European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 22, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                W phots. Milliseconds on each word or about a third of a second compared to 233 milliseconds for the Evelyn Wood students and 221 milliseconds for the untrained skimmers the researchers said. The researchers regularly questioned the subjects to lest comprehension and asked them to summarize what they had read in nearly every Case the Normal readers Lared much better than their quicker counterparts. The three readers studied both before and after the Evelyn Woods course comprehended More when they proceeded at a Normal rate. Unsurprisingly Alt readers comprehended More from Reader s digest than from scientific american. They also responded More accurately to questions about main ideas rather than details. The Evelyn Wood students were better a grasping simple familiar passages than the untrained rapid readers such As the Reader s digest text dealing Wilh an Indian attack on a group of Lur traders. There was no evidence thai the Speed readers forgot any More or any less than the untrained rapid readers. Speed Reading courses offer effective retention techniques just says for example asking oneself Why he is Reading a piece and what informal on he wants from it and afterwards making an outline of what was read. The Fife Are occasions when people Are needlessly slow on certain kinds of information Carpenter said. They Don t know How to be flexible readers. Speed Reading courses lend to teach people  Evelyn Wood Reading dynamics Institute in 1959. She was invited three years later to the while House by president John f. Kennedy a naturally rapid Reader to teach Speed Reading to his staff. She and her husband sold the business in 1966, but she remained Active in the program which continued to Bear her name until her stroke. Although she has regained the ability to walk she usually uses a wheelchair to gel around the sail Lake City Home she shares Wilh her husband and around the clock nurses. Sha passes the Lime taking Short daily walks gardening and. Of course Reading. More than anything mrs. Wood wants to Gol better so she can get on with her life s work. I had to Stop because of this dumb illness she said. But i will do  \ March 22,1937 in 4 a College for restless motivated High schooners associated press Laur Sayre was 16 when she dropped Oul of High Schod for something less  Sha credits Simon s Rock of Bard Collegen Greal Barrington mass., with saving her from he agony of two More years of High school. My parents irl ends Bald i m sure you want to gel away from Here that was not lha Case she said. I was per edly Happy with my parents and my friends. Miss my big hat midwestern sky. There was just no schoo ilor me in Iowa  Simon s Rock the nation s Only College primarily oriented toward restless but motivated High school age students is celebrating its 20lh anniversary. The school. Has graduated More than 1,000 students. It opened with 55 High school sophomores All girls and now averages 300 students men and women a year. The College draws on a Small group of dissatisfied students who drop out of High school Tor the challenges of College. We occupy an interesting Niche in american education says Provost u a win. In Wall Street terms i guess you could aay we re Niche players. In this country of 230 million people we manage to find 130 people to come Here every  the school is named after a atone that commands a sweeping View of the Berkshire Hills in Western Massachusetts. The Campus was once the 27s acre summer estate of Elizabeth Hall former headmistress of prestigious Concord Academy. The College houses undergraduates in 19th-Century cottages that once sheltered Hall s ancestors. They attend classes in Stark White chalets popular in the 1960s. Hall says she founded Simon s Rock after years of listening to alumnae complaints about the targe impersonal classes at Many colleges. The idea was not new. The late Robert w. Hutchins while president of the University of Chicago opened his school to teen age students in the 1930s because he believed the last few years of High school were wasted on Many of them. Several other colleges such As Laguardia Community College in Queens n.v., also admit groups of High school age students. Bui Simon s Rock is the Only College primarily Lor younger students. Some College age students Are admitted but they Are the minority in a school founded on the belief that younger students Tare Batter when studying alongside their Peers. The peer group is critical says Leon Borslein president of Bard College of Annandale on Hudson . This group is dominated by the deep seated insecurity of adolescence. We need to create a subculture that reinforces scientific curiosity Tor the whole group not just the  Bot Stefa entered the so called Early College at the. University of Chicago at age 16. What he called his Auto biographic affection Tor this Type of system and his admiration for the design of Simon s Rock led Sard to acquire the College eight years ago when it was in deep financial trouble. The Richer College strengthened the Cui Culum of the poorer one Wilh writing and logic workshops Tor Rothmen and the study of classic lexis Lor All undergraduates. Borslein says Simon s Rock proves that belter then average students can at a much earlier age to engaged in serious academic Enterprise As opposed to washing their time getting deluged by trivia and the barbarism of peer. Pupil Laura Sayre fifty a melt  t Roek. Values Aleonce Lional High schools.". Most students enter the College after their Sophomore or Junior year in High school. Some hear Aboul the school through word of Mouth others learn of it through College recruiters and the educational testing service of Princeton . The service Sells lists of High school students who score Wen on its Scholastic aptitude tests and indicate they want information on colleges. Bui the service is costly and principals Don t Liko to lose their Best students too Early says Bradford College. I president Arthur Levine who did a study of Simon Stock Lor the Carnegie foundation live years ago and called it one of the 25 most important innovations in the Hinloi y of american education. About 60 percent of Simon s Rock students Cove from Public schools in the Northeast and their combined scores on the Scholastic aptitude test and the preliminary Scholastic aptitude test average 1 1 50 to 1 200 these kids Are no if  said. They re Normal american College bound men and  Dean of adage Mac Alfars Bernard Rogers says some students come to the College Wilh mediocre High school grades. We think that s because they were bored there s probably one student in every Stool to the country thai needs this  but the school does not want youngsters Wilh Neha Viar problems and tries to interview each prospective Slud enl to Weed out those who Are emotionally troubled the school is looking Lor aide nos who need a Lugger Challenge at a Lime when according to educators at Simon s Rock they Are most receptive to stimulating ideas. Because at their age freshmen observe More rules than those Al other colleges. They Irve in single sax dormitories Wilh strict visiting hours All classes Are limited to 15 students and i Eshmon arc watched closely by teachers who meet with them ovary week to ensure they Are on the right track academically and emotionally. Students May earn an associate degree in two years and go on to other colleges or stay to earn Ihler Bachelor s degree. A few like Leslie Sander of Jefferson vice vi., leave after two years discover they have made a mistake and Velum. The iss your old College senior Iran erred to Bryn mawr College for a semester in her Junior year Belore returning to Simon s Rock. I liked Bryn mawr but my connections to Simon s Rock were pretty Strong Sander says. I was t Gelting much there i could t gel Here other than the  teachers Alto say they Are committed to the school despite their Tow salaries and heavy course loads because of the rewards of working closely with students but the Cost of keeping the Small teacher to student ratio is great and the school s endowment is practically nil. We have no wealthy constituency Hall says. A Lof of our alumni came to us on financial Aid and most of them Are still struggling to make it in their careers " the school gels by with state and Federal Grants and tuition of $12,000 yearly while managing to give More than half the students financial Aid averaging almost $5,000 each the Provost says. Alter two decades of so Ruggilo. Iho id he College is breaking even and probably will survive As a living critique of secondary education Rogers says it says students arc capable of doing Moio Man we Lei them  the stars and stripes Page 15