Back-up not in agenda book - Seminole County Schools

district, Seminole County Public Schools (SCPS) continually seeks innovative methods to propelstudents to perform at their full potential. Even in SCPS, a school district that prides itself on ahigh graduation rate (97%) and low retention level (0.4%), students struggle with academics andeducational motivation. Of most significance is the correlation between engagement ineducation, academic performance, and community risk factors such as poverty. Researchindicates a formidable relationship between students attending high-poverty schools, academicdisengagement, and low student achievement. Studies suggest that these factors produce a “selfconfirmingcycle” in which students become dominated by a self-perception of failure fromwhich they cannot escape. 2Needs identified across the target communities and achievement gaps acknowledged whendistrict administrators reviewed data on achievement of free- and reduced lunch eligible studentsvalidated this correlation within the district’s highest poverty high schools. It is throughstructured academic talent identification, personalized supplemental instruction, improved accessto advanced coursework, and established mentorships that the cycle can be broken.Needs of the Target CommunitiesThe proposed project – Project ACE: Accelerated and Challenging Education – is aframework for increasing the participation and success rate of low-income students in advancedplacement coursework. The project will target the three high schools listed below, with apercentage of low-income (defined as those students who qualify for free- and reduced lunch –F/R lunch) students ranging from 39% to 42%, by providing services that will develop, enhance2 Balfanz, R., Herzog, L. & MacIver, D. (2007). Preventing student disengagement and keeping studentson the graduation path in urban middle-grades schools: Early identification and effective interventions.Educational Psychologist, 42(4), 223-235.Project Narrative Page 2 of 28Page 6