Language Arts

Teachers, librarians and administrators who work in the development of language arts programs and services are eligible to attend a summer institute at Cal State Fullerton. Participants in the California Literature Project will design literature-based curriculum, discuss strategies and learn to implement a program that establishes student reading and writing abilities. Cost to attend the Aug. 5-23 institute will be $650. Information: (714) 449-4565.

California students showed moderate gains in English and math on standardized test scores released by the state Department of Education on Monday, continuing a long-term trend. But the results also reveal that the state has a long way to go to bring students up to grade level. Overall, 54% of California students scored at the "proficient" level or higher in English-language arts, compared with 52% last year; and 50% scored proficient or better in math, compared with 48% last year.

The Garden Grove school board has approved the purchase of $1.7 million in new instructional materials for its secondary language arts classes. The new materials, to be used by students in seventh- through 12th-grade language arts classes, special-education language arts classes and English development language arts classes, will replace existing materials during the next school year.

Archie Green liked to tell people he had two educations -- one on San Francisco's waterfront, the other in the university. But the former shipwright and carpenter didn't just trade his blue collar for a white one. He merged the two identities and created a new field of study. Green, who was 91 when he died of kidney and heart failure March 22 at his San Francisco home, was a pioneering folklorist who studied the language, music, art and customs of working men and women.

New textbooks recommended for language arts classes in English and Spanish for kindergarten through third-grade students are on display in the Garden Grove Unified School District's Media and Technology Center, 10331 Stanford Ave. Parents interested in previewing the textbooks may look them over from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through June 12. On June 4, hours will be extended until 8 p.m. and the books will be on display in the district office annex building.

Simi Valley public school students will be reading new back-to-basics core literature next year, as trustees have voted to adopt new language arts textbooks--the first time in seven years. Simi Valley Unified School District trustees Tuesday unanimously approved three sets of books, all heavy on phonics, spelling and the classics, which teachers will receive before summer. Kindergartners through fifth-graders will use Macmillan/McGraw-Hill's "Spotlight On Literacy."

A teacher who helped her school win a top state award for language arts has been named Westminster School District's Teacher of the Year. Willis Warner Middle School teacher Marilyne Coats, 49, won the honor, partly for her work on the campus' Language Arts Demonstration Program, spokeswoman Audrey Brown said. The program trained teachers to adopt innovative instructional methods to improve students' language skills.

Orange County students bested their counterparts statewide in every subject and at every grade level. The chart shows the percentage of students who scored at or above national averages in reading, math and language arts. *--* READING MATH LANGUAGE Grade Calif. O.C. Calif. O.C. Calif. O.C.

UC Irvine's office of teacher education has received a $230,000 grant to train Orange County educators to integrate a drug and alcohol abuse curriculum into the entire school day, campus officials said. "A biology class might focus on the adverse effects of drugs on brain cells, or of alcohol on the liver," said Joan Bissell, assistant director of teacher education.

Last Monday, the state released the latest round of scores on California's High School Exit Exam. More than half of the 431,000 10th-graders who took the exam last spring failed it--most for the second time. They will have more chances to pass, but unless something extraordinary happens, they can forget about a high school diploma. They can also forget about attending any of California's public universities, even if they've had all the right classes, gotten good grades and taken the SAT. The exit exam is a blunt instrument, useful for exposing the California schools in greatest need of attention and resources.

Orange County students bested their counterparts statewide in every subject and at every grade level. The chart shows the percentage of students who scored at or above national averages in reading, math and language arts. *--* READING MATH LANGUAGE Grade Calif. O.C. Calif. O.C. Calif. O.C.

Your story from July 15, "Weighing the Classics," has brought significant and positive feedback to the California Department of Education (CDE) from the public on the issue of the state's new recommended literature list. The purpose of the list, as The Times writer states, is to encourage more reading by students inside and outside of class. Just a few minor omissions in the article need to be corrected: Contrary to what the headline said, Walt Whitman is included in the list. Moreover, authors Borges, Paz, Carpenter and Cervantes are on the list of titles written in Spanish.

Re "Standardized Test Scores Reveal Politics, Not Education," Valley Perspective, Oct. 22. It's so easy to bash the Stanford 9 as an imperfect test instrument and to attribute gains to teachers teaching to the test and instructing students in test-taking skills. Such rhetoric diminishes the very real efforts that teachers and districts have made over the last year or two to improve student achievement. Imperfect though it may be, the Stanford 9 is quite adequate for testing reading comprehension and mathematics proficiency.

Nine Ventura County campuses will be among 200 California high schools to participate in a field test of the state's first exit exam, which students will soon be required to pass to graduate. Participating high schools in the county include Oak Park, Nordhoff, Fillmore, Santa Paula, Thousand Oaks, Ventura, Newbury Park, Westlake and Buena Vista, a continuation school in Ventura.

The California Board of Education on Thursday approved math and reading textbooks for students in kindergarten through eighth grade, paving the way for school districts to begin spending $1 billion on materials aligned with rigorous new standards. However, a state Department of Education official cautioned publishers that the approvals carried a condition: Textbooks and other materials must not contain ethnic and other stereotypes, or brand names that smack of advertising. The latter part of that requirement could put many publishers in a bind, forcing them to make costly editing changes or miss out on the chance to sell their wares.

Felix Navidad is dead, four suspects have been identified, and seventh-grade students at Washington Middle School are on the case. "I think Vera Cruise killed Felix," 12-year-old Eric Choi said. Classmate Maria Resendis, 12, pointed to Kendra Goode as the culprit. Zena Nino, 12, said she thinks Navidad killed himself. The students are participating in a two-week mock crime scene investigation that incorporates lessons in science, math, reading and language arts.

Your story from July 15, "Weighing the Classics," has brought significant and positive feedback to the California Department of Education (CDE) from the public on the issue of the state's new recommended literature list. The purpose of the list, as The Times writer states, is to encourage more reading by students inside and outside of class. Just a few minor omissions in the article need to be corrected: Contrary to what the headline said, Walt Whitman is included in the list. Moreover, authors Borges, Paz, Carpenter and Cervantes are on the list of titles written in Spanish.

Seeking to raise student performance, Los Angeles school officials Tuesday unveiled a plan that will require elementary schools to spend a minimum of two hours on reading and language arts every day, with lessons that are grounded in phonics and other basic skills. The blueprint will provide a uniform approach to instruction at all 421 elementary campuses in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The program is scheduled to take effect next month.

Puzzled over the dramatic drop in high school reading scores on the Stanford 9 tests? You needn't be. Spend one day at any local high school and you'll understand why reading scores drop in grades nine and 10. Every 55 minutes, students, responding to preset bell schedules, leave their classrooms and move to the next subject on their schedule. That's 55 minutes for physical education, 55 minutes for photography, 55 minutes for math or history and 55 minutes for language arts.