July 17, 2007
Recent News from BCSA
Recent News
The Business Coalition for Student Achievement (BCSA) has joined together with a diverse group of education, community and civil rights groups to launch a campaign – NCLB Works! – and release a statement of eight principles that all of the groups believe must guide the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) this year.
The coalition believes that NCLB has been instrumental in focusing the nation on improving academic achievement for all students and that the results are encouraging. Coalition members include the Business Coalition for Student Achievement, Citizens Commission on Civil Rights, The Education Trust, The LINKS, Inc., National Center for Educational Accountability, and National Council of La Raza. The coalition’s official statement of support can be found: www.nclbworks.org.
To download a copy of the statement or for other information on the NCLB Works! Campaign, visit www.nclbworks.org
NCLB Success Stories
Below are more snapshots of success stories that show how NCLB is helping to transform America’s public schools. They demonstrate how high standards, accountability, professional development and excellent teaching are raising expectations for students and producing results for all students while also closing achievement gaps.
Palm Bay Senior High School: Benchmarking and Comprehensive Data Analysis to Enhance Achievement
Palm Bay Senior High School, located in Melbourne, Fla., has a clear mission to educate and inspire students to meet both the challenges of today and the future. Curriculum guides and benchmarks direct instructional focus and have helped the school establish a comprehensive process of curricular revision based on teacher feedback and student performance data. The school trains teachers to use a database system called TERMS, a comprehensive student information system, as well as By the Numbers, a system that allows teachers to view individual student’s progress. Teachers are constantly evaluating instructional plans based on student data. For college-bound students who are experiencing academic difficulties, the school has implemented the Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) program that provides students assistance in order to raise their achievement levels. In addition, business partners provide professionals to mentor students in math and science. These methods helped Palm Bay High School become the top school in Florida in 9th and 10th grade math in 2005. The school also ranked fourth in the state in 10th grade reading and third in the state in the percentage of students who met reading graduation requirements.
‘Aina Haina School: Leveraging Creativity to Achieve Success
‘Aina Haina School, located in Honolulu, Hawaii, aligns its curriculum to the state’s standards through a collaborative process. Educators take particular pride in delivering the curriculum in creative ways through the arts. The school has collaborated with Hawaii’s Opera Theatre to produce The Curse of Lou Ling. Students mastered math skills by measuring requirements for the opera set and enhanced their writing skills by designing and producing public relations materials. The administration uses monthly leadership team meetings to build staff capacity and stress that high-quality instruction should include the “three Rs: rigor, relevance, and relationships.” The school also actively seeks community and business support to recognize students. As a result, the school outperformed the state proficiency requirements in all grades in both math and reading in the 2005-2006 school year.
These are just a few of the schools that are achieving success using the resources and framework of the No Child Left Behind Act. To learn more about these and other schools’ success stories, visit www.nclbworks.org.
For more information, visit biz4achievement.org