2011 Magna Awards - American School Board Journal

Transcription

magna2011cover:Magnacover 2/26/11 5:47 PM Page 1
2011
Advancing Student Learning
Through School Board
Best Practices
in cooperation with
A supplement to
11Magna:Magna 2/28/11 4:10 PM Page C2
GRAND PRIZE WINNER - CATEGORY 3
Pasco County Schools Land O’Lakes, Fla.
Joplin Schools Joplin, Mo.
Moreland School District San Jose, Calif.
Our recognition of this
year’s winners continues our
tradition, in partnership
with American School
Board Journal, of rewarding
those who demonstrate
highly innovative thinking.
We proudly recognize the
school districts that have
taken bold steps to advance
student learning.
WINNERS - CATEGORY 3
St. Louis Public Schools St. Louis, Mo.
Corpus Christi ISD Corpus Christi, Texas
Newport News Public Schools Newport News, Va.
Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD Pharr, Texas
Plano ISD Plano, Texas
Sunnyside USD Tucson, Ariz.
Missoula County Public Schools Missoula, Mont.
Adams County School District 14 Commerce City, Colo.
Tuscaloosa City Schools Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Columbus County Schools Whiteville, N.C.
Carlisle County Public Schools Bardwell, Ky.
Greene County Schools Greensboro, Ga.
Valley Stream Union Free SD 30 Valley Stream, N.Y.
Falls Church City Public Schools Falls Church, Va.
Mitchell County School System Camilla, Ga.
HONORABLE MENTION
Washoe County School District Reno, Nev.
Vancouver Public Schools Vancouver, Wash.
Humble ISD Humble, Texas
Houston ISD Houston, Texas
Horry County Schools Conway, S.C.
Everett Public Schools Everett, Wash.
Orland School District 135 Orland Park, Ill.
Cave Creek USD #93 Scottsdale, Ariz.
Orange County Schools Hillsborough, N.C.
Arlington Heights SD #25 Arlington Heights, Ill.
El Dorado Public Schools El Dorado, Ark.
Springs Public School East Hampton, N.Y.
Francis Tuttle Technology Center Oklahoma City, Okla.
Elmsford Union Free SD Elmsford, N.Y.
Gladstone School District #115 Gladstone, Ore.
11Magna:Magna 2/26/11 1:42 PM Page 32
OVER 20,000 ENROLLMENT
Honorable Mention
(Continued)
versations with experts at museums, zoos,
and observatories around the country. High
school students have watched surgeries
being performed.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact Karen Collier, executive director of
public information, at karen.collier@humble.
k12.tx.us. The district’s website is at
www.humbleisd.net.
VANCOUVER PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Vancouver, Wash.
Edri Geiger, School Board President
Steven T. Webb, Superintendent
FAMILY-COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTERS
Vancouver’s county has the highest rate of
unemployment in the state—nearly 14 percent. Approximately half of its students qualify for subsidized meals. Twenty-seven percent are minority students, and 18 percent
have a home language other than English.
Many families commonly have acute problems related to basic needs, health care, nutrition, domestic violence, substance abuse, and
illiteracy. To help, the district established
family-community resource centers (FCRCs)
in nine high-poverty schools to provide
“wrap-around” support. A coordinator at
each site connects families with assistance
such as food, clothing, shelter, employment,
transportation, medical and dental care, child
care, and counseling services. FCRCs have
forged alliances with community and business
partners. Although core components exist at
all sites, each center has special offerings related to local needs. Results include decreases
in student mobility and discipline referrals,
and increases in student achievement, daily
attendance, and readiness for students entering kindergarten. Parent surveys have shown
high levels of satisfaction with school performance, and the numbers of partners and volunteers have increased dramatically.
Contact Thomas R. Hagley Jr., executive director of community and government relations, at [email protected]. The district’s website is at www.vansd.org.
32 Magna Awards 2011
WASHOE COUNTY
SCHOOL DISTRICT,
Reno, Nev.
Estela Gutierrez, School Board President
Heath Morrison, Superintendent
DOOR TO DOOR FOR STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
The district’s graduation rate was stagnant
for four years, hovering around 56 percent.
In 2009, the school board decided to change
the status quo and called for immediate action through a major reform process. The
Door to Door for Student Achievement program is designed to increase the graduation
rate and to keep students engaged in school.
Door to Door for Student Achievement
reaches out to children who are at risk of
dropping out of school through school and
community outreach efforts. On a Saturday
morning three weeks after school starts,
teams of school district and community leaders, including board members, visit the
homes of students who are not enrolled in
school or who have chronic attendance issues. The teams meet with children and their
parents to discuss what it will take to get
them back into the classroom. Students can
re-enroll that day, and the team develops a
personalized education plan. After the fall
2009 program, the graduation rate jumped
by seven points to 63 percent. The data
showed improvement for every minority subgroup.
Contact Calli Fisher, communicationscopywriter, at [email protected].
The district’s website is at www.washoe.k12.
nv.us.
Honorable Mention
HORRY COUNTY SCHOOLS
Conway, S.C.
Will Garland, School Board President
Cindy Elsberry, Superintendent
CONNECT: REACHING HEARTS AND MINDS
Increasing dropout rates led the Horry
County school board and district staff to research best practice for at-risk students. After
reviewing focus group feedback, the board
funded a staff position focused on the issues
facing the district’s at-risk population, including transience, adult illiteracy rates, and
obstacles facing first-generation high school
students.The Connect program was designed
to implement best practices and site visits, including staff training, compacted curricula,
tutorials, small learning communities, individualized instruction, mentors, and career
exploration and training. Freshmen attend
the program to take part in enriched, accelerated studies leading to participation in career majors and graduation within three
years. Connect continues to exceed performance goals. In its first year, the program
had a return rate of 87 percent, with 10 percent of the remaining population enrolled in
adult education or returning to their high
schools. In its fifth year, 93 percent have
earned high school diplomas within three
years. Performance on the state’s exit examination continues to increase, too.
Contact Carolyn Chestnut, chief officer for
instructional support services, at cchestnut@
horrycountyschools.net. The district’s website is at www.horrycountyschools.net.
HOUSTON INDEPENDENT
SCHOOL DISTRICT
Houston, Texas
Greg Meyers, School Board President
Terry B. Grier, Superintendent
GRAD LAB ONLINE CREDIT RECOVERY PROGRAM
Houston has a dropout rate of 15.8 percent
and a completion rate of 83 percent. While
these figures are an improvement over previous years, the district is not meeting the
school board goal of a 95 percent completion
rate for all students. In January 2010, the district introduced students who dropped out or
were identified as at risk to Grad Labs, a selfpaced digital curriculum. Grad Lab online
credit recovery centers serve 46 high schools.
Students work at their own pace to complete
online assignments at school or at home, focusing on areas where they need more assistance. Graduation coaches monitor progress
with quizzes and coursework data. When the
computer program and the coach determine
students are ready, they take a final during
school hours with a coach present. Average
course completion takes about 45 hours.
Nearly 5,000 high school students at all
grade levels took advantage of Grad Labs in
the first six months. Of those, 2,053 students
received credit or multiple credits for completing courses online. Altogether, these students recovered 3,161 course credits.
Contact Chief of Staff Michele Pola at
[email protected]. The district’s website
is at www.houstonisd.org and www.houston
isd.org/gradlabs.
HUMBLE INDEPENDENT
SCHOOL DISTRICT
Humble, Texas
Keith Lapeze, School Board President
Guy M. Sconzo, Superintendent
DISTANCE LEARNING
Economic changes made a commitment to
distance learning both viable and advantageous to Humble. Inexpensive broadband
Internet connections could replace expensive telephone communications. Portable
audiovisual equipment used in conjunction
with computers and the Internet also made
videoconferencing an easy-to-use and economical tool for education. The second economic change was a freeze on school funding at 2005 levels by Texas, leaving the
district to make difficult choices. Distance
learning presented many possibilities to use
technology in education and staff development while saving financial resources. The
program exposes students to a world outside
the classroom that would not be possible
otherwise. Students have engaged in conMagna Awards 2011 31
5,000-20,000 ENROLLMENT
Honorable Mention
(Continued)
systemic barriers to graduation, effective instruction, intervention, use of data, community resources, curriculum, grade-level
course work, and valid credit retrieval options. Seven years later, the On Time Graduation Task Force is still meeting each Tuesday, and the district’s on-time graduation rate
now tops 82 percent.
Contact Mary Waggoner, director of communications, at [email protected].
The district’s website is at
www.everett.k12.wa.us.
ORANGE COUNTY SCHOOLS
Hillsborough, N.C.
Tony McKnight, School Board President
G. Patrick Rhodes, Superintendent
HANDS FOR HABITAT
Orange County Schools has an award-winning construction technology program.
Homes were built on campus and auctioned
to the highest bidder. A decrease in area
home sales required the school board to explore alternatives that would allow the construction technology program to continue to
thrive. The district partnered with Habitat
for Humanity of Orange County to form a
district-wide service-learning project, Hands
for Habitat. It is designed to increase awareness of housing and affordability issues
through the construction, funding, and implementation of a service-learning curriculum. During high school construction
classes, students went to a nearby work site
for practical instruction. In May 2010 they
completed a green-certified Habitat home.
The district was awarded a $5,000 grant to
assist teachers with incorporating the curriculum into their classrooms. AP Environmental Science classes learned about green
construction while fourth-graders wrote to
state legislators about affordable housing.
Students studied homelessness and held
fundraisers. Hillsborough, a communityminded business, community members, and
Orange County Schools together raised over
$35,000 to construct the home.
Contact Anne Medenblik, school board
member, at [email protected]. The district’s website is at www.orange.k12.nc.us.
ORLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT 135
Orland Park, Ill.
Thomas Cunningham,
School Board President
Paul Howell, Superintendent
TUTORING CENTER
The purpose of the Tutoring Center is to
provide additional academic support to underserved Title I and potentially homeless
students. A district analysis of its state assessment scores prompted it to provide additional resources for its low-income, black,
and IEP subgroups. The district wanted to
reach out to the community. The Tutoring
Center is located in a Section 8 apartment
complex. Two teachers work with students
twice a week for 1.5 hours per session. The
students are served pizza to encourage attendance. Students work on homework, and are
tutored in weak areas. Dedicated teachers
build relationships with the students, and not
only teach but come to know more about
their lives and families. Often younger siblings attend the center for additional support
and a snack. The most significant gains on
the state assessment were in mathematics. By
providing academic support in the apartment
complex, a stronger relationship has been
forged between the district and the community.
Contact Principal Pam Hodgson at phodgson@
orland135.org. The district’s website is at
www.orland135.org.
Honorable Mention
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS SCHOOL
DISTRICT NO. 25
Arlington Heights, Ill.
Susan Preissing, School Board President
Sarah Jerome, Superintendent
GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP PROGRAM
The Arlington Heights School Board and
community recognize the urgency of developing global citizens to lead and work in the
global community. Communication and
diplomatic skills will be needed in ways never
before imagined. Students will need cultural
sensitivity and peacemaking insights as well as
creativity and inventiveness to help lead and
live productive lives in the future. All fourthand fifth-grade students take Chinese, and
middle school students are enrolled in World
Cultures and study one of five world languages. Students and staff reach out to those
in need with participation in Heifer International, UNICEF, and UNESCO projects.
They study languages, geography, economics,
and political situations. School board members have participated in exchange programs
with China and Japan and have paved the way
for student and staff exchanges in Japan, Italy,
China, and South America. Curriculum, instruction, assessment, professional development, hiring practices, and budgetary supports are impacted by this program. Since
global citizenship is a priority, what students
learn and how they learn are key components.
Contact Superintendent Sarah Jerome at
[email protected]. The district’s website is at
www.sd25.org.
CAVE CREEK UNIFIED SCHOOL
DISTRICT NO. 93
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Casey Perkins, School Board President
Debbi Burdick, Superintendent
SPANISH PARTIAL IMMERSION PROGRAM
The Cave Creek School District PK-8 Spanish Partial Immersion program began with a
parent asking: Have you heard of school programs that graduate children who are profi-
cient both in English and another world language? Research showing that students
learned languages more easily before adolescence led to the start of a Spanish Partial Immersion Program at Desert Willow Elementary School. Two first-grade classrooms
started with an anticipated rollout of one
grade level per year. Today, 386 students participate in the PK-8 Spanish Partial Immersion program. With 50 percent of the instructional day conducted in Spanish and the
other 50 percent in English, immersion students not only do extremely well in their English high-stakes testing, but also have
achieved proficiency and literacy in a second
language. The program also served as a recruiting tool to bring the school to capacity
and added an immersion preschool, and it
has grown to Sonoran Trails Middle School.
The overall results of the program show that
immersion students do as well and quite
often better than their monolingual counterparts in the district. Additionally, a threeyear longitudinal survey on multicultural
awareness shows immersion students as
being more accepting and open to different
cultures and/or languages.
Contact Cristina Ladas, world language consultant, at [email protected]. The district’s website is at www.ccusd93.org.
EVERETT PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Everett, Wash.
Ed Petersen, School Board President
Gary Cohn, Superintendent
ON TIME GRADUATION TASK FORCE
In 2003, only five out of 10 students entering
Everett’s three high schools were graduating.
This low rate rocked the district and galvanized the board, community, and staff to
make changes. Following planning sessions
with community leaders, parents, and staff,
the board launched policy and oversight systems, resource adjustments, and improvement expectations. A district team of high
school principals and administrative curriculum and support staff, with the board’s blessing, began meeting each Tuesday at 7 a.m. to
look at graduation data, grading practices,
Magna Awards 2011 29
UNDER 5,000 ENROLLMENT
Honorable Mention
(Continued)
homa Technical Assistance Center has consistently evaluated Project HOPE as an exemplary model of career-related alternative
education services, and rates outcome data as
exemplary, indicative of improvement on
every outcome measure.
Contact Jeffrey Knapp, communications coordinator, at [email protected]. The
district’s website is at www.francistuttle.edu.
GLADSTONE SCHOOL DISTRICT
#115
Gladstone, Ore.
Denis Whittet, School Board President
Robert Stewart, Superintendent
GLADSTONE CENTER FOR CHILDREN & FAMILIES
(GCCF)
Gladstone (population 12,140) has experienced a significant demographic shift in recent years, with an influx of economically
challenged, culturally diverse families. This
shift has meant a need to provide education
and services targeted at this growing population segment. A gathering place was needed
in this small city, where barriers do not exist
and where everyone is always welcome. The
partnerships of the GCCF (Head Start,
Healthy Start, etc.) provide educational programs and social services that promote
school readiness and foster confidence in
parents. Adult education classes, home visitations, a community garden, and indoor and
outdoor play areas (including a covered outdoor play area) are incorporated in the facility. The center has specialized instructional
areas that support gross motor skills development, library activities, and music instruction. Services support the needs of first-time,
expectant, and teen parents as well as of older
adults caring for grandchildren. Other services include community playgroup space, a
toy/book lending library, access to technology, and a summer program with meals. It
serves more than 400 children and families
daily and is the only center of its kind in
Oregon.
Contact Marilyn Shrum, grant resource specialist, at [email protected]. The
district’s website is at www.gladstone.k12.or.
us.
SPRINGS PUBLIC SCHOOL
East Hampton, N.Y.
Christopher Kelley, School Board President
Michael Hartner, Superintendent
SPRINGS SCHOOL IN ACTION
While Springs Public School is located in the
wealthy Hamptons, it is a blue-collar district
with just one pre-K-8 school. Money is always tight and the budget is always stretched.
In 1996, when the district found itself receiving negative press in the local papers, leaders
agreed that the school needed to promote
the staff and programs that made Springs
special. The school’s academic enrichment
teacher met with the local free access cable
station and arranged to air a weekly television show that would get out the “good
word” about the school. Middle school students were then charged with writing, filming, and producing a live weekly show called
‘Springs School In Action.’ Each week for
the last 14 years, Springs School In Action
has aired on this station. In addition, student-created short films have been entered in
local film festivals, garnering additional exposure for the school; one recent film even
received national recognition. Since the program started, the school not only has enjoyed
positive publicity but also is truly valued by
the community—as witnessed by the fact that
school budgets pass by a significant margin
each year.
Contact Superintendent Michael Hartner at
[email protected]. The district’s
website is at www.springs.k12.ny.us.
Honorable Mention
EL DORADO PUBLIC SCHOOLS
BORN TO READ
El Dorado, Ark.
Vicky Dobson, School Board President
Bob Watson, Superintendent
A large percentage of Elmsford children were
starting school not ready to read. The district
set a goal of improving literacy readiness in
children under 4. The Born to Read program, using parents, teachers, high school
students, community sponsors, adminisrators,
and school board members, created a calendar filled with events to promote early literacy. Events such as Story Time and Pajama
Party helped distribute board books and
crayons to young children and materials to
help parents work on literacy at home. Participation at these events ranges from 50 to 80
families. In just two years, Born to Read has
instilled in both parents and children the importance of reading. The percent of students
entering kindergarten meeting the DIBELS
benchmark in 2008 was only 36. This had increased to 47 percent in 2009 and is now at
57 percent in 2010.
ACCELERATED ACADEMY
El Dorado’s student enrollment is 62 percent
economically disadvantaged and 50.7 percent
African American. These subgroups represent the same children. The district extensively researched closing the achievement
gap, and realized the common threads in the
research and experiences. The Accelerated
Academy was developed to blend the best of
research to focus resources on the neediest
students. The academy incorporates several
proven strategies to attain the two-year goal
of proficiency in literacy and math for second-graders projected to score below basic.
The key component is placing the best
teachers with the identified students. The
teacher loops with students in the third and
fourth grades. Class size was reduced from a
maximum of 25 to 18. Each class has at least
a half-day aide to assist the teacher with instruction. The school day was extended by a
couple of hours. In the first year, 31 percent
of the students achieved proficiency on their
Arkansas Department of Education Benchmark Exams and 66 percent achieved proficiency in mathematics. In the second year,
the achievement gap really shrank. White
third-graders scored 77.2 percent proficient
in math while the African American students
scored 72.8 percent proficient. Literacy
scores showed similar results with white students scoring 71.7 percent proficient and
African American students scoring 67.1 percent proficient.
Contact Bonnie Haynie, director of professional development and special projects, at
[email protected]. The district’s
website is at www.eldoradopublicschools.com.
ELMSFORD UNION FREE
SCHOOL DISTRICT
Elmsford, N.Y.
Betty Funny-Crosby, School Board President
Barbara A. Peters, Superintendent
Contact Superintendent Barbara A. Peters at
[email protected]. The district’s website is
at www.elmsd.org.
FRANCIS TUTTLE
TECHNOLOGY CENTER
Oklahoma City, Okla.
Suzette Northcutt Rhodes,
School Board President
Tom Friedemann, Superintendent
PROJECT HOPE
Project HOPE is a dropout prevention/recovery program that helps district high
school students obtain their diploma and develop career and critical life skills. It serves
students ages 16 to 19 from six local school
districts in metropolitan Oklahoma City who
have dropped out of school or who are in
danger of dropping out due to credit deficiencies. Students are enrolled in three hours
each of academic instruction and career
training every day. Grades are transcripted
and credits are issued by their home school,
and all criteria required by the respective districts must be met. Project HOPE has maintained graduation and retention rates, or success measures, of from 82 to 93 percent
throughout its 15-year existence. The OklaMagna Awards 2011 27
Newcomers Welcome
St. Louis Public Schools, St. Louis, Mo.
and Vietnam. A social worker, teachers, and
bilingual staff make regular home visits. A
postwar trauma therapist works with families
to address mental health concerns. The
school includes a family literacy center that
offers English and parenting classes for parents. During the classes, preschool children
particpate in kindergarten-readiness child
care classes.
THE BOARD’S INVOLVEMENT
SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT
Richard Sullivan
SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS
Melanie Adams
Richard Gaines
SUPERINTENDENT
Kelvin Adams
IWS helps newcomer students and their parents acclimate to
school and to develop students’ English language skills.
PROGRAM NAME
The International Welcome School (IWS)
DISTRICT DILEMMA
In 1979, the federal government established
the city of St. Louis as a refugee resettlement
zone. Consequently, St. Louis Public Schools
experiences a steady influx of newcomer students throughout the year—refugees and immigrants from 50 countries, speaking more
than 50 languages. Many speak little or no
English and have limited formal education.
Some are illiterate in their native language,
yet state mandates require them to be placed
in age-appropriate grades. Many have needs
that surpass what English for Speakers of
Other Languages (ESOL) programs can offer.
In 2009, St. Louis established the IWS. Its
goals include: developing students’ English
language skills, helping newcomer students
and parents acclimate to school, and creating
an awareness of the academic expectations and
opportunities for their future success.
SOLUTION
IWS serves students in kindergarten through
eighth grade. It’s a temporary stopover for
newcomer students. The average stay is three
semesters—time used to prepare students to
transfer to their neighborhood schools. A
bilingual specialist meets with families, assisting them with paperwork and helping them
adjust to the new educational system and to
American life. The bilingual team reflects the
demographics of the school through representatives from Nepal, Burma, Iraq, Somalia,
St. Louis’ Special Administrative Board and
Superintendent Kelvin Adams have made a
long-term commitment to newcomers. Board
support is evidenced through a realistic budget, appropriate staffing levels, highly qualified staff, support for after-school programs,
adequate supplies, and facilities and maintenance needs. After the first year, when the
school location was scheduled to move, the
superintendent and board priority was providing an appropriate facility, that was readily accessible to newcomer parents. This strategic
and visible support highlights the board’s
recognition of IWS in addressing newcomers’
needs, poor test scores, adjustment concerns,
attendance, and low graduation rates.
RESULTS
First year data indicates that IWS successfully improves outcomes for newcomer students and their parents. Daily attendance is
94 percent. Students’ English proficiency acquisition was monitored throughout the year.
Gains on the Language Assessment Scale
showed an 18.6 percent growth in reading
and 28 percent increase in writing, with an
overall 24 percent gain. Of the 42 newcomers who took the Algebra End of the Course
Exam, 30 percent scored “proficient.”
Parental involvement and engagement is
shown in high attendance on districtwide
Parent Conference Days, the number of parent visits to school, attendance at the quarterly parent meetings, and participation in
districtwide educational summits and forums.
Contact Nahed Chapman, executive director
of the ESOL program, at nahed.chapman@
slps.org. The district’s website is at www.
slps.org.
Teach Your Parents Well
Plano Independent School District, Plano, Texas
PROGRAM NAME
Educating the Whole Child:
Mobile Learning Lab
DISTRICT DILEMMA
The Plano Independent School District encompasses a large suburban
area near Dallas. With 55,000 students, it is one of the largest school
districts in the U.S. In this growing
and diverse community, families represent cultures and speak languages
from all around world. Yet language is
Attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Mobile Learning Lab are
but one obstacle for students and parDanny Modisette, deputy superintendent; Lloyd Jenkins, school board
ents trying to assimilate into their
president; Superintendent Doug Otto; and Cathy Galloway, executive
schools. A growing number of families
director of student and family services.
lack basic needs, transportation, computer skills, and an understanding about
school activities like homework assignments.
that the Mobile Learning Lab, made possible
Plano wanted to find ways not only to teach
through federal grant funding, allowed for a
these children, but to engage their families,
long-term benefit from the short-term federal
too. To that end, the school board approved a
stimulus investment. Board members saw from
program that would create relationships bea parent survey a willingness to participate in
tween the schools and the parents. The Mothe mobile learning program, indicating that
bile Learning Lab was designed to provide
parents truly want to be involved and confamily services and adult education for parents
nected. The school board knew that parent inin their neighborhoods.
volvement is essential to a child’s success.
SOLUTION
RESULTS
“When we look at a student—we see a family”
is the motto that appears on the exterior of the
Mobile Learning Lab. The addition of this
mobile classroom, outfitted with 13 computer
stations for parent use, increases efforts to educate the whole child, the definition of which
includes students and families. The specialty
vehicle offers adult courses in computer literacy, finance, career exploration, English, and
more. It also helps parents connect to community resources and allows them use the district’s Parent Portal and other online tools.
Plano also is establishing stronger relationships with parents, which will serve as pathways for parents to become involved partners
in their child’s education.
With the mobile classroom, the district is delivering assistance and solutions to the doorsteps
of its families while strengthening connections
between home and school. “My parents’ eyes
sparkle when they talk about the computer
bus,” reported one principal. The district is initially targeting communities near eight elementary schools, particularly apartment complexes
and mobile home communities. These eight
schools, with an overall enrollment of 4,500
students, reflect the audience eligible for this
service. Parent surveys and onsite visits helped
assess needs, allowing parents to assert their
course offerings. Participation is high and
growing. The mobile classroom alleviates the
difficulty of communicating with parents who
do not have transportation to school and with
those who may experience a language barrier.
As Plano experienced growth in the number of
students at or below the poverty line, the
school board saw an opportunity to improve
student achievement through community outreach to families. The school board agreed
Lloyd Jenkins
Missy Bender
Marilyn Hinton
Nancy Humphrey
Carrolyn Moebius
Tammy Richards
Brad Shanklin
SUPERINTENDENT
Douglas Otto
Contact Lesley Range-Stanton, director for
communications, at lesley.range-stanton@pisd.
edu. The district’s website is at www.pisd.edu.
Second Chance Academy
Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District, Pharr, Texas
PROGRAM NAME
College, Career & Technology
Academy
DISTRICT DILEMMA
Reymundo Gonzalez
Ramona Barron
Ronaldo Cantu
Pete Garcia
Ben Garza Jr.
Gilbert Herrera
Humberto Rodriguez
SUPERINTENDENT
Daniel P. King
The Pharr-San Juan-Alamo school
board hired Superintendent
Daniel King in 2007, charging him
with decreasing the district’s high
number of dropouts. A data review
revealed the district was seeing 500
dropouts a year. More than 200 seniors did not qualify for a diploma.
Their biggest barriers: the state
graduation exam and missing credits. The board gave the green light
to create a new alternative campus
for area residents ages 18 to 26
who have failed to receive their
high school diploma.
SOLUTION
The College, Career & Technology
Academy has greatly diminished the district’s
dropout problem. The academy, in partnership with South Texas College, allows students to take college coursework while finishing their high school requirements. It
opened in September 2007 with 220 students. It operates on a nontraditional schedule to accommodate working students, young
parents, and concurrent enrollment. Students have the option of attending morning
or afternoon sessions, or enrolling under a
flexible attendance waiver. The school mirrors the college calendar, which shortens the
fall and spring semesters, and provides daily
attendance funding for the summer session.
Students take classes to earn their credits and
prepare for exit exams while they are enrolled in a course to ease their transition to
college. After October exams, many students
enroll in at least two college courses in a custom-scheduled mini-mester in various career
and technology fields.
After seeing the project’s potential, the
school board authorized the leasing of a
building to accommodate the academy, the
hiring of principal and staff, and all other expenses involved in operating a new campus.
Math teacher Nelson Carrasquero assists his students with an equation.
Board members participated in the recruitment process by walking door to door in the
district’s Countdown to Zero Dropout Recovery Walk to persuade dropouts and nongraduates to return to school and enroll at
the academy. They also were influential in
getting community leaders to join them in
the walk and therefore have a bigger impact
in the community. The board supported the
superintendent’s goal of giving these students
another opportunity to work on their requirements and get them started on their
college education.
RESULTS
Since the school opened in the fall of 2007, a
total of 657 students have graduated; 116 were
between the ages of 21 to 26. Many of the
gradutes had earned at least four college credit
hours. Every effort is made to ensure that students, once graduated, make a smooth transition from the academy to a college or career
of their choice. The district has seen an 80
percent reduction in the total number of
dropouts and an increase in the number of
graduates by 90 percent. The academy has
been a critical component of those successes.
Contact Arianna Vazquez-Hernandez, public
information officer, at arianna.hernandez@
psjaisd.us. The district’s website is at
http://psja.schoolfusion.us.
Building a Seaworthy Partnership
Newport News Public Schools, Newport News, Va.
Skills curriculum taught in grades six to eight.
Students have become familiar with many professions and trades and have learned that they
have the ability to join this industry. This all-out
effort to become part of the school has led to
significant motivation on the part of students to
participate in the Career Pathways initiative and
has encouraged students to master the essential
skills emphasized in the Northrop Grumman
Career Readiness Skills curriculum.
A member of the Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Apprentice
School works with a Huntington Middle School student during
one of the regular Career Readiness Skills workshops.
PROGRAM NAME
Shipyard Builds Student Success
DISTRICT DILEMMA
The mission of Newport News Public Schools
(NNPS) is to educate all students for college,
career, and citizen readiness. Key to fulfilling
this mission is the Career Pathways initiative,
which includes, among other goals, career exploration in middle school. School leaders
knew that connecting middle school students
to people doing specific jobs in the community
would have the most impact. With the largest
shipbuilder in the nation, Northrop Grumman, located just blocks from the school, leaders saw an opportunity to help students explore
high-demand careers. At the same time, the
shipyard was looking for a way to help meet a
huge future demand for qualified employees.
SOLUTION
The shipyard immediately began building relationships with the students and staff by attending back-to-school nights, open houses, and
other school events. Shipyard staff created a
Shipbuilders Club, established a mentoring program, and helped to develop a Career Readiness
Photo by Tom Stormer
The board strongly supports the goal of helping all students become college, career, and citizen ready, and authorized resources for the Career Pathways initiative. Board members
participated in meetings and conferences designed to attract major business partners and
encouraged them to take a leap of faith to
transform the lives of students in NNPS. Part
of the board’s effort involved a Business-Education Summit held in October 2009 that drew
hundreds of business leaders and made career
readiness a major topic of discussion in Newport News. The board also authorized funding
for a Career Pathways staff position to build
partnerships such as the one between Huntington Middle School and Northrop Grumman.
RESULTS
Debbie H. Johnston
Carlton Ashby
Pricillia Burnett
William Collins III
Betty Dixon
Everette Hicks Sr.
Jeff Stodghill
Lakisha Busby,
student representative
SUPERINTENDENT
Ashby C. Kilgore
Students received, through interaction with
many professionals, hands-on experiences that
triggered their strengths, passion, and curiosity
about potential careers. They learned the key
components of a successful interview and how
to fill out job applications. They had an opportunity to learn a multitude of cognitive and life
skills from a dedicated group of professionals—
and to just enjoy their company during school
dances, basketball games, school rallies, lunch
periods, and field trips. Through the Shipbuilders Club, students entered the LEGO
competition sponsored by the Virginia Ship
Repair Association. Their work won second
place in a ship design competition sponsored by
the Nauticus museum in Norfolk, Va.
Contact Patrick Finneran, director of corporate and government relations, at
[email protected]. The
district’s website is at www.nnschools.org.
A Walk to Remember
Corpus Christi Independent School District, Corpus Christi, Texas
PROGRAM NAME
Operation K.E.Y.S. (Keeping Every Youth in
School)
DISTRICT DILEMMA
John Longoria
Bill Clark
Tony C. Diaz
Dwayne Hargis
Guillermo C. Perez
Lucy Rubio
Carol A. Scott
SUPERINTENDENT
D. Scott Elliff
The school board in 2007 set goals to increase
student achievment and prepare students for
success in postsecondary education. Reaching
these goals meant increasing completion and
graduation rates through prevention, intervention, and dropout recovery. In 2008, Operation K.E.Y.S. was developed to tackle the
community-wide dropout problem. The district, the City of Corpus Christi, and the Diocese of Corpus Christi joined forces to reach
out-of-school youth and reconnect them to
school. On a Saturday morning each September, teams of district and community volunteers participate in the community walk and
visit the homes of students who have not enrolled for the current year. It encourages students to continue their education so they can
become productive citizens of our community.
Students receive information on available district resources, and they have an opportunity
to re-enroll on the day of the walk.
SOLUTION
The program informs youth who have not returned to school because of family, academic,
or other obligations of alternative ways to successfully complete high school. It has brought
recognition that dropout prevention and recovery requires support from the entire community. Operation K.E.Y.S. allows out-ofschool youth to speak one-on-one with
district representatives who can provide alternative education avenues to fit specific educational needs. Tutoring, flexible scheduling,
and nontraditional classroom settings are just
a few of the resources students may need to be
successful. Through Operation K.E.Y.S., the
district works to ensure every student is a
learner, every learner a graduate, and every
graduate a success.
School Completion, which coordinates the
event each year. In addition, the board approves financial support to ensure the walk is
a success. Finally, board members are part of
the teams of volunteers who visit the homes
of out-of-school youth and encourage them
to return to school.
RESULTS
Each year since Operation K.E.Y.S. has been
in place, the dropout rates have decreased.
The number of dropouts went from 408 for
the 2007-08 school year to 278 in 2008-09.
The district measures the success of Operation K.E.Y.S. by seeing the dropout rates decrease and retention rates increase each year.
During the 2009 walk, 337 volunteers made
474 home visits to out-of-school youth. More
than 230 of those youth returned to school
due to the efforts of Operation K.E.Y.S. In
addition, 64 continued to be enrolled in
school, 25 graduated, 11 earned their GED,
and 97 students were enrolled in an educational setting outside the district. Operation
K.E.Y.S. maintains a retention rate of 85 percent. The number of dropouts in grades seven
to 12 decreased by 130 students.
Contact Communication Specialist Kim
Sneed at [email protected]. The district’s
website is at www.ccisd.us.
The board laid the foundation for Operation
K.E.Y.S. with the setting of goals in 2007.
The development of the program was one
way to reach those goals. The board approved the creation of the Office of High
Operation K.E.Y.S. has brought recognition that dropout prevention
and recovery requires the support of the entire community.
Helping Students Stay in School
Tuscaloosa City Schools, Tuscaloosa, Ala.
PROGRAM NAME
Helping Education/Linking Parents (HELP)
DISTRICT DILEMMA
Alabama’s dropout rate is the greatest threat
to the state’s future economic growth.
Tuscaloosa City Schools is addressing this
by removing barriers to keeping students in
school. Longitudinal attendance data revealed that out-of-school suspensions and
expulsions were at an all-time high. Students who are not in the classrooms or in
school cannot reach their greatest potential.
With the collaboration of Tuscaloosa’s
mayor, the chief of police, and the district
attorney, the school board, superintendent,
and administrative staff developed the
HELP program. It is a proactive approach
to preventing out-of-school suspensions. It
uses existing community and school resources, with no additional funding to support the program.
SOLUTION
The HELP program addresses in-school behavior and dropout prevention by building
relationships among the schools, law enforcement agencies, the district attorney’s office,
and the city government. The program provides opportunities for parents and students
to receive information regarding school and
community services as they work toward improving social skills and recovering academic
skills lost due to out-of-school suspensions.
Relationships are built with parents and students both in the school and in the community. Follow-up is provided by the district administrative staff and community partners.
During the time that the HELP program has
been in place, the number of out-of-school
suspensions has been reduced by approximately 500, and the number of expulsions has
been reduced by 54 percent.
The school board has been a catalyst in the
development of this program. Members visited similar programs throughout the state.
Many of the programs carried a large financial
burden for the district. Board members
worked with the superintendent and central
office staff to develop a program unique to the
HELP uses existing community and school resources with no
additional funding to support the program.
needs of the district. Board members have
been instrumental in the development of the
program, securing community partners to assist with implementation, taking part in student intervention sessions and making presentations about the program at board meetings.
RESULTS
With the implementation of the HELP program, out-of-school suspensions in the school
system have dropped from 4,450 in 2008-09
to 3,991 in 2009-10. More than 1,234 students received notice for the first out-ofschool suspension, but only 321 students were
suspended for a third time and had to attend
the HELP parent program. The parent program requires students and their parents to
meet with superintendent’s staff, the mayor,
the chief of police and a representative from
the Tuscaloosa County District Attorney’s office. The number of expulsions has dropped
from 59 to 32, the lowest number in the
school system in five years. The dropout
numbers are declining and the graduation rate
is improving. Educators and community leaders attend the HELP sessions and meet with
parents and students individually to help get
children back on track academically and behaviorally. These positive relationships provide students the motivation to improve behavior and the desire to stay in school.
Dan Meissner
Kelly R. Horwitz
Harry C. Lee
Marvin L. Lucas
James Minyard
Erskine Simmons
Sena Stewart
Earnestine Tucker
ACTING SUPERINTENDENT
Dorothy Richardson
Contact Shirley Lollar, archives/public relations specialist, at [email protected].
The district’s website is at www.tuscaloosa
cityschools.com.
Gaining the Digital Advantage
Sunnyside Unified School District, Tucson, Ariz.
Louie C. Gonzales
Magdalena Barajas
Eva Carrillo Dong
Eric Giffin
Robert Jaramillo
SUPERINTENDENT
Manuel L. Isquierdo
Board President Louie C. Gonzales (and member Eva Carrillo Dong, to his
right) at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Community School at
Apollo Middle School.
PROGRAM NAME
Project Graduation: The Digital Advantage
DISTRICT DILEMMA
The board has been actively involved in the
development of the program. It provided direction and fully supported Superintendent
Manuel Isquierdo and staff in developing the
framework and strategies. The board’s decision-making continues to set the course for
expansion of the program, which is evolving
into a one-to-one computing program for
students in grades five through 12.
Sunnyside had a graduation rate of 63 percent
and was labeled a “dropout factory” by a Johns
Hopkins University study in 2007. While
1,036 students entered high school in the Sunnyside District in 2004-05, only 556 were on
track to graduate in 2008. An additional 203
of these students had not yet earned enough
credits to be classified as seniors. Single-period absences by ninth-graders, as reported for
three years, were approximately double the
number of absences for 10th-graders, and as
much as four times the number for 12thgraders. Almost one-third of freshmen in
2007-08 had at least two Fs at the end of the
first semester. Acting with a sense of urgency,
the district created a research-based program
to focus on the critical freshman year and to
give students opportunities, support, and incentives to earn credits for graduation. It
sought to bridge the digital divide in a district
where 88 percent of the students are Hispanic
and 88 percent qualify for free or reducedprice meals.
SOLUTION
Project Graduation begins with school-based
graduation plans including data, challenges,
and strategies. Freshman interventions include study skills, reading classes, attendance
monitoring, and meetings with parents. A
focus on attendance addresses consistent enforcement, efficiency in attendance-taking, incentives and recognitions, and timely interventions and
consequences. All middle and high
school students participate in advisory
classes to develop ongoing relationships with teachers and learn study
skills. Digital Advantage awards netbooks to ninth-graders who achieve
the “Four A’s” at the end of the first
semester: academics, attendance, extracurricular activity, and attitude (no
suspensions). Extensions of Digital
Advantage are Digital Scholars for upperclassmen, Digital Parents, Digital
Eighth-Grade Scholars, fifth-grade
Digital Explorers, and the Teacher
Laptop Initiative.
RESULTS
In two years, 1,500 students earned computers
by achieving the Four A’s. Student ownership
of a computer provides technology access for
the entire family. The number of graduates
rose from 505 in 2007, to 598 in 2008, 715 in
2009, and 821 in 2010. The dropout rate decreased from 7 percent in 2003-04 to 4 percent in 2008-09 at Desert View High School.
At Sunnyside High School, it went from 6
percent in 2003-04 to 2 percent in 2008-09.
Freshman promotion rates increased from 52
percent in 2004-05 to 77 percent in 2009-10
at Desert View. They went from 68 percent in
2004-05 to 80 percent in 2009-10 at Sunnyside.
Contact Monique Soria, director of public relations and organizational development, at
is at www.susd12.org.
Making Graduation Matter
Missoula County Public Schools, Missoula, Mont.
PROGRAM NAME
Graduation Matters Missoula
DISTRICT DILEMMA
Three years ago, the graduation rate for Missoula County Public Schools (MCPS) was
only 86 percent. The school board, Superintendent Alex Apostle, and a group of community members introduced five measurable
district goals, with an emphasis on bringing
graduation rates to 100 percent. District and
community leaders realized a collaborative
approach to the graduation issue was necessary. Graduation Matters Missoula officially
kicked off in January 2010 with a steering
committee comprised of district employees,
community leaders and members, parents,
and students. This approach brings all interested parties under one roof to tackle
dropout prevention and awareness.
SOLUTION
Graduation Matters Missoula particpants
identified the role each group could play in
dropout prevention. They funneled support
and resources to new policies, programs, and
awareness campaigns. With all parties working collaboratively, campaigns can be introduced to the community at a variety of levels
to magnify the impact. Students are encouraged to grab the reins of their education by
tutoring other students, getting involved socially and in extracurricular activities, and
celebrating their successes. School faculty
and staff are letting students know they care
about them, finding more ways to use parent
and community volunteers in classrooms
to increase relevancy in learning. Parents are encouraged to emphasize attendance and talk to their children about
post-graduation goals. The community
offers job shadowing and internship
opportunities, and supports employees
in volunteering in the schools.
and enhance staff, student, parent, business,
and community involvement.” New policies,
initiatives, and programs support the advancement of these goals within the schools.
The board chair is a member of the initiative’s steering committee.
RESULTS
The program has resulted in a measurable
impact on dropout rates. Those rates have
plummeted through a new emphasis in
schools on follow-through with at-risk students and recent dropouts, more detailed
record keeping, and increased access to resources for students. From the 2008-09
school year to 2009-10, there was a 47 percent decrease in dropouts. In the space of
one year, 100 fewer students left school. The
innovative approach of the program spurred
the Montana Office of Public Instruction to
adopt it statewide, hoping to better document dropouts and duplicate the success of
the community approach.
Graduation Matters Missoula pulls schools,
community businesses, nonprofits, and government together with parents and students to
take a stand against the obstacles facing academic achievement. By pooling efforts and resources, the many roadblocks students face on
their path to graduation can be identified and
addressed at home and at school.
Toni Rehbein
Scott Bixler
Debbie Dupree
Adam Duerk
Marcia Holland
Joseph Knapp
Drake Lemm
James Sadler
Michael Smith
Joe Toth
Shelly Wills
SUPERINTENDENT
Alex Apostle
Contact Bess Pallares, Partners In Education
VISTA, at [email protected]. The
district’s website is at www.mcps.k12.mt.us.
The MCPS School Board generated and
endorsed the district’s five measureable
goals, making No. 1: “Achievement and
graduation for all students, regardless of
their circumstances and abilities,” and
ending the list with No. 5: “Cultivate
The program pulls together schools, businesses, and nonprofits to help
remove the barriers to graduation for high school students.
Real Learning in Middle School
Columbus County Schools, Whiteville, N.C.
PROGRAM NAME
R.E.A.L. (Relevant, Engaging, Authentic
Learning)
DISTRICT DILEMMA
Norris Ebron
Junior Dew
Worley Edwards
Monte Herring
Barbara Yates
SUPERINTENDENT
Dan Strickland
Many Columbus County Schools students
were from low socioeconomic families and
did not see the relevance of what they were
learning in the classroom to their own life
experiences. School leaders knew that students learn more when they are provided
with activities that have meaning and significance to them. R.E.A.L. accomplishes this by
providing students with activities that have
immediate value and whose outcomes have
clear meaning.
SOLUTION
The goal of R.E.A.L. is to bring relevance and
value to student learning by only engaging
middle school students in projects that have
significance to them. Their first project involved the construction of three storage buildings, one for an elementary school and two that
were sold at public auction. Students created
the design, drew their own blueprints, compiled a materials list, and analyzed costs. The
second project, a student-created television station, has expanded to include a radio station.
Both are operated and managed entirely by
students. Daily school news is broadcast live
into classrooms and streamed via the Internet.
In both projects, students took charge, used
classroom skills, and expanded beyond the textbook to accomplish goals. Additionally, students’ intellectual curiosity has been sparked as
they solve problems, evaluate criteria, and propose future projects. The program began with
eighth-graders, and it has grown to include
sixth and seventh grades as well.
Since the program’s conception, the board
has embraced it, supporting a shared vision
for all students. The board supports the program with advice, funds, and manpower. It
agreed to the auctioning of the two studentbuilt storage buildings, and it scheduled, advertised, and attended the event. In addition,
board members have agreed to serve on an
interview committee providing students the
opportunity to present their projects. They
Student projects included the construction of three storage
buildings, two of which were sold at auction.
have encouraged staff to step “out of the
box” to implement innovative ways to bring
learning into students’ lives.
RESULTS
R.E.A.L. has been successful in numerous
ways. Students have learned organization, cooperation, initiative, and problem-solving skills
that will serve them well after they graduate.
At-risk students’ attendance has improved, and
discipline referrals have been reduced significantly. Most importantly, students have developed self esteem, respect for others, and the
ability to work as a team. As one student, who
had felony charges filed against him prior to
enrolling in this program, said, “I want to be at
school now; I want to do well because I know I
can do something good. I have to work together with my classmates to get the job done
and I understand math better; it makes sense. I
am proud of myself. I am going to be a carpenter when I graduate.”
Columbus County Schools’ budget is very
limited. Yet, in spite of having no available
funds, this program is in its second year and is
self-sufficient. The materials are donated by
local businesses; equipment is loaned or given
to the program by community members. This
type of creative thinking and commitment ensures the program’s continued success.
Contact Phyllis Williamson Pope, middle
school supervisor/ESL supervisor, at
[email protected]. The district’s website is at www.columbus.k12.nc.us.
Health Care for Students in Need
Adams County School District 14, Commerce City, Colo.
middle schools. Additionally, CHS
provides nursing services to all students in Adams 14. The health center programs promote healthy
choices, prevent disease, intervene
early, and provide integrated services
and continuity of care.
THE BOARD’S
INVOLVEMENT
The school board fully supports the
school-based health center initiative
across the district—in fact, board
Access to health care improves students’ lives inside and outside the President Jeannette Lewis also sits
on the CHS board of directors. The
classroom, which is why the school-based health centers are so important.
board annually approves a contract
with CHS for nursing services to
support the health clerks and school-based
PROGRAM NAME
health clinics. It also approved the lease of
the stand-alone clinic at Kearney Middle
Adams 14 School-Based Health Centers
School, and the colocation of the new
school-based health center as part of the conDISTRICT DILEMMA
struction design for the new Adams City
High School.
Located in Commerce City, Colo., Adams 14
is a high-poverty school district that serves
nearly 7,000 students from families with inRESULTS
comes 25 percent below the poverty line.
About 82 percent of students are eligible for
During the 2009-10 school year: 10,194
free or reduced-price lunches. More than 80
health care visits were provided to 4,439 inpercent of students are Hispanic, with 57
fants, children, and youth; 1,751 immunizapercent speaking primarily Spanish. Access to
tions were administered to children and adohealth care is limited for these students and
lescents; and 1,842 mental health counseling
their families because of poverty, lack of
visits were provided to children and youth.
health insurance, or geographic isolation.
Also, 357 health education classes and health
The community has few private medical
fairs were held, focusing on alcohol and drug
practices and none that serves the indigent.
abuse, smoking, violence, nutrition, exercise,
District leaders know that access to health
and the use of seat belts and bike helmets.
care improves students’ lives inside and outCurrently, 64 percent of the Adams City
side the classroom.
High School population is enrolled in its
school-based health center, which is up from
52 percent last year.
SOLUTION
District leaders know keeping kids healthy
means keeping them in school. “I truly believe
Students perform better when they are
school-based health clinics have improved our
healthy and ready to learn when they show
attendance rate,” said Lewis. “It’s critical that
up for class. Adams 14’s school-based health
all school districts support school-based clincenters bring the doctor’s office to the
ics. They improve the quality of both stuschool, so students avoid health-related abdents’ lives and their education.”
sences. The health centers are easily accessed
within the schools, where students receive
comprehensive preventive and primary
health care services. In partnership with
Community Health Services (CHS), Adams
Contact Breanna Deidel, grants and commu14 students have access to school-based
nications specialist, at [email protected].
health centers in two high schools and two
The district’s website is at www.adams14.org.
Jeannette Lewis
Bill Klocker
Larry Quintana
Adrian Schimpf
Robert Vashaw
SUPERINTENDENT
Susan Chandler
A Stitch in Time
Valley Stream Union Free School District 30, Valley Stream, N.Y.
support staff member. Classroom and
reading teachers meet with building
administrators each time data is collected to determine if the current intervention is helping meet that
month’s goal. Parents receive instruction in how to support their child’s literacy during both the summer and the
school year.
Elise Antonelli
Kenneth Cummings
James Lavery
Carolyn Pean
Cristobal Stewart
SUPERINTENDENT
Elaine Kanas
THE BOARD’S
INVOLVEMENT
The school board asked new Superintendent Elaine Kanas to examine the
overall curriculum program. Her
Students in the program have made significant gains in letter-sound analysis identified the early-learning
fluency and reading comprehension. gap and spurred the development of
this program. The board developed a
budget with the additional funds necPROGRAM NAME
essary to add a prekindergarten program to
the summer school. It decreased the teacherEarly Literacy Intervention Program
student ratio in the kindergarten and firstgrade summer school classes to ensure more
DISTRICT DILEMMA
student support. To garner community support, the board has devoted a start-of-theA significant number of Valley Stream 30
school-year work session to a summer school
students were entering third grade reading
report. It also has scheduled public reports at
below grade level. The intensive allocation of
two or more meetings during the year reresources needed to remediate older students
garding the progress of primary students.
meant fewer resources could be spent on
The board supported professional developother programs. The district wanted to break
ment for classroom and reading teachers so
a cycle of putting so much effort into helping
they had different strategies to use when a
children catch up rather than in helping
change of approach was needed.
them excel. Also, demographics were changing. An increasing number of new students
did not speak English. District leaders knew
RESULTS
they needed to strategically address these
students’ needs early on or else the learning
Preliminary results after the second year of
gap would be even harder to close.
the program look promising. During each of
the two years the program has been in operation, 98 percent of the children who attended
SOLUTION
the summer school program in pre-K
through second grade showed improvement
Valley Stream 30 put together an early interon assessments. In letter-sound fluency, there
vention literacy program that combines idenhas been a 17 percent increase in first-grade
tification of students, learning materials, and
scores over the two years. Second-graders
progress monitoring. A screening adminiswho have been in the program for only one
tered to all rising kindergartners in the
year have made a 5 percent gain in reading
spring identifies those who lack phonemic
comprehension.
awareness, a key indicator of potential reading difficulty.These students then attend a
six-week summer school program that uses a
curriculum designed to help distinguish and
segment sounds. During the school year,
Contact Superintendent Elaine Kanas at
summer school students receive a double
[email protected]. The district’s website is at
dose of literacy instruction from a reading
www.valleystream30.com.
A Class of Their Own
Mitchell County School System, Camilla, Ga.
PROGRAM NAME
Freshman Academy
DISTRICT DILEMMA
The Mitchell County School System is located in Camilla—an area currently ranked
No. 8 on the list of Top 101 cities with the
most people living below the poverty level,
at 60 percent. Its student population is 89
percent African American, 8 percent Caucasian, and 3 percent Hispanic. Ninetyfive percent of students are considered to
be economically disadvantaged. In 2005,
73 percent of ninth-graders were being retained each year and the high school graduation rate was 54 percent. At the same
time, only 61.5 percent of residents had
earned a high school diploma and postsecondary enrollment was only 26 percent.
School board members knew that a longterm solution was needed.
Joseph White
Freshman Academy students worked on a collection of projects focused
on African American history—a biography project and a
performance poetry project.
SOLUTION
The Freshman Academy was designed so that
students would be better prepared academically, mentally, and socially for the transition
from middle to high school. Its goals are to increase the graduation rate, decrease the
dropout rate, and promote college awareness.
It is located in a separate wing of the high
school and has a freshman facilities and administrative support team. Students are provided with instructional support by the
academy staff during school breaks, Saturday
morning tutoring sessions, and after-school
programs. Class sizes are kept low with a
teacher-to-student ratio of 1:18. Introducing a
“school within a school” for just one grade
level of 120 students is an expensive but necessary step to achieving the greater goals.
The school board provides the resources
needed to improve high school achievement
and completion rates. It provided money for
freshman-only teaching and administrative
staff, a computer and science lab, and facility
renovations. It encouraged partnerships with
colleges, universities, technical schools, businesses, community groups, and civic organizations. Board members’ support also extends
to approving changes in promotion/retention
requirements and in allowing school personnel time for professional development.
RESULTS
Academic rigor and achievement have increased. There has been a dramatic improvement in overall student achievement, based on
the Georgia High School Graduation Test. In
2004-05, the year before the academy was created, the high school passing percentages for
the test were 86 percent in math, 89 percent in
English, 48 percent in science, and 72 percent
in social studies. In 2007-08, that first class of
Freshman Academy students exceeded expectations. The passing percentages for this
group of students were 98 percent in math,
English, and science and 100 percent in social
studies. In 2009-10, 85 percent of freshmen
were promoted and the dropout rate decreased significantly, to 1 percent. The high
school graduation rate increased to nearly 88
percent and postsecondary enrollment rose to
73 percent. Many graduates who had previously only dreamed of graduating from high
school and going on to college are now attending universities all across the country.
Tholen Edwards
Norma Gilpatrick
Robert McDaniel
Barbara Reddick
Gregg Scott
Robert Scott
SUPERINTENDENT
Beauford Hicks
Contact Curriculum Director Christy C.
Wray at [email protected].
The district’s website is at
http://mitchell.schooldesk.net.
Technology Sparks Student Learning
Greene County Schools, Greensboro, Ga.
PROGRAM NAME
Shuffle Your Teacher Home
DISTRICT DILEMMA
Arlie Collins
John Ray Carver
Velicia Cobb
Leah Dukes
Deborah Smith
SUPERINTENDENT
Barbara Pulliam Davis
Greene County Schools’ growing
population of English for Speakers of
Other Languages (ESOL) students
spurred the district’s curriculum and
instruction department to collaborate
with the technology department in exploring ways to leverage technology to
increase student achievement. Greene
County needed an intervention program that accelerated student learning
through vocabulary and comprehension skills to bring students to grade
level in one year. Hand-held learning
offered a special and increasingly costeffective way to differentiate instruction
for ESOL students that was interactive
and engaging. This collaboration
yielded Shuffle Your Teacher Home, a program that helps ESOL students with their
English language and other skills.
This student is learning in his classroom, but through the Shuffle Your
Teacher Home program, he can take his iPod Shuffle pouch home and
share his instruction with his family.
SOLUTION
with a keen eye for alignment in order to increase student achievement. It recognizes and
supports the need for innovative programs
and interventions for every level of learner in
the community.
RESULTS
Using iPod Shuffles (MP3 players) the program extends the learning day by providing
additional chances for students to preview
new content, and reinforces language arts
and math skills. The Shuffle also is an effective way to take instruction home to encourage family connections and literacy. Students
receive pouches that include a Shuffle, two
sets of earphones (so a parent or sibling can
listen), an interactive journal, and learning
activities. These activities focus on vocabulary and comprehension. Guided and tailored
lessons include audio books, math word
problems, math songs, and a Readers Theater script loaded onto the Shuffle every two
weeks. These are created to expose the students to upcoming content. The use of Shuffle in the classroom engages students and
provides yet another means of teaching and
learning.
Test score improvements among ESOL
third-graders have been significant. Sixty-six
percent of the students in this group jumped
one tier on the ACCESS ESOL test—from
the intermediate to the advanced tier—while
34 percent went from beginner to intermediate. To give some perspective to this accomplishment, this same cohort of students in
the previous year only had 10 percent
progress to the next tier, while 90 percent
moved minimally within the same tier.
The increase in student achievement was
significant with the ESOL students. Their
newly found confidence in the learning environment was evident. The parents are supportive and attend meetings, where interpreters help to ensure understanding and
encourage parent involvement.
The Greene County School Board has a clear
vision and understanding of the interrelated
components of standards, assessment, accountability, and continuous improvement—
Contact Assistant Superintendent Cynthia
Brictson at [email protected].
ga.us. The district’s website is at
www.greene.k12.ga.us.
Healthy Meals for All Students
Falls Church City Public Schools, Falls Church, Va.
PROGRAM NAME
Access to Healthy Meals
DISTRICT DILEMMA
Nationally, nearly one-third of children and
youth are overweight or obese. At the same
time, one in four children is food insecure.
Falls Church City Public Schools reflected
those statistics. However, like many districts,
its meals were viewed as an ancillary support
service and not fundamental to student
achievement. Vending sales were unregulated, and the board simply received reports
on meal participation and program operations. That changed when the board expanded its understanding, based partially on
the National School Boards Association’s
School Health Program resources, of the link
between nutrition and student achievement.
The board studied meal participation data
and found that low participation could negatively impact state and federal aid. Bifurcated
reduced-price and free meal administration
also was cumbersome and costly. Most troubling, students eligible for reduced-price
lunch were not fully participating and struggling to pay the 40-cent cost.
SOLUTION
The board targeted four areas for improvement: meal quality, access, staff empowerment,
and community engagement. In 2006, it unanimously banned junk food. Food service took
over and managed all vending machines. Two
years later, the board sought to improve meal
participation by providing free lunches to
every student eligible for reduced-price meals.
The stigma for participating in the program was reduced by the use of private
PIN-coded transactions at the till. The
food service department was supported
and empowered to initiate a series of
creative and easily replicable initiatives
to partner and connect with students,
teachers, and parents. Using press releases, public meetings, e-mail, and
newsletters, the board and staff improved public engagement.
The board was the catalyst that changed the
district’s culture and expectations. At first, it
met resistance to the ban on junk food but,
through teamwork, the board was able to
build support for a shift in policy. A few years
later, as the recession accelerated, it initiated
and championed an effort to ensure that children had access to healthy, nutritious meals.
Working with parents, advisory groups, staff
and, later, the City Council, the board sought
support for free meals for reduced-price-eligible students. The board also supported and
cheered a host of teacher- and staff-led reforms that began during the same time.
RESULTS
From 2007 to 2010, the number of reducedprice meals served increased by 36 percent and
the overall number of breakfast meals served
increased by 82 percent. The district eliminated all fried foods from student menus, used
whole grains, installed salad bars, and even
prepared muffins with vegetables. In elementary schools, 75 percent of meals now are
made from scratch and 95 percent of fruits
and vegetables are fresh. Partnerships were
formed with culinary schools to test foods,
demonstrate cooking, and promote wellness.
Students formed nutrition clubs, and schools
held student “Top Chef” cooking competitions.
Joan Wodiska
Rosaura Aguerrebere
Charlotte Hyland
Susan Kearney
Greg Rasnake
Patrick Riccards
Kieran Sharpe
SUPERINTENDENT
Lois Berlin
Contact board President Joan Wodiska at
is at www.fccps.org.
Falls Church City Public Schools Food Services Director
Richard Kane (center) checks the supply of items in
George Mason High School’s popular salad bar.
Photo credit: John Brett, Falls Church City Public Schools
Connecting Generations
Carlisle County Public Schools, Bardwell, Ky.
PROGRAM NAME
Preschool Assistants to Learning (PALs)
DISTRICT DILEMMA
Brian Grogan
Ruth Diestch
Steve Draper
John Matt Fourshee
Kevin O’Neill
William Stermon
Tiffany Wildharber
SUPERINTENDENT
Keith Shoulders
The Carlisle County Public Schools
wanted to reach out to potential high
school dropouts and find ways to keep
them in school. It created the PALs program to prevent truancy and dropouts by
targeting students with poor attendence.
These students serve as aides in the district’s preschool program.
SOLUTION
The high school students, under the guidance of the teacher, are required to prepare
High school students in PALs work with preschoolers, mentoring them and
lessons focused on literacy. These students
helping them transition to kindergarten.
also serve as mentors as the preschoolers
transition to kindergarten. The program,
which began in 2005, has the goals of imadditional aides to allow for one-on-one atproving attendence, reducing dropout risk,
tention for the preschoolers. During the first
and providing mentors to preschool students.
year of the program, two PALs students
dropped out. The next year, one dropped
out. No students have dropped out in subsequent years.
Along with a financial commitment, the
Participants complete a before and after
Carlisle County Board of Education fully ensurvey. Survey results have shown several
courages and supports the PALs program.
things. The program has increased their enBoard members realize the impact that the
joyment of school. Students felt their presence
PALs program has on preschool students as
would be missed if they were absent (from 25
well as high school students. Superintendent
percent in the pre-survey to 59 percent in the
Keith Shoulders supports the PALs program
post-survey). If a scoring meter measured the
by attending preschool graduation each year,
smiles, hugs, and positive relationships built in
when PALs are recognized. PALs particpants
the PALS program between the high school
have attended board meetings, explaining the
students and the preschoolers, it would show
impact the program has made on them and
success as well.
conducting mock lessons.
PALs is a cost-effective program. It primarily requires the human resources already
RESULTS
available to work together—the preschool coordinator, the Family Resource and Youth
The program has proven successful in keepServices Center director, and the high school
ing high school students interested and inadministration. The program has presented
volved in completing school. Students not at
and shared at the Graduate Kentucky Summit
risk have become involved by taking the
and at several regional events. Several school
PALs program class as an elective. The focus
districts have visited, with the intention of creon early childhood education has encouraged
ating their own version of PALs.
several seniors to consider teaching as a career. An unexpected by-product has been developing a pool of local future teachers who
will want to return to work and live in this
rural community. As the district moved the
Contact Superintendent Keith Shoulders at
preschool program from a half-day to a [email protected]. The
day program, PALs provided teachers with
district’s website is at www.carlisle.k12.ky.us.
UNLIKE THEIR
WEALTHIER PEERS,
POOR STUDENTS ARE
RARELY EXPOSED TO
EXPERIENCES THAT
HELP THEM TO
SUCCEED IN SCHOOL.
THE BOARD’S
INVOLVEMENT
School members demonstrated leadership for this
program by stating in the
district’s strategic plan
that closing the achievement gap is a top district
priority. By supporting
these summer camp programs, the board committed to improving academic outcomes for
needy students. The
board also provided leadership by convening a
cross-departmental team
to implement these programs. This included
members of the curriculum and instruction,
student services, finance, human resources,
food and nutrition, instructional media, and
information services departments. This buyin from across the district helped ensure the
success of these programs. Board members
also were instrumental in the grant-writing
and approval process that helped to secure
the necessary funds to make these programs
a reality. It relied on community partnerships
to gain access to some of the privately owned
environmental sites and to share information
with local media outlets.
RESULTS
Students who participated in the PEACE
Camp demonstrated an average gain
of 24 percent from pre- to post-assessment. One noteworthy surprise
was that students from higher-poverty
schools demonstrated even greater
average gains (41 percent). Students
in the Title I Summer Technology
Camp also experienced success, as
evidenced by the pre- and post-assessment. During the initial assessment,
students scored an average of 38 out
of 65 possible points. Post assessment
results indicated an average increase
of 27 points, for an average score of
55 points. Surveys given to participat-
Camp students learn about the pelican and any effects the oil spill
may have had on the birds and marine life.
ing teachers also indicated a high level of satisfaction with both programs, as well as a high
degree of commitment to include more technology into their regular classroom instruction. Also, there are many intangible results in
providing the neediest students with these
high-quality experiences, such as a growth in
hope and confidence.
Contact Elena Garcia, supervisor of Title I,
Basic and Migrant, at [email protected].
us. The district’s website is at www.pasco.
k12.fl.us.
Three students sharing the final video projects they
made during the two-week Technology Camp.
Magna Awards 2011 9
2011 GRAND PRIZE WINNER: OVER 20,000 ENROLLMENT
Camp Opportunity
Pasco County Schools, Land O’Lakes, Fla.
Joanne Hurley
Allen Altman
Cynthia Armstrong
Alison Crumbley
Steve Luikart
SUPERINTENDENT
Heather Fiorentino
Two students learning to hunt and fish at the Energy and Marine Center.
PROGRAM NAME
Title I Summer Camps
DISTRICT DILEMMA
Economically disadvantaged students consistantly 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 the Title I Technology Camp,
both of which provide students with additional experiences needed for their cognitive
development. Another goal was to increase
teacher capacity for classroom technology use.
8 Magna Awards 2011
SOLUTION
The Title I Summer Camps engaged nearly
1,200 students in authentic hands-on experiences connected to state standards. The
PEACE Camp was a five-day environmentally themed science enrichment camp that
brought 550 of the district’s neediest fourthand fifth-grade students to four different
sites. It ended with a culminating activity at
the Florida Aquarium. Students participated
in three rotations at each site. While there,
they studied ecosystems through activities
such as fishing and kayaking, and they
tracked the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
and its impact on marine and estuarine environments. These programs also complement
the district’s emphasis on environmental
stewardship. The Title I Technology Camp
was a 10-day camp that also served 550
fourth- and fifth-grade students. After being
issued a laptop and an i-Pod Nano that they
could take home, students were taught how
to plan, write, and produce iMovies and podcasts. Their first product was an iMovie
about their own lives. The culminating activity was the creation of a public service announcement that was broadcast on the local
cable station.
y.
.
board provided leadership in the initiation of
a strategic planning effort to engage the
school community in the improvement process. As a result, more than 200 individuals
in the community were involved in the development of recommended objectives,
strategies, and action plans to achieve the
district’s mission of “investing in the future
today by inspiring our students to pursue excellence.” One of the four objectives included increasing community support by engaging 100 percent of the community in
students’ education. The school board
wholeheartedly supported these recommendations and has been actively engaged in the
implementation process. This includes an accountability structure requiring monthly updates regarding implementation of the
strategic plan. In addition to providing financial resources to support this effort, board
members have modeled the way for other
community members by participating as
mentors and tutors to needy students.
RESULTS
team to engage the community in a dynamic
process to bring about lasting change, not
only in the schools, but in the community as
well. Since the program’s inception, there
have been numerous examples of selflessness
on the part of others to help those less fortunate. Whether it is providing comfort to
homeless students, eating lunch with children
of incarcerated parents, tutoring struggling
students, or buying a pair of shoes for a child
whose family cannot afford it, every single
need is being filled as it is identified. Competing businesses, a diverse faith-based community, and multifaceted human services organizations have come to the same table to share
ideas and resources as they seek innovative solutions to a complex community problem.
The Bright Futures initiative has opened the
door for the creation of lasting partnerships,
which already has made an impact on the lives
of children and the culture of the community.
The momentum continues to build, and there
seems to be no end in sight in terms of community support for this effort.
BOARD MEMBERS
HAVE MODELED THE
WAY FOR OTHER
COMMUNITY
MEMBERS BY
PARTICIPATING AS
MENTORS AND TUTORS
TO NEEDY STUDENTS.
Since the Bright Futures initiative began, the
most notable accomplishments include a 54
Contact Superintendent C.J. Huff at
percent reduction in the number of [email protected]. The district’s
outs, establishment of 233 community partwebsite is at www.joplinschools.org.
nerships, and more than $300,000 in cash
and in-kind donations. More than 550
volunteers have contributed over 3,000
hours of service as mentors, tutors, and
volunteers. One purpose of the Bright
Futures initiative was to create a rapid response system to meet basic needs of students within a 24-hour period. To date,
the system has been successful in addressing every identified need. Using a Facebook database, individual community
members have the opportunity to support
students as needs arise. Consequently,
even the most challenging needs are met
within minutes rather than hours. Bright
Futures inspires hope for the kids who
need it the most.
The mission of Bright Futures is “partnerships inspiring educational achievement and developing community success.”
The program is a one-of-a-kind grassroots
Tutor Sherri Cloyd with a student. TREK Tutors is an after- school tutoring
effort that was born of the district’s strateprogram designed to help improve student achievement. For one hour a
gic planning process. Deliberate and
week, a TREK tutor works with a student in one of Joplin's 13
strategic actions were employed by the
elementary schools.
Board of Education and administrative
Magna Awards 2011 7
2011 GRAND PRIZE WINNER: 5,000-20,000 ENROLLMENT
A Bright Future for All Students
Joplin Schools, Joplin, Mo.
PROGRAM NAME
Bright Futures
DISTRICT DILEMMA
Randy Steele
Jeff Flowers
Jim Kimbrough
Michael D. Landis
Ashley Micklethwaite
Anne Sharp
Phil Willcoxon
SUPERINTENDENT
C.J. Huff
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
A local church performing a work day of service at an area school prior to opening day.
would not graduate. Almost
They "brightened up" the playground equipment and did some landscaping.
200 high school students
dropped out in the 2008-09
school year. Realizing the culture of the
stepped up to be involved in identifying
school community had to change, in 2008
needs and creating solutions. Following inthe Joplin school board started the process of
tensive research by this leadership group, six
strategic planning to get support from the
NOW needs were identified. These incommunity to tackle this challenge. As a recluded, 1) establishment of an Eagle Angel
sult, the Bright Futures initiative was born.
fund to address immediate individual student needs in the absence of community resources, 2) partnering three businesses and
SOLUTION
one faith-based group with each school,
3) significantly increasing adult mentors and
Following the Bright Futures kick-off
tutors who work one-on-one with kids,
breakfast, more than 40 community leaders
4) creating opportunities to recognize high academic achievement of individual students, 5)
coordinating a massive community school supply drive, and 6)
creating a central supply distribution center to serve children
in the 19 different schools in the
district. As a result of this grassroots community effort, the district has been successful in creating a rapid response system to
meet students’ basic needs and
provide academic support to ensure they have the tools necessary to be successful in school.
A kick-off breakfast was attended by over 150 community leaders, with the
sole focus of addressing the graduation rate issue in the community.
6 Magna Awards 2011
THE BOARD’S
INVOLVEMENT
In the fall of 2008, the school
the board agenda and scheduling site visits to
see the new methods and talk with teachers.
By listening to Anderson teachers, board
members heard the need for classroom volunteers. Using their role as community leaders, they reached out and found volunteers to
support the small-group instruction in the
classroom. The program consists of residents, retirees, church members, and district
parents. It provides more than 80 volunteers
annually who work up to three hours a week.
RESULTS
The 2006 and 2010 API figures for the targeted subgroups demonstrate the program’s
impact on student achievement. English language learner students moved from 560 to
806. Socioeconomically disadvantaged students moved from 577 to 807. Hispanic students moved from 580 to 790. In three years,
the school’s API score went from 604 to 810
in 2009. Anderson sustained the growth and
scored 810 on the API again in 2010. The
work of administrators and staff evolved over
the past four years. The first year of the reform showed growth in student achievement
for the first time in six years. The pattern of
low achievement was broken. Conversations
among staff about best instructional practices
began and continued—the teachers took
ownership of the program, making it sustainable. In the second year of the program, Anderson started the Enlish and language arts
benchmark testing cycles and new math intervention strategies,
resulting in an API
growth of 36 points to
674. Motivated by success, teachers incorporated strategic supplemental programs to
support student
achievement. In the
third year, Anderson’s
API grew 136 points to
810. From 2006-07 to
2008-09, the percentage of all students who
are proficient or advanced increased in
English and language
arts by 26 percent and
math by 53 percent—all subgroups improved.
Another benefit of the program is the
ability to replicate results districtwide as well
as in other districts. The board encouraged
the Anderson staff to mentor other district
schools. Anderson’s principal worked closely
with administrators and staff at Payne Elementary, another Moreland school facing a
significant achievement gap. At the same
time, the Moreland Middle School staff
started using the data-driven approach to
shape instruction and close the achievement
gap. Both schools showed tremendous academic growth as a result. Payne’s API score
grew 58 points leaping from 818 in 2009 to
876 in 2010. Moreland Middle’s API grew a
staggering 73 points from 770 to 843 in the
same time period. Country Lane School,
Moreland’s top-performing elementary
school, also adopted the program’s strategies
and saw double-digit growth in its API last
year, moving up 23 points to 941. Other districts and schools have visited Anderson and
have begun to replicate parts or all of the
successful strategies of the program, with
positive results.
THE FIRST YEAR OF
THE REFORM SHOWED
GROWTH IN STUDENT
ACHIEVEMENT FOR
THE FIRST TIME IN
SIX YEARS.
Contact Karen Whipple, school board
member, at [email protected]. The
district’s website is at www.moreland.org.
Fourth-grade teacher Lia White in her classroom.
Magna Awards 2011 5
2011 GRAND PRIZE WINNER: UNDER 5,000 ENROLLMENT
Teaching Closes the Gap
Moreland School District, San Jose, Calif.
SOLUTION
Lori Booroojian
Jim Macfarlane
Heather Sutton
Robert Varich
Karen Whipple
SUPERINTENDENT
Glen Ishiwata
4 Magna Awards 2011
Anderson’s administrators use
benchmark assessments to collect data to shape classroom instruction. The principal and assistant principal worked
collaboratively with teachers to
establish a system to analyze
classroom data and identify
concepts to address. To support
this new system, the board approved the request to purchase
an electronic assessment management program. Teachers
then created curriculum maps
to guide their instruction. This
initial work with data and standards provided a focus for all
future professional development and decisions about instruction, which is at the core
of this program. Developing a
testing cycle and feedback loop
allowed teachers to get instant
feedback about their students’
Second-grade teacher Tyler Ready works with a small group in her classroom.
progress before moving on. By
using flexible groupings, and
small
group
instruction
coupled with tarPROGRAM NAME
geted intervention, teachers were able to address the deficiencies highlighted in the testAcademic Excellence for All
ing cycles. Using their community contacts,
board members reached out to volunteers to
DISTRICT DILEMMA
support the small-group work. In additional
to being a highly effective program for lowFour years ago, Moreland School District’s
performing subgroups, it has proven to be
Anderson Elementary School was the lowesteffective at raising the academic achievement
performing elementary school in Santa Clara
of students of all levels.
County. The school’s Academic Performance
Index (API) score was 604, well below the
California goal of 800, and far below the disTHE BOARD’S INVOLVEMENT
trict’s highest-achieving school’s score of 915.
Anderson’s student population was 81 percent
The first goal of the district’s strategic plan is
Hispanic, 87 percent socioeconomically disto close the achievement gap while raising
advantaged, and 78 percent English language
the achievement of all students. After the
learners. The school board and Superinten2006 API scores were released, the board
dent Glen Ishiwata asked Anderson’s leadermade it clear that an all-hands-on-deck apship to create a new approach to the schools’
proach was necessary to transform student
teaching strategies to improve student
achievement at Anderson. The first step was
achievement. Academic excellence for all stuto make staffing switches to support the agdents was the aim. With support from the
gressive goal, including hiring a new princiboard, administrators, and the community,
pal and assistant principal. Next, the board
Anderson’s leaders embraced the challenge.
directed resources to support new methods,
They developed an approach that uses current
including additional professional developdata to make decisions and trains teachers to
ment time and the purchase of targeted inuse a standards-based method for instruction.
structional programs. The board backed up
its directive by frequently putting updates on
This year’s Magna Awards
judges are (from left)
Linda J. Trimberger, Lori Garvey,
Sandi Barry, Jacquelyn Sneed,
Joan Brandvold Schmidt, and
Nell Rose
In Search of Excellence
A
school district in Bardwell, Ky.,
pairs preschoolers with teens at
risk of dropping out of high school
to the benefit of both the older and
younger children. In Tucson, a district motivates its ninth-graders to earn good grades
and to stay in school by loaning them netbooks if they meet certain standards. Teams
of school and community volunteers in
Corpus Christi, Texas, visit the houses of
high school dropouts each September to
encourage them to come back to school.
These are some of the programs that
earned the top prizes in the 2011 Magna
Awards.
For 17 years, since American School Board
Journal established the Magna Awards program, our panel of independent judges has
continued to marvel at the diversity of the
entries from school boards nationwide.
This year is no exception: More than 350
programs were nominated from school districts across the U.S.
Each program was exceptional in some
way, but our judges looked for those that
stood out in terms of the criteria listed on
this page. Of particular importance were,
first, evidence that the school board was appropriately involved in initiating and supporting the program, and second, evidence
that the program accomplished what it set
out to do. The judges spent many hours
studying the submissions, and the result of
their deliberations is this array of winning
programs.
MAGNA 2011 JUDGES
American School Board Journal thanks the
members of this year’s judging panel:
• Panel chairwoman Joan Brandvold
Schmidt, director of music ministry at the
First Presbyterian Church in Great Falls,
Mont., and past president of the National
School Boards Association.
• Sandi Barry, publications specialist of the
Maryland Association of Boards of Education
in Annapolis, Md.
• Lori Garvey, assistant superintendent of
administrative services for the Madison
School District in Phoenix.
• Nell Rose, chair of the Rockingham
County School Board in Reidsville, N.C.
• Jacquelyn Sneed, member of the St.
Anne Community High School Board in St.
Anne, Ill.
• Linda J. Trimberger, president of the
Greeley-Evans Weld County School District
in Greeley, Colo.
The 2011 Magna Awards winners will be
honored Saturday, April 9, at the American
School Board Journal’s annual Best Practices for
School Leaders luncheon, held in conjunction
with the National School Boards Association’s
annual conference in San Francisco.
If you cannot congratulate the Magna winners in person, you can still appreciate their
good work by reading about their programs
in this special supplement, which honors best
practices in school governance. You might
even find an award-winning program that can
meet the particular needs of your school system—or be inspired to create a future Magna
Award winner for your own district.
CRITERIA
To determine the winners
of the Magna Awards 2011,
the judges looked for programs that are:
• Developed or actively
supported by the school
board.
• The result of appropriate school board leadership.
• Successful in view of
the program’s primary objectives.
• Important in promoting the district’s mission and
advancing student learning.
• Capable of being replicated by other school boards
with similar conditions and
resources.
• The result of collaboration between the school
board and others.
Magna Awards 2011 3
Contents
3
In Search of Excellence
The Magna Awards Criteria and
Judging Panel
18
Real Learning in Middle School
Columbus County Schools,
Whiteville, N.C.
4
Grand Prize Winner
Teaching Closes the Gap
Moreland School District,
San Jose, Calif.
19
Making Graduation Matter
Missoula County Public Schools,
Missoula, Mont.
20
6
Grand Prize Winner
A Bright Future for All Students
Joplin Schools, Joplin, Mo.
Gaining the Digital Advantage
Sunnyside Unified School District,
Tucson, Ariz.
21
8
Grand Prize Winner
Camp Opportunity
Pasco County Schools,
Land O’Lakes, Fla.
Helping Students Stay in School
Tuscaloosa City Schools,
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
22
Connecting Generations
Carlisle County Public Schools,
Bardwell, Ky.
A Walk to Remember
Corpus Christi Independent School District,
Corpus Christi, Texas
23
Healthy Meals for All Students
Falls Church City Public Schools,
Falls Church, Va.
Building a Seaworthy Partnership
Newport News Public Schools,
Newport News, Va.
24
Second Chance Academy
Pharr-San Juan-Alamo
Independent School District,
Pharr, Texas
25
Teach Your Parents Well
Plano Independent School District,
Plano, Texas
26
Newcomers Welcome
St. Louis Public Schools,
St. Louis, Mo.
27
Honorable Mentions
10
11
2 Magna Awards 2011
12
Technology Sparks Student Learning
Greene County Schools,
Greensboro, Ga.
13
A Class of Their Own
Mitchell County School System,
Camilla, Ga.
14
A Stitch in Time
Valley Stream Union Free School District 30,
Valley Stream, N.Y.
15
Health Care for Students in Need
Adams County School District 14,
Commerce City, Colo.
Introduction
W
elcome to American School
Board Journal’s Magna Awards.
Over the past 17 years, we’ve
featured many excellent examples of school district leadership, and this year
is no exception. High school retention and
dropout prevention are clear trends this year.
Nine of the 18 winning programs contained
elements of dropout prevention, credit recovery, and college and career readiness. Other
entries feature community and parental involvement and engagement, closing the
achievement gap, helping children from disadvantaged families learn, and early literacy.
The Magna winning entries are full of
practical advice on how districts solved pressing problems—problems that will sound very
familiar to school board members and administrators: bringing students who have already
dropped out back to the classroom; making
sure all children come to kindergarten with
the same skill levels, no matter their family
background; giving ESOL students the tools
they need to become fluent and literate in English; and providing mentors for troubled students at risk of dropping out.
As in the past, this year’s entries are divided
into three categories based on enrollment:
under 5,000; 5,000 to 20,000; and over 20,000.
Each category has one grand prize winner and
five additional winners. We also have 15 districts that earned honorable mentions.
Our Grand Prize winner in the under
5,000 enrollment category, the Moreland
School District in San Jose, Calif., is closing
the achievement gap by using current test data
to make decisions and training teachers to use
a standards-based method for instruction. In
four years, Moreland’s Hispanic students have
seen significant gains in their English, language arts, and math scores.
The Grand Prize winner in the 5,000 to
20,000 enrollment category, Missouri’s Joplin
Schools, brought together its business, faithbased, and human services communities to
help disadvantaged students who are struggling to stay in school or who already have
dropped out. More than 550 volunteers have
contributed more than 3,000 hours of service
as mentors, tutors, and traditional volunteers.
One result has been a 54-percent reduction in
dropouts in one year. Also, the district has received more than $300,000 in cash and inkind donations.
Pasco County Schools in Land O’Lakes,
ABOUT MAGNA
AWARDS 2011
www.asbj.com/magna
PUBLISHER
Anne L. Bryant
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Glenn Cook
MANAGING EDITOR
Fla., the Grand Prize winner in the over
20,000 enrollment category, helps give its
neediest children some of the advantages of
their wealthier peers through two summer
camps for fourth- and fifth-graders. Students
in the technology camp received a laptop and
an i-Pod Nano that they could take home,
and they made iMovies about their lives. At
an environmentally themed camp, they studied ecosystems through activities such as
fishing and kayaking, and they tracked the oil
spill in the Gulf of Mexico and its impact on
marine and estuarine environments. Camp
students showed 24 percent gains from preto post-assessment.
We are pleased to have the opportunity to
showcase these award-winning projects, along
with the other outstanding programs on the
following pages, as examples of innovation
and excellence in school governance. American
School Board Journal also is fortunate to have
the ongoing support of our corporate partner,
Sodexo School Services, whose generous financial support continues to make the Magna
Awards program possible.
As we honor this year’s winners, we also
look ahead to the Magna Awards 2012. Please
let us know about programs you believe might
bring distinction to your district and might
translate into similar success elsewhere. The
nomination form is available online at www.
asbj.com/magna. Perhaps we will have the
pleasure of recognizing your school district as
a Magna Award winner in 2012.
Kathleen Vail
MAGNA COORDINATOR
Margaret Suslick
PROJECT PRODUCTION
Donna J. Stubler
ART DIRECTOR AND
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Carrie E. Carroll
COVER ART
Paul Zwolak
Magna Awards is a
supplement to American
School Board Journal
and is published at
1680 Duke St.,
Alexandria, VA 22314
by the National School
Boards Association.
Anne L. Bryant
Publisher
Magna Awards 2011 1
Healthy, Well-Balanced Meals
Fuel Student Achievement

2011 Magna Awards - American School Board Journal

Transcription

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