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Story posted July 24, 2012

Results:

• Over the past four years, nearly 400 Fulton County elementary, middle, and high school teachers have received between 50 and 160 hours of professional development that was funded by over $2.7 million dollars in grants
  
• State test scores rose an average of 14% in mathematics and 11% in science over this time 

The Challenge

For the past several years, the state of Georgia’s funding for teacher professional development has been limited, but there has been flexibility allowed with those funds to assist districts in balancing their budgets.  However, this has meant less direct money to provide needed professional development for math and science teachers.  Fulton County is a geographically large urban district with a diverse population, and the professional development requirements to address the diversity of student backgrounds and needs are varied among teachers, schools, and regions.

The Solution ...

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 ...

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 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. ...