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Texas Public Policy Foundation Lackluster math and science performance among Texas and United States students has highlighted the need for reform in math and science education. Fortunately, a number of Texas high schools are shining examples of places where students are achieving success in math and science. The goal of this paper is to help other school districts and campuses learn from these examples by offering a best-practices model for student achievement in math and science. Using standardized test and college entrance exam data from the Texas Education Agency (TEA), The authors identified 39 schools that not only score well in math and science, but have also demonstrated significant gains over time. They surveyed, interviewed, and visited these schools, gathering data and anecdotes about teacher characteristics, school schedules, parental involvement, and numerous other variables. They supplemented this information with statewide data from the TEA, and compared the high-performing high schools with Texas public schools as a whole. Various patterns, or best practices, emerged. The findings include the following:
Based on these findings, the autors propose the following recommendations to educators and policymakers:
Related Papers: Texas' Math and Science Crisis This paper explores specialized math and science programs at magnet schools and their effect on improving math and science skills. Math and Science Reform Agenda Solving the Math and Science Teacher Shortage REL Southwest Releases Research Examining Student Achievement in Texas Border and Nonborder Districts The Regional Educational Laboratory – Southwest (REL Southwest), run by Edvance Research (formerly run by SEDL), has released research findings that provide educators and policymakers with a data-driven profile of the education environment along the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, an area known as La Frontera. The research report, La Frontera: Student Achievement in Texas Border and Nonborder Districts, provides insight into the following questions:
Elsa Cardenas-Hagan, a bilingual speech-language pathologist and Director of the Valley Speech Language and Learning Center in Brownsville stated, “As a resident, researcher, and community member of La Frontera, I find this report extremely valuable. The report can provide policy makers, educators, administrators, community leaders and all residents along this region insight into the challenges of educating our youth. We must achieve higher academic outcomes and we can only accomplish this task if we understand each of the variables presented in this report. Every resident in Texas should read this report as we must strive to achieve academic excellence for all of our residents especially those who are English language learners as they are our future!” REL Southwest, at Edvance Research, is one of ten educational laboratories in the Regional Educational Laboratory Network (REL Network). REL Southwest serves the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas and works for the benefit of over 6.5 million students, over 400,000 teachers in approximately 14,000 schools in grades pre-kindergarten through college in this five-state region. The REL Network encompasses ten geographical regions that span the nation with its primary mission being to serve the educational needs of designated regions. The REL Network uses applied research, development, dissemination, and training and technical assistance to bring the latest and best research and proven practices into school improvement efforts. http://edlabs.ed.gov/RELSouthwest Texas Among Leaders in Longitudinal Analysis The Data Quality Campaign and the National Center for Educational Accountability (NCEA) conducted a survey in September 2007, with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, about state data systems to determine the number of states that have built the infrastructure to tap into the power of longitudinal data. Similar surveys were conducted by NCEA in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. This website provides an overview of the findings of the survey in addition to a state-by-state analysis of the policy implications of each state's data system. Longitudinal data matches individual student records over time, from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade and into post secondary education. States are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to improve student achievement. But without quality data, they are essentially flying blind. Policymakers need to act now to put in place the policies and resources to ensure that each state has a longitudinal data system and the culture and capacity to translate the information into specific action steps to improve student achievement. When states collect the most relevant data and are able to match individual student records over time, they can answer the questions that are at the core of educational effectiveness. The Data Quality Campaign believes that there is a set of 10 essential elements that are critical to a longitudinal data system. Currently, only 4 states' data system includes all 10 essential elements. 12 states, including Texas, have 8-9 of the elements. See complete article: http://www.dataqualitycampaign.org/survey_results/ Academic Excellence Indicator System Reports for 2006-2007 School Year Are Now Available The 2006-07 Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS) reports, which provide comprehensive data on each Texas school district and campus, are now available at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/aeis/2007/index.html These reports pull together a wide range of information on the performance of students in each school and district in Texas annually. The performance indicators are:
Performance on each of these indicators is shown disaggregated by ethnicity, gender, special education, low income status, and limited English proficient status. The performance of at-risk students is also shown on the district, region, and state AEIS reports. In addition to the performance indicators, the reports provide extensive information on school and district staff, finances, programs, and student demographics. AEIS reports have been available every year since the 1993-1994 school year and are available here: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/aeis/index.html. Schools Are Investing in Security, but Still Don’t Feel Extremely Prepared to Deal with Major Issues The Texas School Security Survey found that while administrators consider video to be the single most important tool in securing school environments, budgets for investing in newer security technologies are tight, with only about a quarter of schools expecting a security budget increase in 2008. Distributed online to administrators from public K-12 schools across Texas, the survey asked participants to rank their most significant security issues and their level of preparedness in dealing with those issues. Results indicated that, while Texas schools are moving to address security in their schools, they are not yet adequately prepared to deal with the many types of threats they face in today’s world. The high level findings of the survey revealed the following:
Although the majority of schools (60% and 72%, respectively) feels “extremely prepared” to deal with student infractions such as fights and vandalism and major weather or fire events, only 13% feels extremely prepared to deal with an armed intruder on campus. Only 9% feels extremely prepared to deal with student abductions from campus. In their fight to protect students,81% of survey respondents indicated they are currently using some kind of video, but only 42% are using video proactively to identify problems before they occur. When asked if they could invest in a single security tool, 84% of respondents said they would invest in video over intrusion alarms, metal detectors or identity badges. However, 72% percent said they expected security budgets to remain the same or decrease in 2008 and 69% said they would need to conduct fundraising to pay for new security equipment. According to the survey, 35% of Texas schools are still relying on VCRs and tapes – a system known as legacy or analog, that is nearly impossible to use proactively. “This survey tells us that Texas schools recognize the power of video technologies to keep students safe on campus,” said Andrew Wren, president of Wren. “However, a lot of education still needs to take place to help them learn not only how to use video surveillance in a more proactive manner, but also how to leverage their existing technologies when faced with budget limitations. Cost-effective network video solutions can help schools address both of these issues.” An executive summary of the survey results is available here: Abandoned School Gets a Second Life and Gives Second Chances The Former St. Francis Academy Gets a New Life with a School of Choice That Gives Second Chances to at-Risk Kids. The former St. Francis Academy is now the new San Antonio Can! High School. The 16.1 acre location not only accommodates our students, but we are able to grow our Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) which caters to the kids of our kids. “There are so many wonderful parts to this campus, we now have a full library, gym and even a science lab,” said principal Veronica Hernandez. “We are now able to use the science lab with all of the equipment to do more experiments which help with retention of the science objectives for TAKS, it truly is a wonderful campus.” San Antonio Can! High School is a part of TEXANS CAN! which offers a second chance at life with an education to thousands of kids throughout Texas. Its unique relationship-based educational model not only works, but is changing lives of more than 7,000 kids annually in the Lone Star State. When students graduate, 76% continue onto post secondary education. Visit www.texanscan.org to learn more about San Antonio Can! High School. Houston Independent School District Winner of Award for Urban School Board Excellence Houston Independent School District and Miami-Dade County Schools have each been selected as winners of the annual award for Urban School Board Excellence. This prestigious annual award recognizes big city school districts that are making progress in educating children, and acting as a role model for other urban districts. Houston’s school board stood out for the way it has adopted a decentralized approach to management that puts more decision-making authority into the hands of principals and teachers – the people who directly interact with students. In turn, board president Manuel Rodriquez said the employees feel a greater sense of ownership and accountability because they have been involved in the decision-making process. Corpus Christi Independent School District Has Selected an Online Learning Environment The Corpus Christi Independent School District (ISD) in Corpus Christi, Texas, has selected eChalk’s Online Learning Environment for all of its 62 schools and for the district web site. Corpus Christi ISD conducted a comprehensive review of several vendors. Corpus Christi ISD will begin implementing eChalk’s Online Learning Environment throughout its 62 schools immediately. The implementation is an expansion of a successful six-school pilot program begun in 2005. Partially funded by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the program measured the impact of eChalk’s Online Learning Environment on classroom instructional practices and student achievement. During the pilot program, Corpus Christi ISD was able to document positive improvements to student test scores, school attendance and disciplinary referrals. The Online Learning Environment will allow all Corpus Christi ISD teachers to extend their classroom instruction by providing all students and parents with anytime, anywhere access to homework assignments, resources, grades and other curricular materials in a safe and secure online environment, while allowing teachers to collaborate on and share best-practice lessons. “eChalk will greatly expand our capacity to engage parents as partners,” said Scott Elliff, Corpus Christi ISD’s Superintendent for Schools. “Our stakeholders expect information about our schools to be readily available, and eChalk will help us meet that expectation.” As part of the project, eChalk will provide project management assistance and extensive on-site professional development, including advanced training for teachers to incorporate technology into their classroom practices. Round Rock Independent School District Chooses Management Program for Specials Populations Round Rock Independent School district, second largest school district in Texas’ Region 13, located outside Austin, Texas, selected Spectrum School Solutions, Inc. to provide a comprehensive, Web-based solution for managing programs for special populations. Round Rock implemented Spectrum School Solutions’ Encore™ program to manage data and individualized education plans (IEPs) for students receiving special services or interventions. “Our district’s goal is to move to a more technology driven philosophy, so, with this new philosophy in sight, we researched computerized special education programs that would meet our district’s needs and leave behind our old way of completing ARDs (IEPs) by hand,” stated Round Rock ISD’s Director of Special Education Linda Noy. “We also wanted a system that would be easily accessible to our teachers and that would reduce the time they spent on paperwork and ARD (IEP) meetings while increasing their time in the classroom.” Endorsed by the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE), and designed specifically for the K-12 education market, Encore serves districts with enrollments ranging from 300 to over 300,000 students. Founded in 1994, Spectrum K12 provides school districts with solutions designed to close the achievement gap for special education and at-risk students by more effectively managing the individualized learning process for all students receiving special services or interventions. “With Encore, we decreased the number of data clerks we needed to assist with paperwork from 21.5 to 12. Now we do not need as many individuals spending their time checking for complete ARDs (IEPs) and searching for data,” stated Round Rock ISD’s Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Toni Garcia. “We were able to reallocate those staff into positions that can work directly with the students.” “Being able to align to our state reporting system, PEIMS, was crucial in our selection of Encore. Encore allows us to track and manage student data in a very concise way,” exclaimed Noy. “We also want to make certain that our special education process is in compliance. Encore’s built-in compliance checks prompt the user when something isn’t compliant so it can be corrected. With Encore, we can also build prompts into the system to meet the way we conduct the special education process in our district.” Hays Consolidated Independent School District, Texas The district is centrally located in Hays County along the IH-35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio, a region populated by more than two million people and the state's third largest region of economic activity. As one of the fastest growing school districts in the state, Hays CISD has seen enrollment grow rapidly at an average annual rate of 8% since 1996. Currently, more than 12,900 students attend the district's 16 campuses and district projections reflect student enrollment will reach 20,000 by 2013. The composition of the county tax base is quickly changing from rural to urban. Residential construction has increased rapidly in recent years, coupled with additional commercial and retail franchises, as housing pressures in Austin have expanded development southward, and growth in San Marcos has expanded development northward. Recent major developments within the district boundaries include: Wal-Mart Supercenter, Home Depot, Cabela's, and the formation of a Tax Increment Financing District in the city of Kyle. Future development plans include a large retail center, a medical complex, three hotels and a multifamily apartment complex. Despite the population and enrollment pressures within the district, the tax base growth is now outpacing enrollment growth, evidence of increasing commercial construction activity in the district. Recording double digit growth in each of the last five fiscal years and averaging nearly 15% annually over the same period, taxable assessed valuation (TAV) is solid at $3 billion for fiscal 2008. Debt ratios are high, reflecting enrollment growth pressures that require construction of new facilities. The district's amortization is slow, typical of fast growth school districts and reflecting the use of capital appreciation bonds. The district recently sold $46.3 million of bonds approved by voters in November 2006 and has no remaining bond authorization. However, given the rate of enrollment growth, the district anticipates returning to the voters with two propositions totaling between $110 million-$130 million as early as May 2008. District financial operations are sound. The district reported an operating surplus in three of the last five fiscal years. Ending fiscal 2006 with a $1.8 million net surplus, the district reported an unrestricted general fund balance of $12.8 million, or 17.8% of expenditures. The fiscal 2007 budget was adopted with a modest use of fund balance of about $780,000. However, unaudited financial statements reflect favorable results with an estimated increase of $1.2 million to fund balance reserves. Although district officials budgeted a deficit for fiscal 2008, management typically budgets conservatively and expects to end the year with balanced results or a modest surplus. The district's fund balance goal is to maintain an unreserved and undesignated general fund balance level greater than 10% of expenditures and transfers out. Five-Year-Old Author Draws Shrieks (of Delight) in Dallas School With 'A Halloween Story,' Published by Maroma Books Who has come to thrill a Dallas school’s 2nd graders: A Vampire? A Scary Spider? A Mummy? Or maybe a different kind of little monster: Alberto Fernandez, a bilingual published author, who also happens to be in the 1st grade. After reading “A Halloween Story” the children of KB Polk Vanguard Elementary were so inspired, they wanted to meet its young author. This week in a first-of-its-kind video conference, they will get the chance, not only to interview Fernandez, but also the artist Pilar de la Fuente, who created the quirky black and white illustrations for the story. How did this 5-year-old capture the spirit of a holiday in a story, with structure, plot, and suspense, in 60 words or less? And in another language? A new children’s book publisher, Maroma Books, asks more importantly, “how many 5-year-olds have you asked to try?” That is the purpose of the video conferences and the “Your Turn” pages story-starters at the end of the book; to fire up other young creative writers and storytellers to try it themselves. The reaction at Alberto’s own school, the American School Foundation of Monterrey: “If Alberto can do this, and in his 2nd language, I know I can create something just as wonderful,” said ASFM Kindergarten teacher Monica Reyes of students’ reaction. “A Halloween Story” is Maroma Books’ first title. Alberto, who was born and lives in Monterrey, Mexico, wrote the story in his English class as part of a project last Halloween. Just learning how to write, and just learning English, his first version was with phonetic spelling and accompanied by his own drawings. His teachers, surprised by its remarkable structure, and how the story captures its audience, shared it with Alberto’s parents. Alberto’s father, Alberto Fernandez, Sr., moved by his son’s story, saw the book as the start of something big. He launched Maroma Books, a children’s book publishing company which provides a venue for talented young Mexican authors and artists, while improving education (profits earmarked to improve education in Mexico’s most impoverished areas) and also for enhancing multi-cultural & multi-lingual understanding (each of the books is available at the publisher’s website in various languages, easy and free to print out for children to practice and compare with their copy; see the “BookPocklet” section of the website www.maromabooks.com). Thus, Maroma Books was born, settling on a playful name with an international twist; “Maroma” is Spanish for “summersault.” In Dallas, a nonprofit reading program Earning by Learning that services over 60 Dallas ISD elementary schools bought 25 copies of "A Halloween Story" for libraries within the Dallas ISD district. Maroma Books donated 12 additional copies for the same purpose. “Alberto truly exemplifies the transformation that happens when we allow children to feel and experience the power of words,” said Earning by Learning’s founding Director Thelma Morris-Lindsey. Alberto had a more basic outcome in mind for the readers of “A Halloween Story”: “That people ask, ‘WHO is it?’ “I want people to get a scared face, with their mouths formed like an ‘O!’” said the little author — “and then their mouths change from an ‘O!’ into a smile.” “A Halloween Story,” a “frightfully delightful tale, by a 5-year-old, for other little monsters everywhere,” is available at select bookstores, at Amazon.com. The Nation’s Report Card: 2007 Trial Urban District Assessment in Mathematics This report presents trial school-district-level results of the NAEP mathematics 2003, 2005, and 2007 assessments at grades 4 and 8 for 10 urban public-school districts: Atlanta City, Boston School District, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, City of Chicago School District 299, Cleveland Municipal School District, Houston ISD, Los Angeles Unified, New York City Public Schools, and San Diego City Unified. In 2005, Austin ISD was added and also participated in 2007. These districts participated voluntarily in the trial assessment. Data for the District of Columbia, which regularly participates in NAEP, are also included. Student performance is reported in terms of average scale scores on the NAEP mathematics scale and the percentages of students who attained the achievement levels set by the National Assessment Governing Board. Comparisons are made to results for public schools in large central cities. Student performance is reported by race/ethnicity, eligibility for free/reduced-price school lunch, and for students with disabilities and English language learners. At grade 4, between 2003 and 2007, mathematics performance improved in 8 of the 10 districts that participated in both years. Between 2007 and 2005, four districts scored higher and one scored lower. At grade 8, eight districts had higher scores in 2007 than in 2003, and six had higher scores when 2007 was compared with 2005. Full report: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008452 The Nation’s Report Card: 2007 Trial Urban District Assessment in Reading This report presents results for four years of trial school-district-level reading assessments in NAEP at grades 4 and 8. Five urban public-school districts voluntarily participated in NAEP in 2002 and 2003: Atlanta City, City of Chicago School District 299, Houston ISD, Los Angeles Unified, and New York City Public Schools. In 2003, four additional districts participated: Boston School District, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Cleveland Municipal School District, and San Diego City Unified. In 2005 and 2007, Austin ISD also participated. Results are reported for these 10 districts and for the District of Columbia, which regularly participates in NAEP. Student performance is reported in terms of average scale scores on the NAEP reading scale and percentages of students who attained the achievement levels set by the National Assessment Governing Board. Comparisons are made to results in large central cities. Student performance is reported by race/ethnicity, eligibility for free/reduced-price school lunch, and for students with disabilities and English language learners. At grade 4, average reading scores increased between 2002 and 2007 in four districts and in two districts between 2005 and 2007. One district had a lower average score when 2007 was compared with 2005. At grade 8, increases were noted in two districts when comparing 2007 to 2002 and in four districts when comparing 2007 with 2005. Full report: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008455 Houston Snapshots 4th Grade: 8th Grade: Austin Snapshots 4th Grade: 8th Grade: Amigos Por Vida—Friends for Life Public Charter School Amigos Por Vida—Friends for Life Public Charter School (APV) emerged from a tumultuous beginning to become a school that has raised achievement for its mostly immigrant students. Carlos Villagrana, the school’s third principal and a primary driver of its turnaround, describes the school’s work as, "We’re in the business of empowering." APV’s commitment to empowerment extends beyond its student population and beyond those families living in the 535-unit mixed-income apartment complex in which the school is located. It embraces all of the families living in the broader Houston neighborhood it serves, irrespective of whether their children attend APV. In 1999, the school that is now APV opened as Escuela de Reyes, or School of the Kings, under the charter authority of the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Early mismanagement and the school’s failure to provide a quality education led to a 2001–02 audit by the TEA, which threatened to close the school. It was due to the diligence of staff at the apartment complex management company that the school was saved. Recognizing the need for a good school in the neighborhood, they helped recruit a new board and convinced the local community to support the board’s efforts to get the school back on track. The new five-member board issued a tri-fold mandate to rebuild the school. It insisted that the school, renamed by a second principal, create a dual-language program for all students, replace all noncertified teachers with certified teachers, and implement internal controls, including a more accurate accounting system for all finances and operations. A controller was hired to ensure sound financial operations of the school. In December 2003, Villagrana took over as the third principal and set out to rehabilitate the school in accordance with the board’s agenda. When Villagrana started at APV, only 50 percent of its students were earning passing rates on Texas’s annual statewide assessments. Today, APV serves prekindergarten three-year-olds through students in the sixth grade, and 85 and 99 percent of its students are earning passing rates on state reading and mathematics exams, respectively. As Villagrana set about reforming APV, he did so with a dual vision for what the school could be. First, because there is tremendous need in the community, he wanted APV to serve as a safe resource center for students, families, and the local community. Second, he wanted to honor the students’ heritage by instituting a dual-language program that promotes fluency in both Spanish and English. The area APV serves had not had a school within walking distance for decades. APV was the first charter school in the largely immigrant Gulfton neighborhood, but today there are two additional charter schools in the area. There is strong collaboration, rather than competition, between these schools, and one of the other school’s directors sits on the APV board. In addition, APV has helped change the neighborhood in which it is located. Board member Omar Velez says, "This is a high-risk community," and five to six years ago, "You wouldn’t walk here." Villagrana has made major strides in creating a safer environment by reaching out to the teens in the neighborhood. Today, many neighborhood youths, including alumni and teens from the apartment complex, volunteer at all three schools for such events as Earth Day cleanup. SCHOOL OPERATIONS AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM APV occupies four buildings within the large apartment complex. The classrooms are converted two- and three-bedroom apartments, contributing to the cozy, family feel of the school. Having a bathroom in every classroom means that students can go to the bathroom as the teacher continues with lessons. The school converted the apartment complex’s clubhouse as its administration building, and two APV teachers are certified to teach swimming in the complex swimming pool. Of the 374 students attending APV, 99 percent are Hispanic, 97 percent qualify for free or reduced- price lunch, and 95 percent are English language learners. But within this group, there is a lot of diversity, with about 50 percent of student families hailing from Mexico and 50 percent from Central American countries, such as Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. While 57 percent of the student body has been in the United States for more than five years, 17 percent relocated to the United States three to four years ago, and 13 percent moved here within the past one to two years. Students can start attending APV as three-year olds in its prekindergarten program. These children have one teacher for their full day of classes; 90 percent of these students are taught in Spanish and 10 percent in English. The dual language immersion program starts at the next level (prekindergarten for three- and four-year olds) and extends through sixth grade. In 2006– 07, prekindergarten through fifth-grade students began learning through a dual-language immersion program and grades 6 and higher began receiving a different model, consisting of content area classes in English, along with Spanish language enrichment classes. For the majority of APV students, then, half the school day takes place in Spanish and half the day takes place in English. In pre-K immersion through second grade, reading and English language arts are taught in both languages, mathematics and science are taught in English, and social studies is taught in Spanish. For third through sixth grade, reading and English language arts are taught in both languages, while mathematics, science, and social studies are taught in English with sheltered instruction, that is, the teaching occurs in English, but support is given in Spanish. According to Alicia Garza, the English as a second language (ESL) teacher for kindergarten, the full-day prekindergarten and kindergarten programs make a huge difference, as students learn to read and write at a younger age. In addition, the dual-language program helps the school efficiently differentiate between the needs of English language learners and special education students. If a student is struggling in English, staff can evaluate his or her performance in Spanish to assess whether the problem results from a language barrier or from a learning disability. Thus, although the school provides special education services, it finds that only 5 percent of the students qualify. Teachers also laud the dual-language program’s two-teacher model. Prekindergarten teacher Hazel DeLaFuente explains that the process of collaborating with a co-teacher lends itself to more creative lesson plans, activity ideas, and professional support. The school day starts with homework support at 7 a.m. and breakfast at 7:20 a.m. After school, there is a tutorial and enrichment program that runs from 3:15–5:45 p.m., which helps working parents who cannot pick up their children at the end of the school day. During this time, teachers work with groups of no more than 12 children in tutorials to help them succeed academically. The enrichment program is diverse, ranging, for example, from choir, dance, and art to nutrition and computer science. Underscoring the success of the after-school program, the school’s fifth graders entered and won the Hewlett-Packard Robotics Competition in 2005–06. APV also infuses information about college into its program in a variety of ways, including naming classrooms after universities. Students represent their homeroom university in monthly celebrations during which they compete in activities, such as designing the best college banner or singing their college cheer the loudest. School staff also take students on field trips to local colleges. At one point, APV took all third-grade students and their families to visit the University of Houston because none of the students or their parents had ever before been on a college campus. Most years, APV offers an eight-week summer school in June and July that is open to all students, but is required for students at risk of being held back. APV follows the same school-year schedule as its local district. Students interested in attending the school must complete an application and are then selected by lottery. Preference goes to siblings of enrolled students, and there is currently a wait list for prekindergarten and kindergarten. Seven staff members, including Principal Villagrana, send their children to APV. To bolster the bilingual school environment, APV has adopted a language-of-the-week program, whereby each week everyone (including staff) agrees to try speaking the same language—either Spanish or English—outside of class in common areas. Nonnative-Spanishspeaking staff commented that this program allows them to learn from their students and helps them empathize with the struggles faced by students who are English language learners. Native-Spanish-speaking staff praise the program for giving them an opportunity to serve as role models for being proud to speak two languages. "We come from the same background, [as many of our students], so we know how it is for them," says registrar Laura Lara. One teacher recalls having a student point to her and say proudly to a friend, "She’s bilingual, like me." One parent told the school nurse that APV reminded her of Mexico because of the Spanish being spoken, but that her son’s ability to come home and speak English makes her feel like he attends a private school. "We’ve developed our own curriculum around the needs of the kids," Villagrana says. Two coordinators, one for mathematics and one for reading, help teachers by crafting curriculum, developing resource libraries, aiding with lesson plans, and working with individual students. The reading coach meets with the Spanish teachers every Wednesday and with the English teachers every Thursday to review lesson plans and brainstorm strategies for improvement. The mathematics coordinator evaluates a specific standard every Friday and determines whether students are ready to move forward. Using its own internal assessments, APV collects and analyzes data regularly. Assistant Principal Silvia Trinh explains to students that the testing is important because it serves as "a safety net" for them, but she also reassures them that the testing "doesn’t define you." She encourages them to be persistent in their efforts to demonstrate their knowledge of a particular subject, but reminds them that the school cares about who they are more broadly. FAMILY INVOLVEMENT AND EXTERNAL PARTNERSHIPS Parents were instrumental in the turnaround of APV, and they continue to devote time and effort to making the school a clean, safe, and beautiful place in which to learn (e.g., by repairing the playground, planting a garden, painting the buildings). Regular communication between school staff and families contributes to the school’s attendance rate of above 97 percent. Because many students live in the apartments surrounding the school, administrators can walk down the street to meet with parents and find out why their children are not in class. Similarly, most parents pick up their children from school, which gives them frequent face-to-face contact with teachers. There are two formal school-parent conferences a year, but if a student is struggling, the school informs the parents and convenes a meeting in which school staff, students, and parents sign a contract stating what their responsibilities are in helping the student succeed. A regular bilingual newsletter helps APV keep in touch with parents about more general school issues. In conjunction with the school’s parent-teacher organization, APV also hosts free enrichment classes for parents on the first Thursday of every month on topics that range from nutrition to violence prevention. There are also reading, writing, science, and math nights for parents at which students present their work and teachers model lessons and expectations for students, so families learn how to support their children in school. The full-time school nurse, Marisol Villegas, treats entire families as well as other community members; she also arranges vision and dentistry screenings, free flu shots, and free mammograms, and she coordinates preventative health-care fairs. The school asks parents to volunteer 10 hours of their time per year and also concretely shows the value it places on parent input in other ways. For example, when the school was debating about whether to add grade levels, staff surveyed the fifth-grade parents. Based on parents’ clear interest in expanding the school, APV then added the sixth grade. Key community partnerships also have influenced the school’s success. The DePelchin Children’s Center, a local nonprofit social services agency, offers parenting classes at APV, while Houston Community College pays for and sends a teacher to provide ESL classes for parents two nights a week. The Gulf Coast Literacy Center gives ESL, computer, and GED preparation courses, and Head Start provides an extra prekindergarten teacher. One private school donated over 2,000 books to the APV library, and the Harris County Department of Education’s Cooperative for After-School Enrichment (CASE) helps support the before- and after-school tutorials. GOVERNING FOR ACCOUNTABILITY The five-member APV leadership team, which meets weekly, includes the principal, assistant principal, reading specialist, mathematics specialist, and controller. Villagrana stresses that staff commitment to the school’s mission, parent and student dedication to success, and the school’s ability to adapt are what make APV thrive. Reflecting on his time at the helm of APV, Villagrana says, "This is a marathon and I’ve come in sprinting. We’ve been fortunate to recruit a dedicated staff, and that makes all the difference." Formal professional development meetings take place every Thursday from 3–5 p.m., but Villagrana makes it a point to visit at least three classrooms daily and to collect lesson plans weekly to help create a professional culture among the staff. The school encourages collaboration and often sends teachers to trainings with the expectation that when they return they will share the new knowledge with everyone else. Last year APV began using Teacher Report Cards that incorporate incentives, such as extra pay for high-attendance rates, and require teachers to develop portfolios that showcase student learning and school service. The school’s in-house problem-solving team, composed of selected teachers and the school counselor, provides a forum to discuss and troubleshoot any studentrelated concerns. For example, if a teacher is having difficulty with a particular student, the team will offer strategies and resources for the specific situation. Teachers earn salaries equal to those offered by the Houston Independent School District and can earn bonuses for high classroom attendance rates, conducting home visits, performing well (as indicated on the school’s teacher report card), and for campuswide achievement on state testing. In addition, there is a stipend for ELL teachers that all teachers receive because all are ELL-certified. When Villagrana joined APV, the school was cash-strapped, he says. But thanks, in part, to the principal and the controller’s intensive line-by-line scrutiny of the school budget and two successful federal grant applications (i.e., Reading First and Title I School Improvement grants), the school has become financially solvent. Just over a quarter of the budget comes directly from grants while the state contributes $6,436 of the $8,829 per-student cost. APV also receives a prekindergarten expansion grant for high-need communities through the Texas Education Agency that enables it to offer a prekindergarten class for three-year-olds and another for fouryear- olds. The school currently leases its buildings from the apartment complex owner, but has launched a capital campaign in hopes of acquiring a permanent facility of its own. The same five-member board of directors that helped resurrect the school continues to oversee it. The board set conditions for recreating the school and ensures that past mistakes are not repeated. In 2004, the state renewed APV’s charter for another three years. The school will go through the renewal process again during the 2007–08 school year. STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AT AMIGOS POR VIDA (APV)
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