Six Schools That Make a Difference
In some cases, schools have difficulty accepting the possibility and responsibility of bringing all of their students up to proficiency levels. They fret about students from families in which English is a second language, or students who receive free and reduced-price lunches, allowing themselves a self-fulfilling prophecy of low expectations.
With help from Focus On Results, six schools in California have begun to change that in significant ways. They face challenges that are no less significant: nearly 80 percent of their students receive free or reduced-price lunches; to nearly 60 percent of their students, English is a second language.
Yet, since 1999, these schools' work with Focus On Results has helped their students average nearly 200 points in growth in the California Academic Performance Index (API) test:
California Academic Performance Index (API) 1999 - 2003
What did these schools do that helped them achieve this? Through their work with Focus On Results, they:
- Developed a school-wide focus on literacy;
- Supported teachers in collaborating to improve teaching and learning;
- Developed a small set of research-based teaching practices that all their staffs implemented;
- Provided professional development in these new teaching practices for all their staffs;
- Re-focused their resources — both human and financial — around teaching and learning;
- Involved students' families in supporting the school-wide focus on improving literacy scores;
- Set measurable goals for student learning, and used regular assessment measures to monitor and adjust instruction; and
- Supported school principals in providing ongoing leadership to improve teaching and learning.