GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL -- Educationally speaking

Should we limit techniques for raising students’ test scores to only

those schools on Costa Mesa’s West Side? Should the committee that

decides how to get better test results be limited to four people?

I’m willing to act as the electronic suggestion box for all of you who

have suggestions for improving test scores. I’ll present them to the

school board and/or the governor, if you want.

Those with good ideas shouldn’t wait to be asked. We all should

volunteer the information.

On that note, here are some of my suggestions to improve elementary

school test scores:

1. Make sure each student has had the proper prenatal environment,

with no exposure to harmful substances or adequate nutrition.

2. Have someone read, one-on-one, to each child each day, from infancy

through elementary school.

3. Keep the school population stable, so kids start in kindergarten

and continue through all grades at the same school.

4. Have someone listen to the student read each day from kindergarten

on.

5. Make sure each student comes to school having had adequate sleep

and a nutritional breakfast. Make sure the student eats well-balanced

meals.

6. Make sure each student communicates in English for at least four

hours each day, all year-round.

7. Each student should have a quiet place to study and read, without

TV or other noise distraction--and someone on hand to ensure that they

study and read.

8. Each student should have an adult available to help him or her each

day with homework, so the student can keep up with class assignments.

9. Expose students to jobs that require a good education, so they can

see why they need to study each and every day.

10. Expose students to adults who tell them each day that they are

expected to go to college, and that to got to college they need to study

hard and get good grades. Have each student believe that someone cares

about how he or she does in school and succeeds. Failing is not an

option.

***

Rumors are flying about whether the schools that are missing

principals and assistant principals will have them in place in time for a

smooth opening day transition. School starts in less than a month.

The district’s largest high school--Newport Harbor High School--is

still without a principal, even though the previous principal’s

retirement date was known for months.

District officials should know from past recruiting efforts that the

applicant pool shrinks considerably once the school year begins. And if

the position is filled from within the district, then a new hole will

need to be filled.

Because an elementary school often has only one administrator, a

principal, that person is critical to ensure adequate staffing and that

facilities are in good shape for opening day.