To assess this approach, Thomas Peeler of California State University, Los Angeles, conducted standardized and independent tests at the outset and again this year. Peeler compared these scores to nine separate grade level measures of other Dade County students and found that South Pointe students exceeded the countywide average on seven of the nine measures by a range of 6 to 17 percentile points. This occurred even though most students enrolled there live in poverty. In addition, South Pointe parents and staff expressed a high level of satisfaction with the district's performance. Last year, eight elementary schools and one middle school, Harlem Park, in Baltimore adopted the Tesseract Way program.
Early results are encouraging.
Moreover, the American Federation of Teachers' claim to the contrary, attendance increased in each of the nine project schools. At Harlem Park, attendance, which historically had been a problem, grew by 10 percent, earning the middle school a statewide award. Even so, it is still too early to judge the program's effectiveness in Baltimore. That Work are in the final stages of negotiation with the Hartford, Connecticut, public school district to manage its 32 schools. The arrangement promises to demonstrate the full potential of the public-private partnership approach.