Achievement
We all want kids to do well and achieve. Articles within this section take a closer look at the achievement of particular groups, such as boys vs. girls, and students in a specific grade.
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A Closer Look: Closing the Performance Gap
The performance gap — what students are expected to do versus what they can do — is compounded each year a child falls short of acquiring expected skills. As a result, underachieving high school students are at great risk for academic failure, discouragement, and disengagement. This article offers a framework to support adolescent literacy that ties improved student outcomes to an instructional core and an infrastructure core.
African-American Students and U.S. High Schools
This fact sheet, prepared by the Alliance for Excellent Education, looks at statistics related to the graduation rates and college readiness of African-American students, as well as the quality of the teachers and schools that serve them.
America's Perfect Storm: Three Forces Changing Our Nation's Future
Kirsch, I., Braun, H., Yamamoto, K., and Sum, A. Copyright ©2007 by Educational Testing Service.
According to America's Perfect Storm, current labor market trends, demographics, and student achievement data are combining to create a "perfect storm" that could inflict lasting damage upon the nation's economy and upon its social fabric, as well. Simply put, if the middle and high schools continue to churn out large numbers of students who lack the ability to read critically, write persuasively, and communicate effectively, then the labor market will soon be flooded with young people who have nothing to offer, and who cannot handle the jobs that are available. "[T]here will be tens of millions more adults," the ETS report concludes, "who lack the education and skills they will need to thrive in the new economy," raising the specter of joblessness and despair on a scale not seen since the Great Depression. If that future is to be avoided, the authors argue, the nation's secondary schools will have to begin immediately to help many more students to reach much higher levels of literacy than ever before.
Beating the Odds: How Thirteen NYC Schools Bring Low-Performing Ninth Graders to Timely Graduation and College Enrollment
Ascher, Carol and Maguire, Cindy. (2007). Beating the Odds: How Thirteen NYC Schools Bring Low-Performing Ninth Graders to Timely Graduation and College Enrollment. Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University.
This report describes a qualitative study, conducted in 2006 by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, of a small group of New York City high schools that were "beating the odds" by producing higher than predicted graduation and college-going rates for ninth-graders who entered with far below-average eighth-grade reading and math scores.
Institute staff identified four key strategies that helped these students beat the odds: academic rigor, networks of timely supports, college expectations and access, and effective use of data. The report concludes with recommendations for maintaining and scaling up the success of these schools through better distribution of resources, greater school control over enrollment, a stronger system of support and accountability, and a district office of postsecondary education.
Boys and Books
The statistics are consistent: Young male readers lag behind their female counterparts in literacy skills. This article looks at the social, psychological, and developmental reasons why, and suggests solutions — including the need for more men to become role models for reading.
Building Trust with Schools and Diverse Families
While increased family involvement is linked to improves student performance, it is not always fully understood and examined within schools. Different types of involvement may include parenting, communicating with schools, volunteering at schools, supporting learning at home, participating in school governance and decision-making, and taking part in school-community collaborations. In order to encourage and foster this comprehensive involvement with all families, school administrators and teachers must develop mutual trust, consider the different cultural attitudes some families may have towards schooling, and be diligent in reaching out.
Cities in Crisis
Swanson, Christopher B. Copyright © 2008 by Editorial Projects in Education Inc. All rights reserved.
According to Cities in Crisis, the graduation rate for U.S. urban school districts is 60% and the rate for students in the 50 largest cities in the U.S. is only 52%. The gap between suburban and urban districts is nearly 15%. While the 50 largest schools districts educate roughly 13% of public high students in the country, these districts account for 23% of students failing to graduate with a diploma each year.
Creating a Culture of Literacy: A Guide for Middle and High School Principals
National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP)
This report from the National Association of Secondary School Principals identifies five elements necessary to implement an effective building-level adolescent literacy improvement program—commited leadership; balanced formal and informal assessments; ongoing, research-based professional development; highly effective teachers; and strategic interventions—and offers literacy leaders guidance to develop these elements in their schools.
Demography as Destiny: How America Can Build a Better Future
Barely 50% of minority students graduate from high school on time. If this trend continues and the minority student populations increase as projected, the economic strength of the U.S. will be undermined. But if 78% of all student populations graduate on time by 2020, the U.S. can realize stunning potential benefits: conservatively, more than $310 billion would be added to the national economy.
Fostering Academic Development and Learning: Implications and Recommendations for Middle School Counselors
This article explores middle school counselors' vital role in collaborating with other educators to promote the academic development of early adolescents. Research pertinent to contemporary middle school counseling is summarized, especially as it may relate to program activities and interventions. Implications and recommendations for best practice are included.
