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
Together We Can: Schools and Communities Join Forces for Mobile's Children
Story posted January, 2008
Results:
• District made Adequate Yearly Progress in 2007
• 85 of 100 schools met Adequate Yearly Progress in 2007, a 215% jump from 2002
Often the hardest part of school reform is taking the long-view of things. Action plans get written but fail to move from goal setting to actual practice. The Mobile Area Education Foundation (MAEF) understood these shortcomings. MAEF set out on a multi-year quest to ensure that its efforts to engage the community in creating a school improvement plan translated into effective action and better education for all Mobile's children.
After four decades of inadequate funding, Mobile County's 100 schools serving 65,000 students were crumbling, and student performance was among the worst in the nation. In 2001, after an intense public engagement effort, voters responded in an action unprecedented in 40 years-they approved a property tax tied to public education. But the voters had not written a blank check: They expected results. ...
Teachers Help Thousands of Students Come to School Healthy and Ready to Learn
Story posted December, 2007
Results:
• Contributed to the addition of 400,000 children to California health insurance enrollments from 2002 to 2007
California teachers have linked thousands of low-income kids to health care because, as the Teachers for Healthy Kids (THK) project puts it, "healthy children make better learners." This initiative, a joint effort of the California Teachers Association and the California Association of Health Plans, connects teachers with information and parents with services to help ensure that the state's uninsured children receive the health care they so desperately need to succeed in school - and in life. ...
Building Bridges for Student Success
Story posted Jaunary, 2008
Results:
• More than 90% of parents whose children attend this program report that their children do better in school and learn new things because of the program
Students in Genesee County, Michigan have no excuse to be "home alone" after school. A countywide afterschool initiative called Bridges to the Future enrolls more than 17,000 youngsters in safe, organized activities that are designed to support in-school learning - with a healthy emphasis on kid-centered fun.
Genesee County, home to the city of Flint, has seen its share of tough times in recent years, due to a declining economy, increasing poverty, and rising levels of violence and crime. Bridges to the Future is providing the county's students with the attention and the caring they need to rise above these trends and see the way to success. ...
In Burlington, Sustainability Drives School Success
Story posted January, 2008
Results:
• Engages students as spokespersons for sustainability efforts
• Builds self-confidence in a low-income community where students often feel they have little control over their lives
The Somali Bantu first-graders at Lawrence Barnes Elementary in Burlington were often silent in class. But that was before the students, who came to Vermont by way of a refugee camp in Kenya, met Speedy the Chicken.
Burlington is a haven for refugee resettlement, and nowhere is that seen more than at Barnes, where the school's 160 students speak 28 different languages. Virtually all come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and a district report found that Barnes has lower parental involvement and student achievement than its more affluent schools. With large numbers of English language learners and students with special needs, Barnes teachers recognized the need to connect the classroom with the outside world. "Our kids need hands-on learning experiences," says first-grade teacher Julie Brown. "When students are interested in and connected to the content, they're more likely to want to know more." ...
Innovative Character Education Leads to Safe, Supportive, and Successful School
Story posted January, 2008
Results:
• 74% drop in disciplinary referrals since the 2001 school year
• Met academic goals for all 29 student subgroups in 2005
A low-income community might seem an unlikely setting for an award winning public school. But St. Stephens Elementary is just such a school, thanks in large part to the safe, supportive learning environment school staff have worked hard to create.
St. Stephens Elementary enrolls 750 children, over half of whom participate in the free/reduced-lunch program, and more than half of whom are students of color.
Faced with such an economically, socially and ethnically diverse student population, the school has created a strong sense of family through an innovative character education program and a challenging academic curriculum. Children at St. Stephens know they are safe and loved. The school accepts and in fact celebrates their diversity. ...
Arts Integrated Curriculum Helps Students Overcome Challenges of Poverty
Story posted January, 2008
Results updated December, 2011
Results:
• In 2010, the school outperformed the state in every test at every grade level, despite serving a significantly higher percentage of students in poverty overall (74% compared to 30%)
• 100% of fourth grade students met proficiency scores in science and math in 2010
Woodrow Wilson is a pre-kindergarten to eighth grade school located in Union City, New Jersey. One of the most densely populated cities in the United States, Union City has a large immigrant population-90 percent of the students are Hispanic-and high rates of poverty. In fact, the city has the lowest median family income in the state, and 84 percent of the school's population is eligible for a free or reduced-price lunch. ...
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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!
