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.
Equity
Success Stories
Working Together for Pre-School Success
Story posted March 12, 2012
Results:
- 95% of eligible four-year-olds now attend free, high-quality pre-school classes
- District teachers consistently report that children who have attended pre-school are well prepared for entry into kindergarten
The School District of La Crosse, Wisconsin believes that well-prepared four-year-olds make the best kindergarten students. For the last ten years, they've put time and effort into getting all four-year-olds access to pre-school programs. And they've seen results.
Prior to 2001, children attended private pre-schools or childcare centers, if their parents could afford it. Head Start or Title I programs offered options for low-income families, but the school district Title I program could only accommodate 150 to 160 four-year-olds and had to turn children away every year (63.8% of students in the district are economically disadvantaged). In addition, interaction between the school district and other early childhood providers in the community was limited.
Ten years later, an estimated 95 percent of eligible four-year-olds now attend free, high quality pre-school classes in a variety of school-based and community settings throughout ...
Story posted September 25, 2008. Results updated January 22, 2012.
RESULTS
• While serving a student population that is 97% free or reduced price lunch, the school outperformed the state in math in grades 4 through 8 in 2011.
• In English/Language Arts, the school outperformed the state in grades 4 through 7 in 2011.
• One highlight: 83% of 8th graders met or exceeded state standards in math, compared with just 60% statewide in 2011.
Osmond A. Church Elementary School, otherwise known as PS / MS 124, sits so close to John F. Kennedy Airport that some at the school refer to it as "Hanger 12." It is appropriate, then, that achievement scores have "taken off" in recent years and continue to soar within all subgroup populations.
How has this been accomplished, one might ask? It began in 1999 when the school applied to New York State for a Comprehensive School Reform Grant. The school community chose to embrace E.D. Hirsch's "Core Knowledge Program," which was developed on the basis of scientific research. ...
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. ...
Becoming Compadres in Education
Story posted October 28, 2009. Results updated November 14, 2011.
Results:
• Hispanic student performance on end-of-course assessments has risen dramatically in a number of subjects, including Algebra I and II, Biology I and English III 
• The graduation rate among Hispanic students has increased by nearly 70 percent since 2007
• Attendance at Hispanic Family Night has increased from 50 to more than 250 since 2007
Putnam City West High School serves a rapidly changing, ethnically and economically mixed cross-section of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The student body of more than 1,600 turns over at a rate of 40 percent per year. Twenty-two percent of the school’s students are Hispanic (a dramatic increase over the past twelve years) and 72 percent are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Despite gains in student achievement made by the school in recent years, the achievement gap between rich and poor students, as well as the gap between white and minority students, remains a constant problem. To address this issue, school officials joined forces with ...
Bridging the Gap: College Tuition for Every High School Graduate
Story posted August 3, 2011
Results:
- In its initial phase, the Say Yes program has covered the college or post-secondary tuition of nearly 1,200 Syracuse high school graduates in need.
- Across Say Yes schools, more than 75% of participating students earn a high school diploma or GED, and about half earn some kind of post-secondary degree or credential—far more than peers in similar circumstances.
Few would disagree with the notion that low-income children face enormous challenges outside the traditional school system in achieving academic success. Research has confirmed the role of everything from health to summer learning opportunities, along with school-based factors including teacher and principal quality, in student achievement. ...
Story posted July 25, 2011
Results:
- Over the past five years, the percent of students meeting or exceeding standards on the ISAT has consistently increased
- The number of students in honors courses is steadily increasing: In the 2009-10 school, 62% of the student body was enrolled in one or more honors class [34% of whom were Black and 37% of whom were low income]
- Attendance at parent-teacher conferences and other contacts are above 90%
Franklin Middle School is located in the heart of an economically challenged neighborhood in the small urban city of Champaign in central Illinois. Though staffed by dedicated adults and attended by hardworking students, Franklin is recovering from a difficult past.
As a result of years of racial discord, segregation, and lawsuits, in January 2002, the Champaign Unit 4 School District adopted a judicial consent decree outlining an educational equity agreement. Key points included establishing processes for parental choice of schools and increased community involvement. ...
Story posted June 2, 2011
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 2011 winner.
RESULTS
- Students who participated in school-sponsored summer camps demonstrated impressive gains from pre- to post-assessments—especially students from higher-poverty schools.
- Participating teachers were pleased with the programs, and have committed to include more technology in their regular classroom instruction.
- The program produced intangible results in providing the neediest students with high-quality educational and social experiences.
Economically disadvantaged students consistently underperform academically. Research shows that socioeconomic factors such as family income are more significant in explaining differences in educational achievement than traditional factors such as race and ethnicity. 
One cause is limited exposure to experiences that promote intellectual development. Unlike their wealthier peers, poor students are rarely exposed to experiences that help them to succeed in school. Trips to the zoo, family vacations, and experience with technology give wealthier children advantages beginning in kindergarten. The Pasco County School Board supports the notion that increasing a student’s exposure to quality experiences can greatly influence a child’s potential to succeed. The district developed the Title I Pasco Environmental Adventure Camp Experience (PEACE) and ...
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 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 ...
Leveling the Playing Field in Rural South Dakota
Story posted November 3, 2010
Results:
• 91.11% graduation rate, better than the state average
• Performance of high school students, and Native American students at the middle and high school levels, exceeds that of their peers statewide on standardized assessments
• Steadily increasing retention of Native American students at the high school level
We hear a lot about urban schools—their performance, the challenges they face, how we can make them better. We don’t hear nearly as much about rural schools, despite the fact that almost half of our public schools are rural and about a third of America's students attend these schools.
Rural schools face challenges similar to urban schools (such as poverty and high mobility rates), as well as unique challenges related to attracting and retaining staff, capacity to apply for large competitive grants, access (or lack thereof) to providers of supplemental educational services and more.
But there are a number of successful schools and districts that are overcoming these challenges and helping rural students meet their potential. South Dakota’s Wagner School District is one such place. The district, located next to the Yankton Sioux Reservation, has one school that serves grades pre-K through 12. Its diverse student population is overwhelmingly poor. It has a high mobility rate.
Yet students in Wagner graduate at a higher rate than others in South Dakota. And Native American and high school students outperform their peers across the state on standardized assessments.
Critical to the district’s success is technology. By embracing initiatives ranging from a one-to-one laptop program to online AP courses to iPod touches that help differentiate instruction for kindergarteners, this district is truly using technology to enhance student learning.
Wagner Superintendent Susan Smit recently told us more about this remarkable district.
Wagner: A Rural, Diverse District
Public School Insights: Tell me about the Wagner School District.
Smit: Wagner is located in rural South Dakota, along the Missouri River at the base of the state. It’s a beautiful part of the United States.
We get federal impact aid under Title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. We're right next to the Yankton Sioux Reservation, which is a checkerboard reservation. It was one land mass at one time, but pieces have been sold by different entities through the years and now it's a checkerboard. One piece of land may be reservation, the piece next to it may not be.
We're a rural community with changing demographics and a diverse population. The two primary demographics are Native American and ...
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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!
