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.
Public School Success Stories
Across the Country, public schools and districts are transforming themselves to prepare students for success in a 21st-century democracy and global society. Take a look at what educators and communities are doing right now to meet this challenge.
Or tell us what's working in your own school or district.
Iowa’s Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program for Four-Year-Old Children
Story posted February 9, 2012
Results:
- Over 64% of kindergarten children who attended preschool were considered proficient on DIBELS in the 2008, 2009 and 2010 school years, compared to approximately 52%, 56% and 57% (respectively) of their peers who did not attend preschool, and the impact is greater for children in poverty
The Iowa State Board of Education has long supported quality early childhood education, and in 2007 the legislature created the Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program for Four-Year-Old Children (SWVPP). The purpose of the program is to provide an opportunity for all 4-year-old children in the state of Iowa to enter school ready to learn by expanding access to research-based preschool curriculum and licensed teaching staff.
Under the program, school districts, along with community partners, submitted grant applications to participate. Those awarded a grant demonstrated collaborative involvement with multiple stakeholders in both the planning and ...
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. ...
Story posted June 10, 2010. Results updated December 20, 2011.
Results:
• In 2011, the school performed as well, or better than, the state as a whole on reading and math tests at every grade level (no data available for seventh grade math), despite serving a significantly higher percentage of students in poverty
• Named a 2010 Breakthrough School by the National Association of Secondary School Principals
It is no accident that the staff at Fieldale-Collinsville Middle School adopted a central tenet of Breaking Ranks in the Middle—to banish anonymity by creating a personalized learning environment for all of its students. The school was created six years ago when the four middle schools in Henry County, VA, were consolidated into two middle schools.
The consolidation left the students, the staff members, and the community angry and disjointed. No one felt any joy in coming to a middle school that was housed in a former high school. The hallways and classrooms were out of proportion with the students, and the 900-student school was an extreme change for the rural area.
The closing of many of the area’s manufacturing plants and subsequent rising unemployment rates compounded the difficulties— unemployment in the area is the highest in the Commonwealth of Virginia at 20%, with almost 50% of the students eligible for meal subsidies. The board of education, supported by the community, recognized that an effort had to be made to provide a quality education for every student.
After a challenging first year of consolidation, the staff, led by principal Moriah Dollarhite, embraced the idea of grade-level teams, breaking the school into small groups to create camaraderie and school spirit. Content teams were also created to monitor instruction and ensure that all lessons were tied to the state learning standards.
And finally, a lead teacher team, representing all content areas and ...
Academic Parent-Teacher Teams Show Promising Results
Story posted December 5, 2011
Results:
- Remarkable short-term test score gains - oral reading fluency (ISTEEP ORF) scores in APTT classrooms rose nearly 25 points from August to November 2009 (in non-APTT classrooms, oral reading fluency rose only about 10 points)
- Preliminary data show a 92 percent parent attendance rate at the team meetings, much higher than at conventional parent-teacher conferences in the district
When parents are engaged in their child’s learning, they can help their child strengthen academic skills outside of school. Academic Parent-Teacher Teams (APTT) provides a structure for parents to meet with the teacher and converse with other parents while also learning ways to support their child’s academic skill development. Founded in 2008, APTT resulted from efforts to increase student learning through support beyond the school day.
The program replaces traditional parent-teacher conferences with three classroom team meetings for parents and one 30-minute individual parent teacher conference (or more if needed). At the team meetings, the teacher models activities that parents can do at home with their children. The teacher also presents academic performance data for the class and gives parents individual information about their own child’s performance.
“Many parents wonder what the parents of kids at the top of the class are doing at home to make that happen,” says Maria Paredes, who started the program and ...
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 ...
TechBoston Academy: Achievement through Partnerships and Committed Investments
Story posted August 31, 2011
Results:
- Despite serving a high needs population—an 86% free/reduced lunch rate, 15% English language learners, and 25% special needs—in 2010, 75% of students scored proficient or advanced in math, which is higher than state and district averages.
- In 2010 93% of graduates went on to college, compared with the district-wide average of 61%.
- The school recently announced that their value-added gains in math were in the 99th percentile.
It’s not every day that the President of the United States and the co-chair of the largest charitable foundation in the world take the time to tour a school. But on March 8 of this year, President Barack Obama and Melinda Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, along with Education Secretary Arne Duncan, joined together to tour TechBoston Academy in Boston, MA and to highlight the work being done there. ...
Aiming for a Blue Ribbon in Alabama's Black Belt
Story posted October 3, 2008, Updated August 29, 2011.
Results:
• In 2011, 80.8% of 5th graders met or exceeded standards on the state reading test, up from 77.4% in 2005, with the number of students exceeding state reading standards (the highest performance level on the test) up by 10% from 2010.
On the edge of Alabama, 15 miles from the Mississippi state line, lies Aliceville. With only 5,000 residents, the town relies on agriculture and timber for jobs, and many of its residents live at or below the poverty level. Driving through downtown, you see three closed gas stations with their prices permanently set at $2.58. A right turn takes drivers past an established housing community and a few newer complexes, and then two long, low red brick school buildings come into view. ...
A Full-Service School Fulfills Its Promise
Story posted September 9, 2008, Updated August 29, 2011.
Results:
- 95% of 4th graders scored proficient or better through 2010
- In 2008, 70% of 4th graders scored proficient or better on the New York State's English language arts assessment (compared to 19% passing in 1999)
- In 2008, 94% of students are now medically insured (compared with less than 23% in 1999)
In the late 1990s, teachers and administrators here at Thomas Edison Elementary School in Port Chester, New York, could see that the struggles of neighborhood families were affecting students' safety and well-being. They were also contributing to low academic achievement.
Although Port Chester is surrounded by affluent areas of Westchester County, our community is far from wealthy. More than 80 percent of Thomas Edison's students receive free or reduced-price lunch, and nearly 50 percent are English language learners. The majority of our families are recent immigrants from Hispanic countries. They struggle to afford adequate housing, child care, nutrition, and health care. They also face the stresses that ...
A Partnership Focused on Leadership
Story posted August 11, 2011
Results:
- Thanks to enhanced literacy skills and the efforts of a highly effective graduation coach, the class of 2010 had an impressive 95% graduation rate, compared to 66% six years ago
- Elementary students have made great strides in both reading and math performance over the past few years: 94% in reading, 97% in math on the 2011 Alabama Reading and Math Test (ARMT).
- Schools have a new atmosphere of collaboration and respect among administrators, teachers, and students
Sandwiched between interstates, industrial plants and a 2.3-mile Birmingham International runway sits the small urban community of Tarrant, Alabama. Tarrant City serves about 1300 students in four schools: elementary (K-3), intermediate (4-6), middle (7-9) and high (10-12). Many of Tarrant’s children grow up in poverty, live in substandard Section 8 housing, and breathe air tainted by industrial pollution. The district has one of the highest eligibility rates for free or reduced-price lunch in the Birmingham metro area.
The city has an aging population with little space to develop new middle-class homes. Over the past decade and a half, Tarrant has experienced a dramatic demographic shift as traditional blue-collar and industrial employment began to disappear and ...
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. ...
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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!
