Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 17 April 2003 — Page 28

Page 28 • The Muncie Times • April 17, 2003

PUBLIC LIBRARY PARTNERS WITH HIGH SCHOOLS TO PROVIDE PRACTICE SAT TESTING

Muncie-M\\x\c\z Community Schools are pleased to announce a partnership with the Muncie Public Library that provides free and unlimited access to practice SAT and ACT tests that will help its students prepare for the tests through www.learning

EXpressLibrary.com, an interactive online database. The site features more than 300 practice tests based on official school and career exams, including the ACT, SAT, and GED. Students can access www.LearningEXpressLib rary.com from home

simply by using their library card to access the site. According to Jeff Weiss, students cannot share a library card number for the database because each library card number becomes a student’s account number and is an access number for

individual personal test scores and test performance. Weiss provided promotional packet information to Jo Seidel, director of student curriculum and assessment, for distribution by the high schools’ guidance

counselors. Practice tests can also be accessed from the schools’ libraries. For more information, call Central High School guidance counselor Muriel Weeden or Southside High School guidance counselor Dale Basham.

BUSH BUDGET CUTS IMPERIL MINORITY AFTERSCHOOL UNIT

WASHINGTON, D.C.-A study released on Feb. 3 by the U.S. Department of Education showed that African American and Hispanic students who participate in afterschool programs realize great benefits from those programs. Yet, despite these findings. the Bush administration is proposing to slash funding for the federal afterschool program in fiscal year 2004 by $400 million, or 40 percent. Conducted by Mathematical Policy Research Inc., the evaluation found that African American and Hispanic students, as well as girls participating in federally-funded 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) afterschool programs, showed significant academic gains. African American students in programs had higher math grades, a reduced incidence of being absent from class and were judged to have shown increased effort in the classroom.

Hispanic students also had higher math grades and reduced absence from class. Girls in the afterschool programs were found to have higher math grades and improved class participation. Despite these encouraging findings, on the very day the study was released, President Bush proposed reducing the budget for the 21st CCLC program from $1 billion to $600,000 in fiscal year 2004. ‘'This study underscores the great promise of afterschool,” said Judy Y. Samelson, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance. “So it is terribly disappointing that the report highlights only negative findings and that the Bush administration is using it to justify a deep, indefensible cut in the federal afterschool program.” The Bush plan to reduce the 21st CCLC funding would deny afterschool programs to more than 571,000 children. Among the

findings of the Mathematical study: •Middle school African American students who participated in afterschool programs had average mathematics grades 1.7 points higher than African American students who did not participate in afterschool; were 7.4 percentage points more likely to participate in class; and were absent 1.6 fewer days. Middle school Hispanic students who participated in afterschool programs had average math grades 1.5 points higher than Hispanic students who did not participate in afterschool; and were absent 1.3 fewer days. Middle school girls who participated in afterschool were 5 percentage points more likely to complete homework to the teachens satisfaction; 4.4 percentage points more likely to participate in class; absent 1.3 fewer days; had 9/10ths of a percentage points higher grades in mathematics. In middle school centers, 40 percent more parents

whose children participated in afterschool attended open houses than parents whose children were not in afterschool. Twenty-two percent more parents whose children were in afterschool programs volunteered to help out at the school than parents whose children were not in afterschool. Samuelson charged analysts with highlighting only negative findings that supported the administratioms claim that afterschool programs provide neither academic nor safety benefits. She also noted numerous methodological problems with the study. Among them: •The findings are based on just one year of data, collected early in the life of the original 21st CCLC initiative when improving test scores and grades was not an immediate goal of program and not a mandate of the programs studied. The study examined a small fraction of the afterschool programs that participate

in the federal 21st CCLC program. The elementary school data are based on 18 out of 1,758 centers, or roughly 1 percent. Because of problems with the size and makeup of the sample, Mathematica has conceded that these findings cannot be applied to the universe of 21st CCLC elementary programs. Hispanic students were vastly underrepresented in the study. Less than 2 percent of elementary students in the study were Hispanic, while 27.6 percent of students in 21 st CCLC elementary school centers nationwide are Hispanic. The Aftershool Alliance is a non profit public awareness and advocacy organization supported by a group of public, private, and non profit entities dedicated to ensuring that all children and youth have access to afterschool programs by 2010. More information is available at www.afterschoolalliance. org