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
A Village Route to Early Childhood Education
Story posted February 23, 2010
Results:
• Participants outperform their peers on fall DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) testing in kindergarten
• Significant academic and social gains are seen at the individual level
In the 1990s, we at Davenport Community Schools noticed a trend: Children were coming to kindergarten unprepared to learn. A troublingly low number of our district’s children (more than half of whom receive free or reduced price lunch) had preschool experience. Recognizing the importance of early childhood education in ensuring students are ready to succeed in school and life, we developed the Children’s Village.
The Structure
Children’s Village, launched in 1998, includes formal preschool classes and all-day, year-round programming serving children from six weeks to five years old at five sites. We encourage participation by families of all economic and social backgrounds. Services are in great demand—we have a waiting list of hundreds of families.
Funding this model was a significant challenge. We historically had two targeted sources of ...
A Community Re-Captures Its Students
Story posted February 10, 2010
Results:
• In only three years the school has re-captured at least 150 students who had dropped out or needed alternative schedules to graduate 
• Six years ago, as a K-8 school, 84% of students never made it to 10th grade; as a preK-12 school, staff anticipates an unofficial high school graduation rate exceeding 70%*
The Appalachian community of Lower Price Hill lies in an industrial area along the Ohio River, where homes are interspersed with factories and environmental quality is very poor. More than a quarter of residents are illiterate.
A few years ago, the community’s Oyler Elementary School was in danger of closing due to decreasing enrollment and poor academic outcomes. Initially local families were reluctant to intervene to save the school, but by using a variety of community engagement strategies, Cincinnati Public Schools Consultant Darlene Kamine mobilized residents. They created a new vision for a new school—a Community Learning Center. This effort was supported by ...
Getting Buy-In from Everyone in the System
A profile of Prince George's County Public Schools, Maryland
Story posted December 22, 2009
Results:
• Attendance at district welcoming events has increased from 500 parents to 20,000 parents in only three years
• In 2008-2009, the district logged over 70,000 instances of fathers' involvement in nonsports-related events
• District staff have observed that schools with higher family participation rates show greater gains in AYP
There is widespread consensus that family engagement is a critical ingredient for children’s school success “from cradle to career.” Research suggests that family engagement promotes a range of benefits for students, including improved school readiness, higher student achievement, better social skills and behavior, and increased likelihood of high school graduation.
Even though it is clear that family participation in education matters, many schools and districts struggle to develop engagement strategies that work. There are, however, a number of districts across the country that are actively working to develop comprehensive, systemic family engagement approaches that stress shared responsibility, involve a full range of school and district personnel in designing and implementing strategies, and deliberately link family engagement to student learning. One such district is Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland.
Prince George’s County represents a diverse district, serving a student population that is 73% African-American and 18.5% Hispanic, and where more than 50% of elementary and middle school students receive free or reduced price lunch. The district is particularly strong at creating “demand parents” who can navigate the educational system and demand the best from ...
Opening the Door for a New Generation of Students
Story posted December 16, 2009
Results:
• Over 90% graduation rate
• 85% college-going rate
Built in 1898, John Spry School has served kindergarten through eighth-grade children from southwest Chicago’s Little Village community, where the majority of the population is bilingual, for many years. But historically many of Spry’s students would graduate in the 8th grade, get a job to help support their families, and never complete high school.
In 2003, former principal of Spry, Dr. Carlos Azcoitia, approached the District CEO about adding a high school to Spry, creating a comprehensive community school from preschool through secondary school. After getting the go-ahead, Azcoitia met with community members, parents, the local school council, teachers, and students to discuss the design of a shared community building with an innovative, “no failure” high school. Today, Spry’s Community Links High School, which serves a student population that is 100% Hispanic and over 93% free or reduced price lunch, is opening new doors for the area’s children.
Committing to Post-Secondary Success
As a public, neighborhood school, Spry’s Community Links High School (CLHS) provides a unique opportunity for students and families from the community who are committed to success. Spry has designed a ...
Story posted November 5, 2009
Results:
• Native American math performance increased from 1080 to 1397(on Oklahoma's API scale of 1500) over the past two years
• Native American reading performance increased from 1059 to 1272 over that time
• Native American families feel more connected to the district
Bruce Belanger seems to be caught in the “wow effect.” When he speaks of the rapidly mounting success among Native Americans in Weatherford Public Schools (WPS), it’s hard for him to keep his enthusiasm from boiling over.
As director of special education, federal programs and testing at WPS, it falls to Belanger to find ways to improve student achievement. And for the past two years, good things just keep rolling in for Native American families in the district.
Central to this success are two related initiatives: a Native American Task Force (formed in October 2007) and a Community Conversation program funded by a National Education Association grant from the Public Engagement Project/ Family School Community Partnership, implemented with ...
Story posted August 20, 2009
Results:
• In 2008, 73% of students met or exceeded state proficiency standards in mathematics, up from 35% in 2004 (statewide proficiency rose only 4% over that time)
• Reading proficiency increased 19% between 2004 and 2008 (statewide proficiency saw only slight improvement over that time)
Even before the advent of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Mountain View Elementary was cast as a struggling school. In 2000, only about 20 percent of the Title I school’s third-graders read at grade level. “It was our highest need school in the sense of the highest poverty rate, a very high mobility rate, and very low student performance,” remembers Carol Comeau, who became Anchorage School District’s superintendent that year. “Even though they worked really, really hard, it was just a low-performing school overall.”
In the infancy of NCLB, Mountain View continued to post some of the district’s lowest scores and was labeled “in need of improvement” after not making adequate yearly progress (AYP) for two consecutive years. But, change was afoot in this older one-story building. A charismatic leader, committed staff, additional district and federal funding, and an emphasis on direct instruction in reading helped the school start turning around.
Reading proficiency went from 29 percentage points below the state average in 2003–2004 to ...
Rocket Launches and a Middle School that is Beating the Odds
Story posted July 16, 2009. Results updated March 5, 2013
Results:
- In 2012, more than 95% of 6th, 7th and 8th graders at Clark scored at or above proficient in reading
- Also in 2012, more than 95% of 6th, 7th and 8th graders at Clark scored at or above proficient in math.
With a stutter, then a whoosh, a pink glittered model rocket accelerates to the sky. It disappears into the sun, then wafts earthward under a plastic 
parachute. Two fifth-grade girls traipse after. A dozen other fifth-graders sit in a row ten feet behind the launching pad, each awaiting the call to launch his or her personally accented missile.
The rocket launch is great fun. Visitors chat with the assembled students, pausing to applaud each successful launch. Teacher Glen Mutchnick (a licensed professional engineer, former university instructor and Alabama Teacher of the Year) explains that the rocket launch accompanies a study of astronomy. For several lessons prior to the launch students learned about ...
Story posted May 19, 2009
Results:
• 98.3% of students progress from 9th to 12th grade--the highest completion rate in the county
• Approximately 86% of the current junior class has already earned up to 32 college credits, with many seniors earning upward of 60
The Hidalgo Independent School District (HISD) is located in South Texas along the U.S./Mexico border in one of the poorest counties in the state. Forty-five percent of Hidalgo’s residents live below the poverty level and only 3.9 percent of residents have earned a college degree. More than 90 percent of HISD students are economically disadvantaged and more than half have limited English proficiency.
[Despite the challenges faced by students in these demographics,] one of the district’s goals is “college attainment for all students.” It seeks to improve student graduation rates, college awareness, and ...
Parent/Teacher Collaboration Leads to “Students for Success”
Story posted April 9, 2009
Results:
• 50% of regular participants improved at least one letter grade in an academic subject during the program's first full year
• In collaboration with other FHS campus-wide efforts, Students for Success helped contribute to a 30-point increase (more than a 4% improvement) in school API (California's method of measuring school growth and performance) during the second year of implementation
Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, CA, is nothing if not diverse. The student population is 40% Hispanic, 25% Caucasian, 17% Asian, and 12% Filipino—to name just the four most prevalent ethnicities. The school is also socioeconomically diverse, with student families ranging from affluent to economically disadvantaged. In addition, 28% of students are English Language Learners and 10% are enrolled in special education courses.
Such diversity offers many benefits, but it also presents challenges. One enormous challenge is the large variance in academic support students get at home. While many students ...
Transforming School Culture the Waterloo Way
Story posted March 19, 2009
Results:
• Over 80% of students met or exceeded state mathematics standards in 2008, compared to 49% in 2003
• School consistently makes Adequate Yearly Progress in all areas
• Serious disciplinary offenses (as defined by No Child Left Behind) fell 71% (79 to 23) between 2004-2005 and 2006-2007
• First recipient of the New York State School of Character Award and a 2008 National School of Character
Just eight years ago, Waterloo Middle School, located in the heart of New York’s scenic Finger Lakes region, was anything but an educational beacon. The story of its transformation from a school struggling with disciplinary and academic problems into an award-winning model school is proof that committed teamwork can revolutionize school culture. ...
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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!
