Join the conversation

...about what is working in our public schools.

District wide strategies

Success Stories

Building Bridges for Student Success

Gloria Bourdon, Genesee Intermediate School District, Michigan

Story posted Jaunary, 2008

Bridges.JPG 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. ...

Goals 2000 and Beyond: Helping ELL Students Succeed

Henry Escobar, Livingston Union School District, California

Story posted December, 2007

livingstonstudents1.jpgResults:
• Even the district's lowest-performing school gained nearly 248 points in California's academic performance index between 1999 and 2005

Given that the majority of their students were English language learners from low-income homes, teachers in the Livingston Union School District thought they "weren't doing so badly," Superintendent Henry M. Escobar recalls. But when they saw their results on California's first annual academic performance index in 1999 -"absolutely dismal," Escobar says, and among the state's lowest - they knew things had to change. District leaders believed that to narrow the gaps in student achievement, they had to change the culture in their schools. The key to doing that, they argued, was recognizing that teachers would need extra support to help their predominately poor, Hispanic students reach high expectations. "Our teachers are the heart of our program," Escobar says. ...

Syndicate content