At the surface level, these exemplary schools are diverse. They are scattered across the country, from Roxbury, Massachusetts, to Manhattan, Kansas, to El Paso, Texas. In one school fewer than 3 percent of the students receive free or reduced-price lunch, while in some others the percentage is over 80. Teacher learning has paid off in measurable success for students. Ganado Intermediate School is on a Navajo reservation in Ganado, Arizona.
Most students are English language learners and receive free or reduced-price lunch.
A professional development focus on literacy and Navajo language and culture has raised student test scores and, at the same time, narrowed the male-female achievement gap. Another success has been an increase in the number of Navajo teachers. H.D. Hilley Elementary School sits just across the Texas border from Mexico, and the vast majority of its students are poor and Latino. Demographics might predict low student achievement, but at Hilley, impressive gains in state assessment scores led to the school's recognition as a 1997 Texas Successful School. International High School at LaGuardia Community College serves a student population made up of immigrants and English language learners.