All Aboard the Success Express: On the Road With the Secretary of Education
Day 5

Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley is traveling this week on the Success Express-- and Education World is going along for the ride! This year's America Goes Back to School ride will stop in about 20 towns in seven states along the Mississippi River. Follow along as we file reports from the Success Express!

Click here for an introduction to the journey. (Aug 26, 2000)
Click here for the first day with Secretary Riley. (Aug 27, 2000)
Click here for the second day with Secretary Riley. (Aug 28, 2000)
Click here for the third day with Secretary Riley. (Aug 29, 2000)
Click here for the fourth day with Secretary Riley. (Aug 30, 2000)
Click here for the fifth day with Secretary Riley. (Aug 31, 2000)

Thursday, August 31, 2000

Today, Education World and Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley stopped in four states! It was the last -- and the busiest -- day of the America Goes Back to School trip through the rural Mississippi Delta region. Today, the Success Express visited schools that use Department of Education support to fund a parent center, a program to motivate junior high students to begin thinking about college, an after-school program, and special education services.

Today, the folks on the Success Express got off to an early start. A community breakfast and rally in Union City, Tennessee, celebrated much-improved test scores in the state.

LIMITED PROPERTY ASSESSMENTS DON'T LIMIT HOPES AND DREAMS

NOTES FROM THE ROAD Thursday, August 31, 2000 One of today's stops was in Hickman, Kentucky, a town Mark Twain once called "the most beautiful town on the Mississippi." Secretary Riley has lots of grandchildren stories that he shares from time to time in his speeches. This one involves three of his grandsons, ages seven, five, and three. "The three boys were sitting on the bed with me a few years ago," as Riley tells it. "I was reading them a story. The two older boys were really into it, but three-year-old Hugh kept saying 'Granddaddy, Granddaddy.'" So Riley interrupted the story and said, "'Hugh, son, your brothers are listening to this story about the wolf. It's a really exciting story. I wish you'd listen." Little Hugh persisted, however. Riley finally caved in and asked, "Son, what is it? What are you trying to tell me?" Young Hugh replied, "Granddaddy, you have a hole in the back of your hair.'" Did you know...? Metropolis, Illinois -- one of the last stops on the Success Express tour -- calls itself the "home of Superman." Images of Superman abound around this other Metropolis. The town newspaper is called the Weekly Planet. The school we visited is not, however, named for Clark Kent. Clark Elementary is named for George Rogers Clark, a military leader during the Revolutionary War and an older brother of William Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame.

After breakfast, the bus headed up the road to Fulton County. There, Riley toured the Family Ties Parenting Center at Fulton Elementary School. After briefly observing a self-esteem class for parents and their children, Tennessee Governor Paul Patton explained the work of the center.

"The center deals with any and all problems that keep kids from achieving -- everything from family problems to getting clothes for kids who need clothing to working with kids who have problems with drugs," Patton told Riley. "The program recognizes that a child who has problems outside school won't do well in school."

Among the center's services are after-school parenting classes, GED programs, counseling and mentoring, and home visits to help new parents finish high school and care for their young children.

The Fulton County School District has benefited from more than $2 million in federal grants from the Department of Education, Riley pointed out in an address to community members.

"Small school districts such as Fulton County's [600 students] might have a limited amount of assessed property value, but you don't have a limited amount of hopes and dreams for your children," said Riley. "And you don't want the children to have a limited amount of hopes and dreams for themselves. That's what the Family Ties Center and after-school programs can do."

The after-school program Riley referred to is the Great Rivers After-School Program (GRASP). The program will be established locally under a new three-year Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) grant, which will offer students extended learning time in a safe environment.

Riley's speech was a prelude to a ride across the Mississippi River aboard the Hickman-Dorena ferry. Students from Fulton County, accompanied by their guitar-paying superintendent of schools, serenaded Success Express passengers as they crossed the border from Tennessee to Missouri.

BACK UP STUDENTS WITH MORE THAN JUST RHETORIC

The next stop of the day was an early lunch at the Charleston (Missouri) Community Center, followed by a tour of Charleston's Warren E. Hearnes Elementary School.

Currently, federal allocations make up approximately 18 percent of the district's budget. Over the past two years, through the e-rate program, the district has also received $400,000 in discounts to link students to the Internet.

Riley chose to highlight the school's after-school academic enrichment program in his remarks. During the last school year, an average of 250 students participated each day in the school's Reach for the Stars program. The program is another example of a district that uses 21st CCLC fund to pay for after-school programs.

"The Reach for the Stars program gives our students a safe place to be between 3 and 6 p.m.," school principal Jim Edwards told Education World. "The students get homework support, and they get a double-dose of reading during that time, which helps reinforce what they learned during the school day." Edwards added that grant also funds transportation for student.

Other Department of Education programs, including Title I and Class Size Reduction (CSR) funds, have enabled Hearnes to hire teachers to reduce class size in the early grades. The addition of two faculty members reduced class sizes in the first, second, and third grades from 20 in 1998-1999 to an average of 16 in 1999-2000.

Programs such as Title I, CSR, and e-rate send students a message, Riley told reporters before boarding a bus for the next stop. "These young people need to see us backing them up with more than just rhetoric," he said.

WHERE THE MISSISSIPPI MEETS THE OHIO

Illinois gave the Success Express a big welcome at an event staged at Fort Defiance State Park, located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

In 1999, Shawnee Community College -- located in an Illinois Delta Empowerment Zone -- received a five-year, $1.7 million GEAR-UP grant. Four local schools are participating in the grant.

GEAR Up aims to interest and prepare middle school students to attend college. The program informs students and their families about college options and provides tutoring, counseling, and summer enrichment experiences that include visits to local colleges.

"The whole purpose of the GEAR-UP program is to get kids thinking about college early," Riley told the students in the audience. "We used to just talk to seniors in high school about going to college, but that's too late to start thinking about college. Junior high is the time to think about what you're going to take and how you're going to prepare yourself for college.

"We've made it possible for every person in America to go to college and to afford it through grants and loans and other programs," Riley added to emphasize his contention that nothing should keep students from a college education.

IT'S A BIRD. IT'S A PLANE. IT'S THE SUCCESS EXPRESS!

The last stop on the 2000 America Goes Back to School Success Express was Metropolis, Illinois -- the "home of Superman." Students and staff -- all dressed in red, white, and blue-- welcomed Riley to the school.

Special facilities at the school, designed to provide disabled students with a free and appropriate education, were the focus of much of the secretary's attention at Clark Elementary. Riley visited an early childhood program for three- and four-year-old children who meet special education qualifications.

"Nothing is more important than educating all children," Riley told a community gathering in the school's steamy all-purpose room.

"This year is the 25th anniversary of IDEA [Individuals with Disabilities Educational Act], and it's the tenth year for the Americans with Disabilities Act," he noted. "I want you to know that all of us in Washington are working hard to advocate full funding of IDEA."

See a related Education World story, Will the Government Fund Its Commitment to Special Ed?

Clark Elementary has also made use of CSR funds from the Department of Education. Those funds were used to reduce class size in first grade from 32 students to 21 students.

EXHILARATION AND EXHAUSTION!

Five days. Seven states. Twenty schools.

Finally, the Success Express wheeled into the driveway of the airport in Paducah, Kentucky, the end of an exhausting and exhilarating journey through rural communities. Everyone aboard will go home with stories of schools that make exemplary use of federal dollars to help their students achieve. Secretary Riley hopes that this tour of successful rural schools will demonstrate to others how they too might get aboard the Success Express!

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Wednesday, August 30, 2000

Partnerships, Parent Involvement, and Teacher Pay Focus of Day Four on the Success Express

Today, Education World followed Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley from Arkansas to Tennessee and back again to Arkansas. Read about how the "direct instruction" approach works for one school, how partnerships and parent involvement can bring a community together to help students achieve, and the secretary's feelings about the issue of teacher pay.

'DIRECT INSTRUCTION': AN APPROACH THAT WORKS AT WHITTEN

NOTES FROM THE ROAD Wednesday, August 30, 2000 When the Success Express stopped today at Whitten Elementary School in Marianna, Arkansas, Representative Marion Berry welcomed the secretary. "I come from a farming background," Berry told the audience in his opening remarks. "When we had a good crop, we would invest in upgrading our equipment and in the next year's crop. ... Things are going well in our country. It's time to invest!" Across the river, in Memphis, Tennessee, Representative Harold Ford Jr. -- the youngest member of Congress and the keynote speaker at this year's Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles -- served up the introduction to Secretary Riley. "I managed for Harold to give that speech out in California," Riley said when he took over the microphone. "I wanted him to be ready to give this one here." As the Success Express winds through the Delta country, Riley indulges in one of his favorite pastimes -- telling "grandchildren" stories. He has 11 of them! His young grandson Hugh has been looking forward to second grade, and the secretary tells it like this: One day a couple of weeks ago, Hugh turned to his mother and told her that he was homesick. Hugh's mother wasn't quite sure what he was getting at. "Homesick? How could you be homesick?" she asked, reminding the youngster he hadn't been away from home. Hugh cleared up all confusion when he told his mother, "No, I'm sick of home. I want to go back to school!" Did you know ... ? ? Arkansas has l60,000 acres of lakes; 9,700 miles of streams and rivers; and 2.4 million acres of national forests. The first not-for-profit sports team, the Memphis Redbirds (a St. Louis Cardinals franchise), plays in AutoZone Park. All profits go to Memphis-area charities that promote sports for youth. In the past year, the team donated $250,000, a portion of which helped establish baseball and softball teams in all area middle schools. While he was still in high school, Johnny Cash made his professional singing debut on radio station KLCN, in Blytheville, Arkansas.

Unfazed by the crowd gathered in her classroom, teacher Brenda Rankin led her first graders at Whitten Elementary School in a reading lesson. Despite the fact that it was only the third day of school in Marianna, Arkansas, the kids responded enthusiastically and right on cue to the lesson taught with the "direct instruction" approach.

Direct instruction is one of many approaches that teachers use in classrooms with much success, Secretary Riley told Education World. "Different students need different kinds of methodologies, but when you find something like direct instruction that is working for some, then it is important for public officials to spread the word. That's a role that the federal government can play because we're in contact with all 50 states. The approach might work well in your school -- it might not. Direct instruction works at Whitten."

Every staff member at Whitten -- including all teacher assistants and substitute teachers -- takes direct instruction training. In addition, all teachers participate in after-school workshops and attend monthly coaching sessions to help them with new concerns.

Since adopting the direct instruction approach at Whitten, student achievement has shown significant improvement. During the 1996-1997 school year, only 47 percent of first graders scored at or above the national average in reading on the SAT-9 exam. By 1998-1999, 62 percent of students scored at or above average.

Before the reading lesson, principal Betty McGruder led Riley on a tour of the school computer lab. Title I funds paid for all the computers. In addition to the lab, each classroom at Whitten has six computers. Title I money was also used to hire instructional assistants, purchase school supplies, and train teachers. Thanks to e-rate funds, all computers are wired to an in-school network, and kids have Internet access from every computer. Whitten Elementary is a 1999 Title I Distinguished School.

MEMPHIS VISIT SPOTLIGHTS PARTNERSHIPS, TEACHER PAY

The city of Memphis welcomed Secretary Riley with a barbecue lunch at AutoZone Park, in the heart of downtown. After lunch, the Lauderdale Accelerated School Show Choir entertained Riley and community leaders with a spirited rendition of the song "Possibilities."

A local group, Partners in Public Education (PIPE), and the Memphis City Schools sponsored the community gathering at AutoZone Park. PIPE is a nonprofit organization that builds support and raises funds for reform initiatives in Memphis City Schools. PIPE has contributed $1.5 million to renovate the Teaching and Learning Academy, a cutting-edge facility dedicated to the professional development of teachers, principals, and administrators. PIPE also kicked off a $2 million campaign to provide classroom libraries for all Memphis elementary schools.

"Anything that works well in education has the word partnership in front of it," Riley told the large group of educators and businesspeople at the luncheon. "Partnerships are the key to making our schools highly productive. I'm talking about all kinds of businesses supporting young people in school. That is a way to serve your community. It's also a way to serve your great country.

"The government's role is to be a partner but to be a junior partner," Riley added. "That's important to remember. We're not into control. We're into support. We're into identifying national priorities and sharing ideas that are working for others."

One program that works is just a few blocks from AutoZone Park. Middle College High is located on the campus of Southwest Tennessee Community College. There, students can get dual -- high school and college -- credit for many courses they take.

"Students here are able to see first-hand that the college experience is for them," principal Joyce C. Mitchell told the visitors to Middle College High. "The students are involved in rigorous course work and what better place to take rigorous courses than on a college campus?"

Riley used the visit as an opportunity to compliment the Middle College High staff -- and to make a case for increased pay for teachers. "We as a nation have a lot of things to do," said Riley. "We have to take a look at professional teaching. We cannot any longer attract bright young people to teaching on the cheap. So we have to pay teachers and give them the working conditions that they are entitled to."

Middle College High School adopted the Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound (ELOB) reform model. This model stresses the value of long-term, in-depth investigation of a single theme or topic that requires students to take responsibility for their learning.

Since adopting ELOB in 1995, student achievement at Middle College High School has dramatically improved. In 1995, only 9 percent of 11th graders at Middle College High scored "proficient" on the state writing assessment; in 1999, 63 percent of students scored "proficient." The dropout rate at Middle College High School has decreased from 12.4 percent in 1995 to 3.4 percent in 1999.

'THAT BOOKSTORE' IN BLYTHEVILLE

School was out for the day, but the Success Express pressed on to Blytheville, Arkansas. They were heading to "that bookstore."

When Mary Gay Shipley opened That Bookstore in Blytheville in 1976, she had no idea it would develop a reputation as a unique, middle American landmark. The Success Express stop at the bookshop highlighted Shipley's focus on providing programs for children and families as well as its community-wide involvement in the education of children. "If I'm not out reading or selling books, I'm out organizing the world," said Shipley.

The bookstore visit and a community supper at East Junior High School in Blytheville gave Riley an opportunity to focus his words on the importance of family involvement in education.

"We all know what makes a good education," Riley said. "Research shows that if you have parents or family members who are actively involved in support of their children, it makes all the difference in this world."

Ginny Markell, president of the National PTA, is aboard the Success Express this week. "For years and years, parents in schools spent their time collating and doing cutouts," Markell told Education World. "Parents still help out in those ways, but now we talk about parents' really bringing expertise into the classroom. Schools offer a great opportunity for parents to share hobbies or work skills. To be able to see adults who use math on their jobs or who work in the sciences is important. Parents can feel good about the kind of meaningful volunteering that adds to learning too."

At the community supper, Secretary Riley participated in the donation of 15 wireless telephones and related telephone services to the Blytheville Public Schools. That donation will make it easier for teachers to communicate with parents.

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Tuesday, August 29, 2000

Distance learning, class-size reduction, and after-school programs were the focus of yesterday's stops on the Success Express, Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley's annual trip to celebrate his America Goes Back to School campaign. Come along as Education World rides along!

DISTANCE LEARNING OPENS DOORS

NOTES FROM THE ROAD Tuesday, August 29, 2000 Between stops in Hollandale and Rosedale, Mississippi, the bus made an unscheduled stop. A group of young children lined the highway, waving to those on board the Success Express. About a mile down the road we made a U-turn so we could return to greet the students of Ray Brooks School in Benoit, Mississippi. "Ray Brooks School is the smallest school in the state," principal Barbara Akon told Education World. The school is home to 268 kids in grades prekindergarten through ninth. Thank you once again to those enthusiastic students and their special welcome! Did you know? When Secretary Riley was governor of the state of South Carolina, the state constitution limited the governorship to one term. But Riley was such a popular governor that the constitution was amended to enable him to be elected for a second term! While at the Delta Blues Museum today, Riley recalled a trip to Lisbon, Portugal, a few years back. He was the chairman of a U.S. delegation sent to a special event there. Blues singer B. B. King was another member of the delegation. Over dinner, the two men got to know each other. During the conversation, Riley recalled, "B. B. King said to me 'Dick, do you know what my first name is?' " Riley admitted he didn't know, so King told Riley his first name -- Riley! "I knew we were blood brothers," Dick Riley told the crowd of blues fans. "But you'd never know it by my rhythm!"

The first stop of the yesterday's Success Express tour was Simmons High School in Hollandale, Mississippi. There, Secretary Riley observed a distance learning algebra lesson. The classroom teacher, Bob Moses, usually teaches the class from Lanier High School in Jackson, the state capital while students in Hollandale participate via a live video/audio connection. But today he switched places in order to be in Hollandale when the secretary made his stop.

"Many rural communities in Mississippi and around the nation are experiencing a shortage of teachers of math," Riley told the students at the end of the lesson. "That's why in rural America it is so important to have distance learning. Through distance learning, a fine algebra teacher in Hollandale can teach algebra to students in 20 communities across the state."

Riley also urged students to take challenging classes in many subjects. "Algebra and other more advanced courses are a gate to higher education," he told the students in the room and in Jackson. "Your future depends on taking challenging courses. It's amazing how algebra opens the door. Algebra leads to other more difficult courses that open the door to career opportunities."

The lesson Moses taught today is part of a program called the Algebra Project, which Moses established in 1982. Moses, an African American, believes the right to vote was essential for blacks to achieve equality in the 1960s. Today, he believes as strongly that African American students must be mathematically literate to fully participate in the information age.

Moses has involved the community in his effort. He works to educate parents, students, and teachers about the necessity of math literacy not only in a post-secondary education but also in the workplace.

Next, Riley stopped in a classroom where a computer engineering class is held. Teacher Paul Goon explained that the program teaches students to problem solve and repair computers. At the end of the program, students can take a certification test that will qualify them for good jobs. The program is open to students in grades 11 and 12. "We look at the students' backgrounds, their work and study skills, and their discipline records, when selecting students for the program," Goon told the visitors.

Goon's computer repair class is part of a national project, ExplorNet, which seeks to expand technology access in rural America. Since the program's inception, Simmons High School students have upgraded 80 computers to be used throughout the district.

COMMITMENT AND TEAMWORK = TECHNOLOGY ACCESS FOR STUDENTS

"Commitment and teamwork." That's the secret to successful technology integration at West Bolivar Elementary School, according to principal Judy Cutts. That commitment was evident everywhere as Secretary Riley toured the school after a rousing greeting by the entire student body.

Fourth-grade teacher Renee Lemastus demonstrated videoconferencing equipment, obtained through a school-to-business partnership. "We don't have an assembly room," Lemastus told visitors, "so videoconferencing can be used in its place. Videoconferencing can also be used to offer professional development for teachers, for students to share storytelling, or for new teachers to observe master teachers as they teach lessons."

After wandering the halls of West Bolivar, Riley reiterated his commitment to putting computers in every classroom. "If students don't have computers in school, computers will be like a foreign language," he said at a news conference. "Computers in schools-- especially in rural schools -- can make a great difference in the school [and] the community and to increasing business opportunities in the state."

For Cutts, both federal and community resources have had a measurable impact on student achievement in core academic subjects, such as reading and math. Department of Education Class Size Reduction (CSR) funds have helped reduce class sizes and helped offer teachers more professional development opportunities. Survey results indicate that parents feel their children are getting individual attention in smaller classes. Technology Literacy Challenge Fund (TLCF) dollars have been used to place hardware and software in K-6 classrooms, as well as to provide technology training for teachers. The district also used Title I funds to support a stationary computer lab housing 60 computers.

RILEY SINGS THE PRAISES OF BLUES MUSEUM'S AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM

Next stop: The Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi. There, a handful of young blues-trained musicians had the crowd cheering and begging for more!

The Delta Blues Museum Education and Arts Program was established in 1998. During the 1999-2000 school year, 25 to 30 students from the Clarksdale Public Schools participated in this community-based organization's after-school program. Students who participate in the Education and Arts Program choose to learn voice or an instrument-- guitar, bass, keyboard, harmonica, drums, or voice-- then they learn to perform together as a band. The program is open to any student willing to adhere to a strict behavior code.

"Every child should have quality after-school programs to expand their learning opportunities," Riley told the pumped-up crowd. "That's why the president has requested to double funding for after-school programs.

"So far, the Congress has said no," Riley added. "But this isn't the first time they have said no. Every year they [said] no to the expansion we [tried] to put in place for education, and every year we got it done by the end of the year. Why? Because the American people say 'Wait a minute, this is important to us!'"

OVER THE RIVER TO ARKANSAS

At a community supper at the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, Arkansas, Secretary Riley announced the donation of 15 wireless telephones to the Helena Public Schools. The phones, donated by Nokia with free airtime provided by ALLTEL, are part of the Wireless Foundation ClassLink program to provide teachers with the means to communicate with parents and increase school safety.

TOMORROW: We cross the Mississippi twice as we travel from Arkansas to Tennessee and back to Arkansas!

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Monday, August 28, 2000

Yesterday, Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley made four stops on the Success Express tour of the Mississippi Delta region. He visited schools in Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi -- and Education World was there with him! Riley called on Congress to provide more federal school funding to rural communities and to raise teacher salaries. He chided education cynics to get out and visit schools in their communities.

"Teachers are the great patriots of our time," Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley told people in Winnsboro, Louisiana, on the first stop of a busy day. Riley vowed "to make some things happen in Congress in September" to help raise teacher salaries across the nation.

The issue of teacher salaries is important to teachers in Winnsboro, part of Louisiana's Franklin Parish. For teacher pay, Winnsboro is the lowest-ranking town in the lowest-ranking state. "Why do teachers teach for four or five years, then go off to work in business?" Riley asked the audience. Teachers are no different from other Americans, he said. They want to do better for themselves and their families.

Riley's stop at Winnsboro High School was planned to draw attention to the school's technology program. The school is part of a five-parish consortium that received a five-year, $8.7 million Technology Innovation Challenge Grant (TICG) in 1998. The TICG provided funding to more than 25 projects to create technology-enhanced classrooms and train teachers. Winnsboro High has also benefited from more than $45,000 in discounts through the e-rate program.

"When I was a child, I was very lucky," Riley told the gathering. "My family was able to afford a set of the World Book Encyclopedia, but every family couldn't afford World Book. Today, children can come home or go to school and have access to World Book and Encyclopedia Britannica and the Library of Congress. They have the whole world at their fingertips."

CYNICS NEED TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL

"Back to school time is a great time of year. [It's] a time to tell the cynics who spend all their time criticizing schools that they ought to get out and get into a public school and see the great things that are going on there," Riley told a crowd gathered outside Wilmot Elementary School, the first Arkansas stop for the Success Express.

In Arkansas, Governor Mike Huckabee's Smart Start program to promote early achievement has gained national recognition. Huckabee spoke to the crowd after Wilmot students offered their rendition of the Smart Start theme song. Speaking about the successes at Wilmot and around the state, Huckabee credited the dedicated teachers. "No one in Little Rock [the capital] can take credit for this," Huckabee told the crowd. He praised teachers for their dedication and hard work in "an area of the state where some people say this kind of success shouldn't happen."

FEDERAL FUNDS SUPPORT SOLUTIONS TO LOW ACHIEVEMENT

NOTES FROM THE ROAD Monday, August 28, 2000 Enrollment at Winnsboro High School grew from 490 to 642 over the summer! A smaller high school in a neighboring community closed because of declining enrollment, and all the students were reassigned to Winnsboro High School. To accommodate the influx of students, the school installed eight portable classrooms in addition to the two already in place. Over the last few years, three school bond referendums to build new facilities and increase teacher salaries have failed. A new bond issue is planned. At Wilmot Elementary School, the school slogan is simple -- "Where Everyone Succeeds." The acronym WES also happens to be the initials of the school. The following acrostic sets out the school motto. Willing Imaginative Learners who strive to be Motivated and seek every Opportunity to display our Talents Did you know ... ? Mississippi ranks number three in the United States in the number of teachers who earned national teacher certification from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) Kermit the Frog, of Muppets fame, was created 7 miles east of Greenville, in Leland, Mississippi. A museum in his honor is located in Leland.

The next stop on the tour was just down the road in Portland, Arkansas. There, principal Ernest Smith leads a team of teachers who have been getting a lot of national attention. "One of the tiniest schools in the country is making a lot of noise," Smith told the assembled group of dignitaries and community members. "We're an unexpected showplace in Portland, Arkansas."

When Smith arrived in Portland in 1995, half the students in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade were scoring two years or more below grade level on standardized tests. In 1999, 100 percent of the students at Portland achieved scores at or above grade level. In 1999, Portland Elementary was selected as one of 21 schools featured in a Heritage Foundation study of high performing, high poverty schools.

Governor Huckabee credited Smith and his staff, "who refused to believe that these kids couldn't be as successful as any other kids in any other school."

In 1995, Smith said, his school was an "embarrassment to our neighboring communities." That's when he set out to learn all he could about a new approach. "Direct instruction" had been gaining recognition in a handful of communities, including Houston, Texas. Smith visited Houston, but he was unimpressed. Then he visited another direct instruction school, in Pine Bluffs, Arkansas. "I listened to kids do things that my kids couldn't do -- and I returned to Portland a disciple."

After Portland Elementary teachers visited Pine Bluffs and became converts to the direct instruction approach, Smith used Department of Education funding to implement the program. Direct instruction is a research-based teaching model that offers teacher-directed instruction in core academic subjects, demands high levels of student participation, and provides teachers with intensive training.

Portland Elementary School's success will be the subject of a story in an upcoming issue of Reader's Digest.

PARTNERSHIPS KEY TO MISSISSIPPI SUCCESS

Two hundred members of the Greenville community turned out for a barbecue at Solomon Middle School. Following dinner, Riley again addressed the need for increased assistance to rural schools.

"A lot of these communities have a limited tax base," noted Riley, "so they really do have to be more careful about spending their money and working better with partnerships. But I tell you, we've got to do more from Washington. We've got to do more from all of the state capitals. We've got to realize that regardless of the hard work of families, the partnershipping that is going on, and the careful expenditure of money, people in those areas with low assessed values really have to have some help to make the kind of education system that we all want to have."

Riley noted that in March 2000, the Greenville Public Schools received $2.5 million in Qualified Zone Academy Bonds (QZAB) to facilitate school modernization. He highlighted the efforts of area businesses and community members who contributed $250,000 to the Greenville Public School District so the district could qualify to receive QZAB money, which requires schools to form partnerships with businesses or community groups.

Greenville also received $5.5 million in discounts through the e-rate program. All classrooms in the 17-school Greenville School District are currently connected. Greenville Public Schools used Class Size Reduction funding to hire 14 new second-grade teachers, reducing second-grade class sizes from 27 in 1998 and 1999 to 14 in 1999 and 2000.

TOMORROW: The Success Express visits the "Dales" -- Hollandale, Rosedale, and Clarksdale -- three Mississippi communities.

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Sunday, August 27, 2000

As the department of education kicked off the annual America Goes Back to School campaign, Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley urged parents and businesses to get involved in the education of the nation's children. "I urge all parents to slow down your lives to help your children learn and grow," pleaded the secretary in his opening-day speech at the Monroe County (Louisiana) Regional Airport. "Education is everybody's business."

"Research has told us over the last 30 years that it makes a real difference if you get family and communities working together on the right track," added Riley. "Families and communities that are on the right track are putting kids on the "success express" to better education."

NOTES FROM THE ROAD Sunday, August 27, 2000 -- Secretary of Education Richard Riley couldn't recall a warmer welcome than the one he received at the opening press conference for this year's Success Express road trip. Warm indeed! On Sunday afternoon, the temperature on the tarmac at the Monroe County (Louisiana) Regional Airport was 103 degrees! I wonder if the secretary felt the breeze. Just about everybody in the audience of several hundred people waved school bus-shaped fans bearing the words "I am an education fan." By late afternoon, the Success Express was parked in Rayville, Louisiana, up the road a piece from Monroe. The staff of Rayville High School hosted a traditional Delta supper for the secretary, his traveling companions, and dozens of community members. The menu featured red beans and rice, catfish, greens, and cornbread, and the Rayville Stingers drill team provided rousing entertainment. Thanks to the elementary school artists who created dozens of colorful placemats for the community supper. A special thanks to Gabrielle (fifth grade, section 2) for the placemat I'm taking home to hang on my office wall! Did you know ... ? Delta Airlines began in Monroe County, and Coca-Cola was first bottled there. Country singer Tim McGraw grew up near Rayville and played baseball at Rayville High School? The starting pay for a first-year teacher in Rayville is in the low $20,000 range, according to the teachers I had dinner with. That can make attracting the very best teachers to Rayville difficult because a starting teacher can go to Monroe County, just 20 miles down the road, and earn several thousand dollars more. Secretary Riley is the only U.S. secretary of education who has traveled to all 50 states.

Participants in the Success Express, including Riley; local, state, and regional leaders; educators; and journalists, will make their way to 20 communities in seven Mississippi Delta states. The focus of this year's trip is education in rural towns and cities. "Often we don't pay much attention to rural education," the secretary said in his opening remarks, "but those schools represent one-fourth of all schools. In the Mississippi Delta region, about a third of the schools are rural."

Noting the limited tax bases that many rural communities face, Riley said, "I'm very proud that our administration has put such a strong emphasis on working to help Louisiana and other Delta states to participate more fully in the nation's economic success."

A HOMETOWN BOY RETURNS

In a powerful conclusion to the Success Express kickoff, Riley turned the podium over to the new president of the American Association of School Administrators, Dr. Benjamin O. Canada. For Canada -- currently superintendent of schools in Portland, Oregon, and the first person of color to head the AASA -- the Success Express kickoff was something of a homecoming. Canada grew up 60 miles down the road from Monroe, in rural Madison Parish. Not all Canada's memories of his hometown are fond.

After graduating from college, Canada returned to teach in Madison Parish. When the first payday came around, Canada was surprised to learn that the school system had a dual pay scale. Black teachers earned less than white teachers did. Canada queried the school's administrator about his paycheck. That administrator used the N-word in his reply: "Boy," the superintendent told him, "that's what all the N's make."

When Canada told the superintendent that he wouldn't accept that, that he'd resign instead, the superintendent said, "Oh, by the way, I'll make sure you're never successful. You'll have no career in education."

"But I'm here today to tell you," Canada told the gathered crowd, "it's like the Success Express. Together, a lot of people helped me be successful. America's future is tied to success for all children. It's in our hands," Canada concluded.

Canada left Madison Parish and went on to teach and administrate in schools in Nevada, Arizona, and Washington. Later, he served as superintendent of schools in Atlanta.

CATFISH AND RED BEANS AND RICE

Speaking at a community supper later in the day in rural Rayville, the secretary again emphasized the importance of parent involvement as some of the school system's top students were introduced. Riley took the opportunity to introduce two more themes he has championed in his seven-year tenure at the helm of the department -- class size and reading.

"Research states that if you can get class size in grades K-3 down to 18 or less, and if the teacher is well qualified to teach reading, those things will impact that child in that class that year, in junior high, in high school, and in college," the secretary told the crowd. "We all know that reading is the foundation upon which all of education is built. If children don't read well, they'll have a struggle in school and they'll have a struggle in life."

TOMORROW: Next Stops -- The Success Express follows the Mighty Mississippi to Winnsboro, Louisiana; Wilmot, Arkansas; Portland, Arkansas; and Greenville, Mississippi.

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Saturday August 26, 2000

Our bags are packed!

Education World gears up to join Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley as he tours 20 mostly rural communities in the Mississippi River Valley. Dubbed the Success Express, the bus tour will make stops in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, and Illinois. (See the sidebar for a trip itinerary.)

Success Express Itinerary Education World is aboard the Success Express, taking part in this year's America Goes Back to School ride. Come on along as we stop in a number of Mississippi River Valley towns. Sunday, August 27 * Monroe, Louisiana * Rayville, Louisiana Monday, August 28 * Winnsboro, Louisiana * Wilmot, Arkansas * Portland, Arkansas * Greenville, Mississippi Tuesday, August 29 * Hollandale, Mississippi * Rosedale, Mississippi * Clarksdale, Mississippi * Helena, Arkansas Wednesday, August 30 * Marianna, Arkansas * Memphis, Tennessee * Blytheville, Arkansas Thursday, August 31 * Union City, Tennessee * Hickman, Kentucky * Charleston, Missouri * Cairo, Illinois * Metropolis, Illinois * Paducah, Kentucky

Riley said that some of the more than 200 counties along the river are struggling. He sees encouraging signs of progress, however, as states in the region launch some important school-reform measures. "We'll visit some exciting places -- schools that are using new technologies, innovative reading programs, after-school programs, family resource centers, award-winning schools that serve primarily students from low-income families. We'll see examples of the kinds of partnerships that have proven so effective in bringing parents and teachers, business leaders and educators together to make schools better."

As the nation's longest-serving secretary of education, Riley has visited more than 325 schools. "Better education is everybody's business," Riley said, "and I hope everyone will go back to school this fall -- as a student or parent, a mentor, a volunteer, or just as a concerned citizen."

Last fall, Riley, a former governor of South Carolina, took a back-to-school bus tour along the South's I-85 corridor, visiting schools in five states.

The bus tours are part of an annual nationwide effort called America Goes Back to School, which aims to encourage greater parent and community involvement in improving education.

Gary Hopkins
Education World® Editor-in-Chief
Copyright © 2000 Education World

Please check out our featured articles this week:

The Mighty Mississippi The Mississippi and Other Great Rivers

08/28/2000