About 92 percent of Owen students live below the federal poverty level, almost 25 percent more than in the Detroit school district as a whole. Yet if test scores are any measure, these children are ahead of students in affluent suburbs such as Grosse Pointe and Bloomfield Hills. And Owen isn't the only such school. Twenty-two of Detroit's 172 elementary schools have at least half their students scoring at grade level or higher in all three subjects on the Metropolitan Achievement Test, which is taken by students at urban schools and compares student achievement nationally. And at least 10 Detroit elementary schools are on par with wealthier suburban school districts on the far tougher state MEAP tests, according to Free Press research.
Strong principals attract, and keep, the best faculty.
Achievement can be measured, usually through testing. Parents are active partners who believe they can make changes in the school. Carter and other researchers say these successful schools can be the models for urban and suburban schools everywhere. Patsy Burks, principal of Owen Elementary, almost didn't talk to Carter when he was researching his book. That attitude, that every child can succeed, may be the key to Burks' success.