Current Programs
Hamilton County (Chattanooga, TN):
The Hamilton County initiative, Middle Schools for a New Society, is a
cohort of five inner-city middle schools. These schools tended to perform less
well than the other county middle schools, and the district and union sought to
improve their performance and close the achievement gap. To accomplish the
goal, the district, the union and the local education fund formed several
cross-school networks to bring together teachers and school leaders to share
best practices and implement them throughout the district. The strategy is
designed to help change spread more quickly and to build teaching capacity throughout
the district.
These networks
help to ensure widespread capacity by strengthening collaborative processes and
relationships among change agents. In 2007-2008, the focus of these networks was
on strengthening instructional leadership and differentiated instruction, with
an emphasis on using formative assessments to inform teaching practice.
Hamilton County
has helped to close the achievement gaps in the urban school district by more
than 10 percent in both reading and math in its 21 middle schools from 2004 to
2008.
Related
Resources and Links:
Middle Schools for a
New Society Website
Milwaukee, WI:
In Milwaukee, the initiative focuses on intensive professional development for teachers in 20 low performing schools. The schools formed Learning Teams, consisting of the principal, the literacy coach, the math teacher leader, the curriculum generalist, and other classroom teachers, who meet weekly to analyze data, develop the school’s Closing the Gap Action Plan and lead professional development within the school.
The initiative is an outgrowth of the Milwaukee Partnership Academy, a school-improvement partnership that includes leaders from the district, the teachers’ union, the business community and—significantly—higher education. These leaders meet monthly to plan and design the initiative and establish work groups on such topics as family literacy, teacher/principal quality, mathematics, and literacy.
As a result of this program, a comprehensive literacy and mathematics initiative was developed and is being implemented. The district is observing the positive impacts of this initiative in student performance at schools where the program is being implemented. Average test scores of tenth graders on the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination rose by eight percentage points. Also, high school graduation rates, now at 70 percent, have grown four times faster than the rest of the district.
Related Resources and Links:
Milwaukee Partnership Academy Website
Seattle, WA:
In Seattle, the initiative is known as
the Flight School Initiative. It is implemented in two cohorts, or flights,
each consisting of elementary, middle and high schools that form a feeder
pattern. Altogether, 16 schools are part of the initiative. The initiative
consists of three components: the alignment of curriculum and instruction, the
development of professional learning communities and the engagement of families
and community members.
The initiative
focuses on neighborhood clusters to provide a coherent and aligned approach for
students as they transition through the district's schools. In order to improve
family and community engagement, the FSI schools have used several new
strategies, including conducting home visits and sponsored family nights.
At
Foundation-funded schools, the student achievement rates have surpassed the
state's average in reading and math. Also, educators are reporting a positive
professional climate and dramatically increased communication with parents.
Approximately 77 percent of students' parents received a home visit by school
educators in the past year.
Related
Resources and Links:
Program aims to give schools a flying start
, Seattle Times
District in line for $1.2 million grant,
Seattle Times
Related Initiatives
Connecticut
NEA
Foundation is partnering with the University of Connecticut’s Neag School
of Education to fund and run the research component of the Connecticut Alliance
for CommPACT Schools, a collaboration of six state educational organizations to
help the state’s most challenged public schools close the achievement gaps by
placing educators at the center of reform.
The NEA
Foundation, the Neag team, and their local and state partners have been
providing extensive support within and across the CommPACT network through
research, assessments, and professional development for teachers.
Website : http://www.education.uconn.edu/research/commpact/
Ohio
Over the past
three years, the Foundation has awarded $175,000 in grants to support the OAEI (The Ohio
Appalachian Educators Institute) efforts to develop professional learning communities,
promote student learning, and to build deeper partnerships with statewide
policy and advocacy as well as potential funding partners to support two of the
state’s poorest and lowest performing rural districts.
At least 75
percent of students in these districts are now meeting Ohio standards in
reading and math and they have established a system of data collection and
analysis to help them monitor their progress.