Join the conversation

Nowhere are the "Christmas wars" more explosive - and nowhere do people feel the stakes are higher - than in public schools. In schools around the country, the December "holiday" (aka "Christmas") assembly has become a high-stakes contest that stirs deep emotions.

For many people on all sides, the argument isn't really about Christmas songs or Nativity pageants - it's about who gets to decide what kind of society we are. Schools, after all, are where we define who we are as a nation.

The depth of the divide is illustrated by two requests for help I recently received. The first was from an elementary-school principal struggling to figure out if her school's plans for the December program would pass constitutional muster. The proposed script includes a skit about Santa Claus that ends with a Nativity re-enactment during the singing of "Silent Night."

The second was from a parent in another town who is upset because all mention of Christmas has been banned in her child's school.

Both approaches are wrongheaded and divisive. Both violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the First Amendment. ...

Story posted May 7, 2009. Results updated November 26, 2012.

Results:

• In 2011, Lindbergh school district improved on its own 2010 state proficiency rates in almost every subject across all but one grade.
• Lindbergh also exceeded the state proficiency rates in every subject across every grade in 2011.
• In 2012, the district graduation rate was 94.8%, up from 84.5% in 2002 and 7% higher than Missouri state's graduation rate.

 The Lindbergh School District has always been in the vanguard of character building. When it took its first steps in 1989 to introduce character education in all of its schools, the world was a different place. No cell phones, no laptops, no iPods, no text messages. However, the founding committee had the vision to see that a district-wide espousal of character, with all schools and the community on board, would be the best way to achieve the district’s goal: to develop competent and caring graduates through exceptional programs, services and personnel.

Today, their vision is being realized. As Amy Richards, the coordinator for character education and a 25-year veteran of the Lindbergh district, puts it: “Character now is pervasive in all we do—it’s an integral part of our vision and our mission, our curricular as well as extra-curricular activities, our board policies and annual goal-setting, and our staff’s concept of ...

Story posted June 13, 2011. Story updated May 22, 2012.

RESULTS

Belmont is halfway through its three year improvement plan and was recently profiled by the NEA priority schools campaign. Since spending the first year focused on discipline and creating a safe learning environment, Belmont has continued its positive trajectory as evidenced by the following developments:

• Belmont has increased its Performance Index score by 3.5 percent from the 2009-2010 to 2010-2011 school years.
  
• Promotion rates have risen significantly. In 2008-2009, only 30 percent of ninth graders were promoted, while the next year, the figure went up to 63 percent. In 2010-2011, the number climbed even further—all the way up to 84 percent. A similar pattern emerged for tenth graders.
• College-level test participation has risen dramatically. In 2008-2009, eight juniors took the ACT, and in 2009-2010, that number doubled to 17. In 2010-2011, 80 juniors took the test. 86 percent of Belmont students have been accepted to some form of post-secondary education.

Beyond these results, the boost in school spirit is noticeable among students, educators and administrators. Belmont recently moved to a brand new facility, further shedding their former "Hellmont" reputation. Moving forward, everyone is working to improve upon test results (the school has yet to meet AYP) as well as implement the Common Core State Standards. Just halfway through their turnaround time-frame, Belmont is making incredible strides.

Belmont was a school run by the students. They skipped class and roamed the halls in the hundreds. Fights were a near daily occurrence. Police cars regularly parked outside. An emergency alarm sat next to the cash registers in the cafeteria to sound when students tried to steal the lunch money. Teachers feared for their safety and stayed in classrooms behind locked doors, desperately trying to ...

Story posted June 18, 2010

Results:
• The intervention moved students at the 50th percentile up to or near the 75th, and students at the 25th up to or near the 50th
• While the intervention ends in 5th grade, positive effects continue to be seen in middle-school test scores

An innovative program out of Boston College is making a big difference for children in 11 Boston elementary schools. City Connects (CCNX) works with the schools to link each child to a "tailored set of intervention, prevention and enrichment services located in the community."

Its efforts have gone a good distance towards closing achievement gaps between the low-income children in the program and children who meet state averages. CCNX's results offer powerful support for what should be common sense: When we address the challenges poor students face both within and beyond schools, they flourish.

A rigorous study (PDF) of the program's outcomes tells a pretty stunning story:

• The beneficial impact of BCNX [the former name of CCNX] on student growth in academic achievement (across grades 1 to 5) was, on average, approximately three times the harmful impact of poverty.
• By the end of grade 5, achievement differences between BCNX and comparison students indicated that the BCNX intervention moves students at the 50th percentile up to or near the 75th percentile, and the students at the 25th percentile up to or near the 50th.
• For multiple outcomes, the treatment effects were largest for students at greatest risk for academic failure. For example, English language learners experienced the largest treatment benefits on literacy outcomes, by third grade demonstrating similar report card scores to those proficient in English in comparison schools. In fact,as a result of BCNX, there was no longer an achievement gap between these students.
• After grade 5, the lasting positive effects ofthe BCNX intervention can be seen in middle-school MCAS scores. The size ofthe positive effect of BCNX ranged from approximately 50% to 130% as large as the negative effects of poverty on these scores.¹

We recently caught up with two of the program's leaders: Dr. Mary Walsh, its Executive Director, and Patrice DiNatale, its Director of Practice.

Public School Insights: What is City Connects?

Walsh: City Connects is a systemic, evidence-based approach to school-based student support. It involves assessing, in conversation with teachers and other school staff, each child in the school at the beginning of the school year and then developing a tailored student support plan based on that student's strengths and needs in four areas: academic, social emotional/behavioral, health and family.

That support plan involves accessing services, supports, resources and enrichment for the child, both school-based resources as well as, and importantly, community resources. A trained professional with a Master’s degree—either ...