Schoolwide average reading test scores have risen from about the 20th percentile to the 40th among state schools. Additionally, when the school began its reform effort five years ago, dwindling enrollment had it slated to be closed. Now, the student body has nearly doubled, and the waiting list of eager applicants is testament to the school's impressive turn-around. The Institute for Education and Social Policy, lead evaluator of the New York Networks project, has reviewed Board of Education graduation data for the class of 1997. These figures represent a remarkable achievement given that comparable citywide graduation and drop out rates are 48 and 16 percent, respectively.
Studies show that parental involvement is a key to improving student achievement.
The program, in which teachers help train parents to work as classroom tutors, not only has reduced the adult-pupil ratio in classrooms and the isolation between schools and their communities. It also has changed the lives of many of its parent graduates. Bolstered by a new self-confidence inspired by the program, several of the parents who had not previously graduated from high school have subsequently earned their GEDs. Another has become a member of a local school council. Borrowing terminology from the Challenge, these Cohort III and IV schools will embark upon reform in the 1998 and 1999 school years.