, she added, every child in a grade may get the easier test.In P.S. 8 however, 60 or 65 per cent of the fifth grade pupils were given the easier test, and for some reason, these unlike the others, had to be scored by hand. Thus the 7.4 (a jump of over three years above last year%u2019s tally for the local schools) was the median score of those known to read on a higher level - rather than the median of the entire fifth grade. This higher score was computerized in Iowa, she said, and forwarded to the daily press.%u201cThe whole thing is a phoney,%u201d the Principal insists, decrying the fact that the information about the two different sets of tests given throughout the city is kept from the public by the Board of Education and the press.i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i m u i i i m i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i m i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i M i i i i i i i i i i i i i i iFebruary 28,1974 PHOENIX Page 3This hole at the intersection of Clinton and Joralemon Sts.claimed at least two vehicles during the week after it was openedby N.Y.C. Department of Water Supply workers. Unlit at night andwith barricades broken to splinters, cars turning the corner fromJoralemon St onto Clinton were particularly vulnerable. OnSunday afternoon it took a massive tow truck to remove a busfrom the hole, then on Monday afternoon a taxi cab went in, alsoto be removed by a tow truck. Tuesday morning, city workerswere back, after leaving the excavation unattended for a week, tofill it in and cold patch the surface. (Hernandez Photo)Hot Lunches on Wayfor Heights Senior CitizensHot lunches for Brooklyn Heights senior citizens at the Cadman Plaza War Memorial are on the way announces Heights City Councilman Fred Richmond, who said that the new Executive Capital Budget will include funds for the conversion and rehabilitation of the Memorial%u2019s kitchen. Richmond, a member of the City Council%u2019s Finance Committee, reports that repais will begin in July and will be coupled with a Federally-funded food program.Richmond said: \the Heights and Hill Council in cooperation with Brooklyn Catholic Charities initiated a sandwich iuncii program ai me Cadman Plaza Memorial. The program was well receiver! by many people from the area's hotels. The money included in the Capital Budget will enable these citizens to receive a substantial hot lunch men the year round.%u201dRichmond reports that the Heights and Hill Council is workingalleviating the nutrition deficiency of many of the one thousand senior citizens of Brooklyn Heights. Currently the Catholic Charities is running a City and Federally funded hot lunch program out of the Jubilee Senior Citizen Center on Joralemon Street while the First Presbyterian Church is running a program called Meals on Wheels for about 40 nonam bulatory residents of the community%u2019s hotels.Richmond said: \the coordinated efforts of all Brooklyn Heights Community organizations can we ever hope to make a dent in the nutrition problem needs of our senior citizens. The Heights and Hiii Council, Brooklyn Catholic Charities. and the First Presbyterian Church are doing fine jobs and I am happy to report that the City will take a small step in the right direction by rehabilitating the kitchen of the Cadman Plaza War Memorial to help provide hot lunches for our senior citizensTwc dogs are the only creatures partaking of the wide open space at Cadman Plaza Park, where alocal movement is afoot to install eight tennis courts between the Brooklyn War Memorial andTillary St The PHOENIX Parks Prober is seeking opinion on the idea from Heights residents. SeePage 16 for Story and Return Coupon. (Hernandez Photo)Takes Budget Hearings to BorosBY LYNNE GR1FOBrooklyn%u2019s Borough Hall was the scene last week of an important event in the process of decentralization of city government when, for the first time, public hearings on the City's Capital Budget were taken out of the usual city hall setting and brought to theuuiu uguS.Mark Lewis, a spokesman for Borough President Sebastian Leone, explained that communityleaders and spokesmen for local institutions come to tell then elected officials what they see as the items that should be given priority in the 1974-75 Capital Budget. The hearings were on Feb.%u201c Among those testifying was Dr. Seymour Lachman, President of the Board of Education,\said. \funds be included for the upgrading of P. S. 8 in Brooklyn Heights and P. S. 7 in the Farragut community.\On the other side of this issue,Scviiumi Puslumk, u member ofthe Community School Board of District 13 who lives in the Heightscalled for the closing down of P. S. 7 and for the unification of its student population in one school with the children of P. S. 8.Kenneth F. Duchac, Director of the Brooklyn Public Library, requested $531,000 lor the rehabilitation of the Prospect Branch and $210,000 to complete the renovation of the Centralitfiiiim fiH iH m tim H n iiiiitttiiiiiiitiiin iiw ifiiiiiiitiH M fM ifiiiiiiiiiiitiiiitin itiim iiiiM U fiM im u M ai!K 3M iai , PPW5PM:Asks City for Playlot $The Brooklyn Heights Playground Committee made a presentation of its plan to renovate the playlot at the end of Pierrepont Street at a joint hearing of the city%u2019s Board of Estimate and Finance Committee of the City Council held Feb. 19 at Borough Hall, requesting $15,000 for the building of a modern recreational facility for toddlers and young children.According to Mrs. Teresa Bernbach, the chairwoman of the Committee, the Board received the proposal favorably. \particularly impressed that we%u2019re doing this ourselves and have progressed so far.%u201dThe presentation before the Board of Estimate is a turnabout from the committee%u2019s earlier fundraising strategy. %u201c Originally we had gone to the Parks Department, and they said that because Brooklyn Heights is a middle-class neighborhood, we would have to match private contributions with foundation support. Then we went to a number of foundations who said we%u2019d have to look to the cityfor support,%u201d Mrs. Bernbach explained.Councilman Fred Richmond, who has supported the Committee%u2019s efforts during the past year, suggested that they seek $75,000 from the city and request the rest from private sources. The Committee has already raised more than $10,000 locally through their street fair and solicited contributions. %u201c We%u2019re planning to have a series of childrens%u2019 shows and other fund-raising activities in the spring,%u201d Mrs. Bernbach reported.Meanwhile, there has been considerable progress toward a final design for the playground. Architect and Committee member Sonja Locke has prepared an architectural model encompassing the current ideas of the Committee. Surveys of the site are currently being completed by the firm of G. T. O%u2019Buckley, who has agreed to work with volunteers on the Committee, thus substantially reducing the cost.The Playground Committee welcomes contributions toward itsgoal. Checks should be made out to the Parks Council, Inc., and sent to the Brooklyn Heights Playground Committee, 1 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn Heights, 11201.