With the increase in school violence, teen pregnancy and drop
outs, the need arises for more members of the community to reach out to our youth and
school system with positive messages. For over twenty five years, Donald
Thomas has been involved with the school systems of both Hawaii and New York. He has
developed a presentation for teachers and students that address three major areas:
..
A positive attitude for success in school
and life.
Healthy lifestyle and personal
biology
The healthy alternatives to violence and
drugs
Thomas is available for classroom, assemblies and physical education
presentations. For more information contact:
Pamela Roldan-Thomas
(808) 345-6538 or pdnman@hawaii.rr.com
PDN Publishing & Health Products, Inc. is a listed vendor
with the Hawaii State Department of Education
Vendor # 113619
According to the 2002
national report card on reading by the National Assessment of Educational Progress
(NAEP), most of our children (64%) are less than
proficient in reading even after 12 years of our
attempts to teach them:
BELOW BASIC
African American
4th grade 60%
12th grade 46%
Hispanic
4th grade 56%
12th grade 39%
American Indian/Alaska Native
4th grade 49%
12th grade n/a
Asian/Pacific Islander
4th grade 30%
12th grade 27%
White
4th grade 25%
12th grade 21% |
|
BELOW
PROFICIENT
African American
4th grade 88%
12th grade 84%
Hispanic
4th grade 85%
12th grade 78%
American Indian/Alaska Native
4th grade 78%
12th grade 80%
Asian/Pacific Islander
4th grade 63%
12th grade 65%
White
4th grade 60%
12th grade 58% |
"There is a profound reading crisis in the United
States. 39%, almost 40%, of fourth graders do not read even at the basic level and a
majority of students do not read at the proficient level."
- James Wendorf, Executive Director, National Center for Learning
Disabilities (9-11-03 Children of the Code
interview)
Reading problems contribute
significantly to the perpetuation of socio-economic, racial and ethnic inequities.
"You
know if you look at where we are today, the bottom line is for a country like
America to be leaving behind about 38-40% of its youngsters in terms of not learning to
read is unconscionable. What makes it equally or doubly unconscionable is if you
disaggregate those data: 70% approximately of young African Americans kids can’t
read. 70%! If you look at Hispanic kids, 65-70%! The
fact of the matter is when we do our studies and we identify kids at risk for reading
failure, we know that the majority of those kids who are at risk and who will hit
the wall as they learn to read are kids from poverty." -
Dr. G. Reid Lyon, Branch Chief, National Institute for Child Health and Human Development
(9-11-03 Children of the Code interview)
|
