Featured Stories
Across the Country, public schools and districts are transforming themselves to prepare students for success in a 21st-century democracy and global society. Take a look at what educators and communities are doing right now to meet this challenge.
Or tell us what's working in your own school or district.
Small Academies Help Students Make the Grade
Story posted June 9, 2009
Results:
• Disciplinary referrals are down 27% since the transition
• Over the past three years, 90% of freshman passed English, up from 76% prior to the transition
• The freshman dropout rate declined from 14% in 2005 to an average of 8% over the past three years
At the end of the 2004–2005 academic year, Bridgeton High School in southern New Jersey closed its doors as a traditional high school. On September 1, 2005, the school, which serves a largely minority and economically disadvantaged student body, welcomed back its 1,100 students, teachers, administrators, and parents to a totally new system of education. Rededicated as a Talent Development High School (TDHS), what used to be one large school is now divided into smaller learning communities known as career academies. With this change, Bridgeton started on the road to ...
Story posted May 19, 2009
Results:
• 98.3% of students progress from 9th to 12th grade--the highest completion rate in the county
• Approximately 86% of the current junior class has already earned up to 32 college credits, with many seniors earning upward of 60
The Hidalgo Independent School District (HISD) is located in South Texas along the U.S./Mexico border in one of the poorest counties in the state. Forty-five percent of Hidalgo’s residents live below the poverty level and only 3.9 percent of residents have earned a college degree. More than 90 percent of HISD students are economically disadvantaged and more than half have limited English proficiency.
[Despite the challenges faced by students in these demographics,] one of the district’s goals is “college attainment for all students.” It seeks to improve student graduation rates, college awareness, and ...
Developing Students to be Good at Something and Good for Something
Story posted May 7, 2009
Results:
• Student performance in the Missouri Assessment Program has steadily improved in both communication arts and mathematics
• In 2008, the district graduation rate was 95.2%, up from 84.5% in 2002
The Lindbergh School District has always been in the vanguard of character building. 
When it took its first steps in 1989 to introduce character education in all of its schools, the world was a different place. No cell phones, no laptops, no iPods, no text messages. However, the founding committee had the vision to see that a district-wide espousal of character, with all schools and the community on board, would be the best way to achieve the district’s goal: to develop competent and caring graduates through exceptional programs, services and personnel.
Today, their vision is being realized. As Amy Richards, the coordinator for character education and a 25-year veteran of the Lindbergh district, puts it: “Character now is pervasive in all we do—it’s an integral part of our vision and our mission, our curricular as well as extra-curricular activities, our board policies and annual goal-setting, and our staff’s concept of ...
Expecting Success: College in the High School
Story posted April 30, 2009
Results:
• All students met the Washington State Assessment of Student Learning graduation requirements in reading and writing in 2007 and 
2008, up from 59% and 53%, respectively, in 2003
• Graduates are attending colleges throughout the nation
• In 2008, Bridgeport High School was selected as one of America's Best High Schools by the U.S. News & World Report.
Many Bridgeport School District students dreamed of attending college. Sadly, for most, dreaming was all they could do because they couldn’t afford tuition, fees, or books. Nor was the 150-mile round trip to the nearest college possible. More than 80 percent of Bridgeport students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 87 percent are Latino, and most are prepared to become migrant farm laborers, like their parents. The Bridgeport School Board chose a different career path for them, and, in the process, introduced the College in the High ...
Catching Kids Up: A Math Club Success Story
Story posted April 17, 2009
Results:
• Most participants make significant gains in both district benchmark testing and class grades
• Students report greater interest in and understanding of math
• Teachers report increases in participants' attention to instruction and class participation
At Mechanicsburg Middle School, we recognized the need to help our lowest-achieving math students improve their skills. In addition, because many of these students had low confidence in their abilities based on past failures in Math, we knew we needed to provide a model that not only would be academically beneficial but also give the students an opportunity to view Math in a new light. Using collective teaching strengths, we created a model that has resulted in higher performance and an overall love of ...
Parent/Teacher Collaboration Leads to “Students for Success”
Story posted April 9, 2009
Results:
• 50% of regular participants improved at least one letter grade in an academic subject during the program's first full year
• In collaboration with other FHS campus-wide efforts, Students for Success helped contribute to a 30-point increase (more than a 4% improvement) in school API (California's method of measuring school growth and performance) during the second year of implementation
Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, CA, is nothing if not diverse. The student population is 40% Hispanic, 25% Caucasian, 17% Asian, and 12% Filipino—to name just the four most prevalent ethnicities. The school is also socioeconomically diverse, with student families ranging from affluent to economically disadvantaged. In addition, 28% of students are English Language Learners and 10% are enrolled in special education courses.
Such diversity offers many benefits, but it also presents challenges. One enormous challenge is the large variance in academic support students get at home. While many students ...
Story posted April 2, 2009
Results:
• Consistently makes adequate yearly progress as defined by No Child Left Behind
• Received an "A" on the New York City grading rubric, which is based on student progress and performance as well as parent, teacher and student opinions of the school
In 1996, then-New York City Schools’ Chancellor Rudy Crew created a “Chancellor’s District,” a non-geographic improvement zone of chronically underperforming schools. His goal was to increase those schools’ instructional capacity and academic outcomes. Beginning with 10 schools and growing to 58 schools by 2002 (the final year of the initiative), these schools were under direct control of the chancellor and received a number of capacity-building interventions.
East Harlem’s P.S. 30, Hernandez-Hughes Learning Academy entered the Chancellor’s district in 1999. P.S. 30 serves 395 kindergarten through sixth-grade students who are mostly African-American or Latino, with 76% eligible for free or reduced price lunch. For the prior decade, the school had performed poorly on standardized assessments and was in danger of being closed for failing to meet New York State academic standards. But after ...
A Cinderella Story: The Spirit of Excellence
Story posted March 26, 2009
Results:
• In 2008, 82% and 72% of 6th graders scored at or above proficient on state reading and math tests, respectively, up from 63% and 54% in 2004
• In 2008, African-Americans scored above school averages on state tests in 6th and 7th grade reading and math, and 8th grade reading
Everyone loves a Cinderella story. When Newport Mill Middle School opened its doors in 2002, folks wondered how students would fare. The school is located in the section of Montgomery County, Maryland, that is most affected by poverty, mobility, and language diversity. The verdict is in: One of the highest-performing middle schools in the county, Newport Mill has demonstrated the remarkable power of the Spirit of Excellence.
Tiger Pride: Fueling the Character Education Initiative
An important aspect of the school’s success is its emphasis on ...
Transforming School Culture the Waterloo Way
Story posted March 19, 2009
Results:
• Over 80% of students met or exceeded state mathematics standards in 2008, compared to 49% in 2003
• School consistently makes Adequate Yearly Progress in all areas
• Serious disciplinary offenses (as defined by No Child Left Behind) fell 71% (79 to 23) between 2004-2005 and 2006-2007
• First recipient of the New York State School of Character Award and a 2008 National School of Character
Just eight years ago, Waterloo Middle School, located in the heart of New York’s scenic Finger Lakes region, was anything but an educational beacon. The story of its transformation from a school struggling with disciplinary and academic problems into an award-winning model school is proof that committed teamwork can revolutionize school culture.
Principal Mike Ferrara recalls his first impression of Waterloo: “I knew immediately that the school I was now in charge of was in very serious condition. Staff morale was very low, student achievement was not a priority of the students or community, and school management was a serious problem.” ...
Feinstein Elementary School Cooks Up Success
Story posted February 26, 2009
Results:
• Between 2005 and 2008, the percent of students scoring proficient or better in mathematics on the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) nearly tripled, increasing from 14% to 41%
• In 2008, 49% of students scored proficient or better in reading on the NECAP, up from 29% in 2005
Named after philanthropist Alan Shawn Feinstein, who is said to have established the first-ever public high school with community service as its theme, Alan Shawn Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street in Providence, Rhode Island, serves a largely Hispanic population, many of whom have emigrated from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Of the nearly 400 children enrolled, 90 percent qualify for subsidized meals, an indicator of the school's poverty level.
To serve these students, Principal Christine Riley and her staff came up with a recipe for student success:
1. Use large measures of data-driven instruction, research-based teaching practices and ...
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Featured Story
Ensuring All Students Reach their Highest Potential in Math
Only a decade ago, Interlake High School was the lowest-performing school in the Bellevue district. As Bellevue is an open enrollment district, Interlake parents and community members knew they needed an academically rigorous program to turn the school's performance around and draw students to the school. In 1997, Interlake implemented the prestigious International Baccalaureate (IB) Degree program and in 2003 added the Advanced Placement program.
Access to challenging high school courses has more impact on the likelihood of a student successfully completing a bachelor's degree than any other factor. While recent studies have identified Algebra II as the "gatekeeper" for college entry, Interlake has set the bar even higher, with the goal that... Read more
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