Smaller, Safer, Saner Successful Schools. - National Clearinghouse ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Smaller, Safer, Saner, Successful Schoolslege and life – especially reading,writing, and math.2. Public Citizenship: To developstudents who take responsibility forthemselves, their school, and theircommunity by living up to theschool’s REACH values (Respect,Enthusiasm, Achievement, Citizenship,and Hard Work).3. Partners in Public SchoolReform: To develop and share an instructionalmodel that consistentlyproduces dramatic growth in studentachievement and to work with othersto further excellence in public education.Amistad has several key features:• Longer day: school begins at 7:30and ends at 5:00 pm• Rigorous standards based curriculum• Disciplined, achievement-orientedschool culture• Students wear uniforms• Intense literacy program• School culture of “sweating thesmall stuff”• Focus on results without excusesor shortcutsstatewide. In math, 73% of Amistad’s8th graders achieved mastery, comparedto 27% district wide and 64%statewide.For further information, pleasesee www.achievementfirst.org, orcontact Amistad Academy at 407James Street, New Haven, CT, 06513;Tel. 203 773-3223Achievement First, a non-profit startedby the leaders of Amistad, hasbeen asked to help create severalother charters based on the Amistadmodel in Connecticut and New York.These replication sites are all withinthe first four years of operation. Thefirst replication of the school, also inNew Haven, is showing similarlyexcellent results. Achievement Firstnow runs five academies in NewHaven, one in Bridgeport, CT, and sixin Brooklyn, NY.28aImpact on students: On theConnecticut Mastery Test (CMT),Amistad’s 8th grade students consistentlyoutperform not only the NewHaven district average, but alsoachieve on par with or in excess ofthe state average. In 2007, for example,the percentage of Amistad 8thgraders at mastery in reading was66% (the district average was 34%;the CT state average was 67%). Inwriting, 78% of Amistad’s 8th gradersachieved mastery, compared to 30%district wide and 64% of students28b28
SUMMARY OF RESEARCH ON SMALL SCHOOLS AND SHARED FACILITIESArizona Agribusinessand Equine CenterPhoenix, ArizonaThe Phoenix based ArizonaAgribusiness and Equine ScienceCenter, located adjacent to andon the campus of South MountainCommunity College, continues to winawards for its effectiveness and innovation.The school was recognized by theArizona Department of Education asa “highly performing” school for2006-2007 (the latest year for whichratings are available). The school andits host college won an“Innovator of the Year” award fromthe state’s League for Innovation inthe Community College. The awardcame from the BioscienceCollaborative they created.Students learn science concepts asthey conduct original research in associationwith four residentialPh.D.'s, USDA, and U.C. San Diego'sSupercomputer Human GenomeProject. Students may present theirscientific findings at national symposiaand apply for bio-industry andfederal government internships. In arecent publication by the FlinnScientific Foundation Building theBioscience Pipeline, AAEC was listedas one of the few recognized bioscienceprograms in Arizona schools."It's important, and it's real." That'show one teacher describes experimentshigh school students are doingat the Arizona Agribusiness andEquine Center in Phoenix. This publiccharter high school shares space withSouth Mountain Community College.Part of co-location is sharing facultyand facilities with the college. Theidea is to encourage students to exceland to understand how they canimprove the world. One student stated,“I was challenged with collegelevel expectations and got myAssociate Degree two weeks beforemy high school diploma!” For the firsttime, on May 24, 2007, AAEC had oneof their over-achieving students graduateas Valedictorian of SouthMountain Community College andthen graduate as Valedictorian fromAAEC High School.Key educational features. Recently,some of the center’s students tried toreduce or eliminate the number of insectsattracted to the MadagascarPeriwinkle plant. By injecting bacteriainto the plant's roots, students foundthat after four weeks the plants wouldbe 100 percent free of a commonArizona insect, the whitefly. Thesebacteria, which keep insects away,don't appear to have any detrimentaleffects. Untreated plants were infectedwith the flies after four weeks inthe same growing environment.Who cares? Periwinkle is a beautifullittle plant that grows throughoutArizona. But in addition to beauty, theplant provides chemicals that helptreat leukemia. Keeping insects awayallows the plants to grow stronger.Such important lessons can comefrom working with little plants, growingquietly on a shelf. But studentwork is attracting a good deal of attention.Some of the school’s studentshave earned an Associate of Arts degreefrom the community collegeshortly before they graduated fromhigh school.29
Page 4 and 5: For copies contact:National Clearin
Page 7: Table o f ContentsAcknowledgements
Page 10 and 11: 66a
Page 12: Summary of Researchon Small Schools
Page 22 and 23: Smaller, Safer, Saner, Successful S
Page 29 and 30: School Case Studies
Page 31: SUMMARY OF RESEARCH ON SMALL SCHOOL
Page 35 and 36: SUMMARY OF RESEARCH ON SMALL SCHOOL

Smaller, Safer, Saner Successful Schools. - National Clearinghouse ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?