Academic Achievement

PARENTS CAN'T take it anymore. Nationwide they are rising up in rebellion. Against what? Homework. In their popular new book, "The End of Homework," Etta Kralovek and John Buell argue that homework is interfering with, "unstructured leisure time" (like watching TV?), family interaction, religious instruction and "just being a kid." Never mind that the authors acknowledge that there is "some evidence" of a relationship between time spent on homework and academic achievement (especially in older children)

It's supposed to be math time in Mr. Demeritte's third-grade class, but an altogether unplanned lesson needs to be taught first. The kids at Furman L. Templeton Elementary had pushed and shoved and nearly trampled each other to get to some Juicy Twists that their new teacher has brought in. So Edmund Demeritte asks them to describe on paper what they did wrong and contrast it with a situation in which they behaved better. Some struggle with the exercise. David, 8, writes a single word - "jump" - and seems satisfied.

Student: Albert K. Luo, 17 School: Centennial High School Special achievement: Selected as a candidate in the Presidential Scholars Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education based on SAT scores, recommendations from his principal and counselor, high school transcript and activities. What he says about it: "I was honored because I see it as recognition of all the work and effort I have put in throughout high school. To be chosen as a candidate reflects not only academic achievement, but also participation in music and student organizations.

Proud, prompt, persistent, productive, polite, prepared. These are the Black Student Achievement Program's "Six P's to Excellence" that serve as a motto for students involved in initiatives that support academic achievement of African-Americans in Howard County. Whitney Lyles, 13, of Long Reach High School takes the six P's to heart. "I love BSAP because they always tell me to do my best in everything I do," she said. A division of the Office of Academic Support of the Howard County public school system, BSAP sponsors two summer academic programs designed to accelerate learning.

THE ARRIVAL last week of Jeanne S. Chall's last book, "The Academic Achievement Challenge: What Really Works in the Classroom," gives me a chance to write an appreciation. Chall completed the book before she died in November at age 78. She was the Mother of Reading in the United States, a researcher of research. That is, she examined the vast body of reading studies stretching back to the beginning of the century. She did it not just once with her seminal 1967 work, "Learning to Read: The Great Debate," but again in 1983 and yet again in 1996.

Every school day, Raven Johnson, a slender 17-year-old with a sunny smile, crosses the city from her East Baltimore neighborhood, leaving at 6: 45 a.m. to take the North Avenue bus and the light rail to Polytechnic Institute, where she is one of three seniors recently recognized for academic achievement by the National Merit Scholarship Corp. Becoming a finalist in the National Achievement Scholarship competition has already created a turn in Johnson's life. Yesterday, she left for Florida, traveling alone for the first time (with a borrowed suitcase)

Eight-year-old Lasondra Calvert led the other members of the Baltimore Police Athletic League Youth Choir into the fountain area of Mondawmin Mall. A freckle-faced girl with round cheeks, she tugged on the sleeve of Officer Roderick O. Dotson to get his attention. Dotson "discovered" Lasondra, a Catonsville resident who's a big fan of pop singer Britney Spears, after he heard her sing at a New Year's party. "My mother's here," she said, and beamed at him. Dotson, 44, has led the choir since it began five years ago, helping about 200 children who have passed through the program.

Eight-year-old Lasondra Calvert led the other members of the Baltimore Police Athletic League Youth Choir into the fountain area of Mondawmin Mall. A freckle-faced girl with round cheeks, she tugged on the sleeve of Officer Roderick O. Dotson to get his attention. Dotson "discovered" Lasondra, a Catonsville resident who's a big fan of pop singer Britney Spears, after he heard her sing at a New Year's party. "My mother's here," she said, and beamed at him. Dotson, 44, has led the choir since it began five years ago, helping about 200 children who have passed through the program.

The Trend is growing toward afterschool programs for middle-school children, to guide kids through the "dangerous hours" before parents get home from work during the "dangerous years" of adolescence. This year, the U.S. Department of Education will spend more than $450 million of after school programs of all kinds, more than double what was spent in 1999. Of 470 after-school programs in U.S. communities, two-thirds of them include art and music. One local artist, who has seen government programs come and go, depending on the political on the political mood of the day, says that after-school arts programs are the new "in" thing for foundations and educators.

For Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, the journey to becoming a renowned pediatric neurosurgeon began nearly four decades ago, when his mother turned off the television and sent him and his elder brother Curtis to the Detroit Public Library for books. "If she hadn't done that, I don't think there's any possibility I would have made it to where I am today," Carson said during a recent interview at his home in West Friendship, in Howard County. "My mother is a very wise woman," he said. "She opened her eyes and asked, `What do successful people do?