A new report by LFA and Grunwald Associates, with support from AT&T, examines how parents perceive the value of mobile devices, how they see their children using mobiles, and what they think of the possibilities for mobile learning.
Connected Community
Success Stories
New Mexico Initiative Revitalizes Schools and Their Communities
Story posted April 28, 2011
Results:
- RRI projects have improved school attendance, decreased discipline problems, and resulted in more active student engagement
- RRI has allowed more students to take dual credit classes and provided educational and job opportunities for community adults
- RRI districts have an impressive number of school-business-community partnerships with local businesses, state agencies, national organizations, and colleges and universities
A major problem facing rural schools is the current trend toward lessening economic opportunity in their communities. When the economic climate is poor, local schools have fewer resources, and when job options seem dismal, students have less incentive to put forth effort in school.
State officials in New Mexico recognize this problem, and have developed a comprehensive approach to revitalizing rural communities that puts schools—and students—at its core.
The New Mexico Rural Revitalization Initiave
Modeled after a successful rural revitalization program in South Australia, the New Mexico Rural Revitalization Initiative (NMRRI) engages a committee of stakeholders to participate in “extended discovery conversations” with ...
Stuart Elementary Handles Children, Community with Care
Story posted January 29, 2009.
Updated March 23, 2011.
Results:
• In 2010, more than 90% of students in grades 3-5 met or exceeded state standards in reading, math, and science
• Named a Title I Distinguished School for four years running
"Today, class, we're going to cover SOL 3.1, scientific investigations," says Frenishee Smith, a third-grade teacher at J.E.B. Stuart Elementary School in Richmond, Va., referring to Virginia's Standards of Learning. "What do you have on your body that helps you make observations?"
"Your brain," answers one student.
"Exactly, because your brain tells everything what to do. That's our computer. What else?"
After each student called upon names the five different senses, Smith pulls out from her desk drawer an empty food can covered with a black sock and little colored pom-poms. "Before we go on, I want to introduce you to my field can," she says, which is met with ...
Cleveland Program to Close Achievement Gap Shows Proof of Success
Story posted February 9, 2011
Results:
• In the 2008-09 school year, 62% of participating students advanced one grade level, compared to 43% of the male freshman class
• For the 2008-09 school year, just 9.1% of the first program class did not return, compared to nearly 40% of peers not in the program
In an effort to improve the academic achievement of black males and close the racial achievement gap, four years ago the Cleveland Metropolitan School District participated in a program sponsored by Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland.
Since its inception, the Closing the Achievement Gap (CTAG) initiative has proven successful in increasing the number of participants who were promoted to 10th grade and are now seniors scheduled to graduate in June.
The CTAG program targets low-achieving black males in eighth grade who are deemed most likely to drop out of school. These include students who have failed two or more subjects, are absent 36 or more days, are over age for their current grade level and/or have been suspended five or more days from school.
The program works in collaboration with parents, school administrators, principals, teachers and the community. Mentors, called linkage coordinators, are ...
Story posted August 18, 2010. For additional information and updated results, read the Learning First Alliance interview with St. Tammany Parish Public School System supervisior of administration John Swang.
Results:
• As of 2009, the district had saved more than 4.4 million dollars in energy costs and eliminated emissions of more than 53 million pounds of CO2
The National Center for Education Statistics reports that schools budgeted $7 billion for energy costs in 2001, but spent $8 billion. Since then, energy costs per student have been rising at more than six times the rate of inflation. In 2009, the American Association of School Administrators reported that rising energy costs are dramatically affecting district budgets nationwide, with significant negative impacts on student learning.
Over the last several years, energy costs for the St. Tammany Parish Public School System, with 54 schools and 35,000 students, have rapidly risen, creating great apprehension that important instructional and operational functions in schools would have to be reduced or eliminated. On average, the cost of energy was increasing by ...
Story posted August 3, 2010
Results:
• The eligibility of high school graduates for admission to California's public universities increased by 12 percent between 2004 and 2007
• The college-going rate increased from 35 percent to 62 percent over that same period
In California’s rural mountainous region of Shasta and Siskiyou counties, a problem emerged. Local students had low college-going rates, despite the comparatively low 13 percent poverty rate among the population, which was 90 percent white.
The communities are separated from the closest colleges by vast distances and mountain roads. The regional culture values strong family ties and intergenerational commitment to family farms or businesses, which came with an unspoken concern that once youngsters left for college, they might not return, stripping these isolated communities of an educated workforce. Many students in Shasta Union High School District never had set foot on a college campus.
The Shasta Partnership, launched by the Shasta County Office of Education, used grant-funded studies to determine how to increase interest in attending college and improve the college-going rate. The outcome is a program known as College OPTIONS, whose partners include the two county offices of education; the Shasta Union High School District; two regional community colleges; Chico State University; the University of California-Davis; and two private universities, National and ...
When "City Connects" Helps the Whole Child, Achievement Gaps Shrink
Story posted June 18, 2010
Results:
• The intervention moved students at the 50th percentile up to or near the 75th, and students at the 25th up to or near the 50th
• While the intervention ends in 5th grade, positive effects continue to be seen in middle-school test scores
An innovative program out of Boston College is making a big difference for children in 11 Boston elementary schools. City Connects (CCNX) works with the schools to link each child to a "tailored set of intervention, prevention and enrichment services located in the community."
Its efforts have gone a good distance towards closing achievement gaps between the low-income children in the program and children who meet state averages. CCNX's results offer powerful support for what should be common sense: When we address the challenges poor students face both within and beyond schools, they flourish.
A rigorous study (PDF) of the program's outcomes tells a pretty stunning story:
- The beneficial impact of BCNX [the former name of CCNX] on student growth in academic achievement (across grades 1 to 5) was, on average, approximately three times the harmful impact of poverty.
- By the end of grade 5, achievement differences between BCNX and comparison students indicated that the BCNX intervention moves students at the 50th percentile up to or near the 75th percentile, and the students at the 25th percentile up to or near the 50th.
- For multiple outcomes, the treatment effects were largest for students at greatest risk for academic failure. For example, English language learners experienced the largest treatment benefits on literacy outcomes, by third grade demonstrating similar report card scores to those proficient in English in comparison schools. In fact,as a result of BCNX, there was no longer an achievement gap between these students.
- After grade 5, the lasting positive effects ofthe BCNX intervention can be seen in middle-school MCAS scores. The size ofthe positive effect of BCNX ranged from approximately 50% to 130% as large as the negative effects of poverty on these scores.1
We recently caught up with two of the program's leaders: Dr. Mary Walsh, its Executive Director, and Patrice DiNatale, its Director of Practice.
Public School Insights: What is City Connects?
Walsh: City Connects is a systemic, evidence-based approach to school-based student support. It involves assessing, in conversation with teachers and other school staff, each child in the school at the beginning of the school year and then developing a tailored student support plan based on that student's strengths and needs in four areas: academic, social emotional/behavioral, health and family.
That support plan involves accessing services, supports, resources and enrichment for the child, both school-based resources as well as, and importantly, community resources. A trained professional with a Master’s degree—either ...
Making Healthy Students a Priority
Story posted May 26, 2010.
Learn more about this district and its school-based health clinics in our interviews with district official Linda Gann and nurse practitioner Jennifer Danielson.
Results:
• 439 students had mental health visits in the first two years of the clinic's operation
• 313 students were seen by the nurse practitioner
• 113 students were enrolled in an insurance program
The Concern
Montrose County School District serves 6,500 students. About 54 percent of those students are eligible for free and reduced-price lunch. At one school, Northside Elementary, 78 percent of students are eligible. The school board’s mission is that all children will learn at their optimal level. It is difficult for students to learn if they are not well. Students in high-poverty schools have barriers to getting health care. According to Richard Rothstein, in his book Class and Schools, “Without fully adequate health care for (high poverty) children, there is little hope of fully closing the achievement gap. ... So, a high priority should be establishing health clinics associated with schools that serve disadvantaged children.”
The Solution
The district established a school-based health clinic on the campus of Northside Elementary School. It’s open full-time during the school year and one month in the summer. The full-time staff includes ...
Taking the Cool School Challenge
Story posted April 22, 2010
Results:
• School greenhouse gas emissions are now 44% below the Kyoto protocol
• School has saved well over $100,000 over the past three years
• AP Environmental Science scores are well above state and district averages
Mike Town is a man with a mission. This Washington state environmental science teacher has spent the past 25 years educating students on environmental issues. His students do real-world projects designed to show the relevance of science, get them thinking about the environmental impact of their actions, and introduce them to the emerging green job sector. ...
Transforming a School Step by Step
Story posted April 7, 2010. Results updated July 23, 2010.
Results:
• In 2010, the school performed around or above state averages on both reading and math assessments, despite serving a significantly more disadvantaged student population
• The school has made Adequate Yearly Progress each of the past four years
When Melissa Glee-Woodard became principal of Maryland’s Lewisdale Elementary School four years ago, it was struggling. The school was in the dreaded “school improvement” process because of the performance of multiple subgroups of students, and it needed change.
Change is what it got. But not the dramatic “fire-all-teachers” change that has been making the papers. Rather, Glee-Woodard inspired teachers, parents and students with a new vision. The staff began focusing on student data in a meaningful way. Targeted professional development addressed areas of weakness in the instructional program. And new summer programs ensured that students kept their academic success going even when school was not technically in session.
As a result, Lewisdale has made AYP every year Glee-Woodard has been principal. The National Association of Elementary School Principals recently honored her for her transformational leadership.
She joined us for a conversation about the school and its journey.
Public School Insights: How would you describe Lewisdale?
Glee-Woodard: Lewisdale Elementary School is located in an urban setting in Prince George's County, Maryland. We are in the backyard of the University of Maryland, College Park. It is a working-class neighborhood. 80% of our students are ...
Story posted March 17, 2010. Results updated August 27, 2010.
Results:
• One of the top-performing elementary schools in Detroit
• 3rd and 4th graders outperformed the state as a whole on both reading and math standardized tests--and 100% of them scored proficient or above on math tests
When Principal Theresa Mattison came to Carstens Elementary in 1997 “achievement was zero.” Student behavior was a problem. Some staff seemed uncommitted. As parent liaison Abby Phelps puts it, “This school was in the middle of chaos.”
Today Carstens is a beacon of light for the surrounding community. It is one of the top-performing schools in Detroit and in 2009 third graders at this school—where 98% of students are from high poverty homes—outscored the state as a whole on all tested subjects.
How did the school turn itself around? School staff points to the leadership of Dr. Mattison. Dr. Mattison points back to her incredible staff. And everyone recognizes the importance of meeting more than just the academic needs of students.
Members of the Carstens community recently told us the school’s story. In on the conversation were Principal Theresa Mattison, parent liaison Abby Phelps, school social worker Gail Nawrock, and teachers Barbara Haug, Vannessa Jones, Rebecca Kelly and Violet Kiricovski.*
Public School Insights: How would you describe Carstens Elementary?
Violet Kiricovski: Carstens shares the Comer philosophy. And we all work together. Teamwork really is our strong point.
Rebecca Kelly: The way I would describe Carstens is that it is actually more than a school. I just saw a presentation in which they described it as a “beacon of light.” And the parents, the families, the students and the businesses are all working together.
Abby Phelps: Carstens incorporates a city philosophy. We offer all services. We have it all.
Public School Insights: What kind of a population does the school serve?
Barbara Haug: We serve a deserving population. Statistically, they are considered high poverty—98% of them come from high poverty homes. And our population is about 98% African-American. But we do not think that statistics are something that describes somebody’s potential. It just describes the situation that needs to be considered when you look at the needs of the individual child or the children. What it boils down to is that they are children who deserve a ...
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A VISION FOR GREAT SCHOOLS
On this website, educators, parents and policymakers from coast to coast are sharing what's already working in public schools--and sparking a national conversation about how to make it work for children in every school. Join the conversation!
