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.
District wide strategies
Success Stories
Every year the American School Board Journal (with the National School Boards Association and Sodexo) recognizes excellent school district leadership with the Magna Awards. The following district is a 2012 winner.
Story posted June 26, 2012
Results:
- Johnston County Schools’ dropout rate has steadily declined, from a high of 5.39 percent in 2006-07 to 3.19 percent in 2010-11 and the raw numbers dropped from 465 to 213.
- The district’s graduation rate increased over the same period from 72.8 percent to 78.7 percent in 2010-11.
- The program has brought together community groups
and support for at-risk students is rapidly gaining momentum.
DISTRICT DILEMMA
Johnston County is one of the fastest-growing school districts in North Carolina. The makeup of the student population is changing dramatically, reflecting an increase in students with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Students also come from diverse economic backgrounds: Eighteen percent of the county’s children live in poverty and 40 percent of students receive free or reduced-price lunches. Of the more than 32,000 students enrolled in Johnston County Schools, an estimated one third exhibit at-risk characteristics. Many students do not fit the “traditional” student mold and lack family support. The district’s dropout rate has exceeded the state average, and school leaders were concerned that the rapid growth of the district could accelerate the dropout problem.
SOLUTION
GRADUATE! provides personalized educational experiences to high school dropouts in a separate educational setting, allowing them to earn their diplomas. Supports include online and face-to-face courses, tutoring, mentoring, career and job coaching, housing, and mental health services. This initiative is ...
Using Strategy to Narrow the Gap
Every year the American School Board Journal (with the National School Boards Association and Sodexo) recognizes excellent school district leadership with the Magna Awards. The following district is a 2012 winner.
Story posted June 26, 2012
Results:
- 54% of eight-graders are enrolled in either algebra or geometry.
- 95% are passing algebra and 100% passed the Virginia state test in geometry.
- 97% of students attending one high poverty elementary school passed the state math test in April 2011 and in that same month, 83% of high school students earned passing scores on the state math test and 94% passed the state writing test.
DISTRICT DILEMMA
The Alexandria City School Board governs a multiethnic district of 12,500 students. Unlike the majority of city residents, who are predominately white and affluent, public school children in Alexandria are mostly of color (72 percent), economically disadvantaged (54 percent), and often in need of special education (11 percent)and English language instruction (23 percent).Although many of its students are outstanding and well prepared for college and careers when they graduate, the achievement of Latino and African American students has lagged far behind that of white students. The graduation rate at the city’s only high school, the historic T.C.Williams, earned it a “persistently lowest achieving” designation.
SOLUTION
Knowing that the achievement gap begins before children enter school, the board adopted a five year plan that featured the creation of high-quality preschools; a focus on special education; the adoption of a new curriculum that ...
Elk Grove Unified School District — “Be Energy Wise. Conserve.”
Story posted June 26, 2012.
NSPRA’s Gold Medallion Award is the highest award given by the Association in recognition of outstanding educational public relations programs. This is a profile highlighting a 2011 winner.
Results
- EGUSD has saved approximately $768,000 and is well on its way to exceeding their $1 million goal.
- A reduction of approximately 13,000,000 kWh in electricity consumption, which is equal to removing 1,800 cars off the road and planting well over 40,000 new trees each year.
Research
Over the past three years, California’s K-12 public schools have experienced devastating state budget cuts. For Elk Grove Unified School District (EGUSD), this has meant a cumulative $100 million in budget cuts. In 2011-12, EGUSD was facing an additional $40 million in reductions. During this budget crisis, the Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD) informed EGUSD that it was the worst energy user out of the 13 districts in Sacramento County. ...
Story posted April 18, 2012
Results:
- 2,400 more students met state academic standards in 2011 than did in 2005
- Nearly 91% of students met state proficiency standards in reading in 2011, up from 76 percent in 2005 (gains in math have been equally as dramatic)
School District 54 in Schaumburg, IL, always viewed itself as a great school district. Unfortunately, student achievement had remained stagnant for several years. Staff members were becoming increasingly frustrated and complained of low morale.
At the same time, the accountability movement exploded and achievement results became fully transparent to the entire community. Staff and parents now could see firsthand how a particular school was doing and began calling for change.
Guiding Light
After a great deal of research, we concluded that a district-wide implementation of professional learning communities (PLCs) was the way for us to go. Several key strategies proved beneficial. ...
Zone Offense Helps District Fight Challenges of Poverty
Story posted January 9, 2012
Results:
- In 2011, Zone schools outperformed non-Zone schools on state standardized tests in math, and performed equal to non-Zone schools in reading for the first time (overall performance improved in both groups of schools in both subjects)
- Dramatic gains at two middle schools lead to their removal from the state’s list of “persistently low-achieving schools,” and there are no district schools on this year’s list
Vancouver, Washington, is a city of around 165,500, located just north of Portland, Oregon. About 22,500 children attend the city’s public schools. But as elsewhere, not all of those schools perform equally – and students affected by poverty often attend the lowest-performers. In the Vancouver district, approximately 54 percent of students qualify for federally subsidized meals, up from 39 percent six years ago. “Decades of experience and research have shown that unmet basic needs, family mobility, inadequate medical and dental care, mental health issues, drug and alcohol abuse, crime and violence, and gang involvement adversely impact student achievement,” said Steve Webb, superintendent of Vancouver Public Schools. ...
A “Fierce Focus” on Data and Instructional Leadership Pays Off
Story posted November 16, 2011
Results:
- Extended graduation rate of 93 percent for the class of 2010 (up nearly 10 percentage points since the class of 2006)
- Achievement gaps between Hispanic and African-American students and their peers are narrowing
In 2006, the year Mary Alice Heuschel took 
over the reins of the Renton School District in northwest Washington State, more than three in 10 students were failing to make it to their high school graduation day. That fact clearly concerned Heuschel, who had spent the previous seven years in the state education department.
Aware of the poor finishing results and achievement gaps of the diverse 14,500-student school district (where 46% of students receive free or reduced price lunch and 14% are considered transitional bilingual) located 11 miles from Seattle on Puget Sound, Heuschel came to the job to make a difference. ...
A Bright Future for All Students
Story posted May 20, 2011
Editor's Note: Shortly following the posting of this story, the deadliest tornado since record keeping began in 1950 hit the Joplin community. Learn more about its impact on district schools and how district schools are helping mobilize the community response from The Leading Source (the American School Board Journal's blog).
Every year the American School Board Journal (with the National School Boards Association and Sodexo) features Magna Awards to recognize excellent school district leadership. The following district is a 2011 winner.
Results:
More than 500 volunteers have contributed 3,000+ hours of service as mentors, tutors, and volunteers. - 54% reduction in the number of dropouts.
- Establishment of 233 community partnerships.
- More than $300,000 in cash and in-kind donations.
- Creation of a rapid response system to meet basic needs of students within a 24-hour period.
Joplin, in southwest Missouri, has a rich history as an old mining town. As the jobs created by the mining industry went away, high poverty and low expectations replaced what was once a thriving community. With 56.2 percent of Joplin’s 7,802 students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, kids have many basic needs to be met for them to be successful. One out of four freshman entering Joplin High School would not graduate. Almost 200 high school students dropped out in the 2008-09 school year. Realizing the culture of the school community had to change, in 2008 the Joplin school board started the process of strategic planning to ...
Aldine ISD: "Producing the Nation's Best" by Reducing Bus Accidents
Story posted February 23, 2011
Results:
- Improved school bus driving performance
- Cost savings of $104,000
- Potentially hundreds of hours of student instruction saved
In August, 2009, the Aldine ISD transportation department, under the leadership of Richard Delgado, executive director, and Alfred DeBose, assistant director, decided to work towards “producing the nation’s best” by reducing bus accidents, thus providing safer travel, reducing costs, and building stakeholder confi dence. The department set the goal of improving the current school bus accident prevention process, by developing a well defined and comprehensive fleet safety program and an accident review board through Process and Performance Management (PPM) in partnership with the American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC).
The first step was to establish a timeline for project implementation and begin to gather data that established root causes for the accident rate as of the date of the project. The team discovered that the data on accident causes was not being fed back into the Driver Academy, so a process was designed to insure that future accident data would be used to inform and improve driver training. As a result of data gathered, an accident rubric was developed for use by the district Accident Review Board, so rigorous standards and a uniform approach to documentation of ...
Story posted January 27, 2011
Results:
• More than 95% of the graduating class of 2010 earned college hours, with two-thirds of students earning at least a semester of college credit
• 82% graduation rate for the class of 2008 (the most recent for which data is available), compared to 79% for the state as a whole and 75% for the district's region
In the late 1980s, the Hidalgo Independent School District ranked in the bottom 10 percent of Texas districts in student achievement. But during the next two decades, Hidalgo’s leaders took a series of steps that improved student performance and gained support throughout the community. Chief among these transformations were efforts to focus everyone—from bus drivers to principals and from teachers to school board members—on doing what it takes to raise student achievement. This included shifting the board to be more open to innovation and change. It also featured efforts to get principals, assistant principals, and teachers working together in teams to improve instruction and curriculum.
When Dr. Daniel P. King became superintendent in 1999, one of his most visible early actions was to require students to wear uniforms. The decision was made in order to end discipline problems associated with gang colors, put all students on an equal footing, and develop a positive and inclusive school identity.
According to former Hidalgo students, there were changes in attitudes immediately. Former student Susana Phillips, who now has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas-Austin, said, “The gangs died down. It was a joke to ...
An Overnight Miracle, Seven Years in the Making
Story posted August 27, 2010
Results:
• On-time graduation rate is just under 84%, up from 53% seven years ago
• Extended graduation rate is just over 90%
• College-going rate is 54%, up from 17% in 2004
Seven years ago, Washington’s Everett School District awoke to a harsh reality. A change in how the state calculated graduation rates revealed that only 53% of the district’s students graduated on-time. Officials were shocked and embarrassed. They sprang into action.
Today, Everett’s on-time graduation rate is just under 84%. Its extended graduation rate is just over 90%. And the improvement has occurred across the board, in all ethnic groups and special populations.
To what do they credit their success? Getting a group of committed adults focused on the problem and meeting regularly to try to solve it. And they also moved from numbers to names—getting personal about who is not on track to graduate and what they can do about it. Everett’s Chief Academic Officer Terry Edwards recently told us more.
Public School Insights: Your district has recently gotten some press because of its improved graduation rates. Could you tell me a bit about the success you have had?
Edwards: It is something that I call “An overnight wonder that took seven years to get here.”
About seven years ago, in 2003-2004, the state of Washington changed how it calculated graduation rates. It moved from looking at the number of graduates in the senior class plus those who dropped out over the past four years to a cohort model, the on-time model that the federal government has adopted. This model looks at the number of kids who enter in ninth grade and the number who graduate four years later.
When we converted to that model, our district’s graduation rate was 53%. That was very hard for Everett to accept, because we had always believed that we were a very good school district and doing a good job. 53% was shocking and embarrassing. And it did not seem to follow what we perceived as reality. We did not see hundreds of children standing around on street corners in ...
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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!
