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How high schools break up the ‘ninth-grade bottleneck' to help students graduate on time

Neal Morton

September 02, 2017 |

The Seattle Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Seattle, Washington

Acting on research that suggests students' freshman year grades are a reliable predictor of whether or not they will graduate from high school, administrators and teachers in Seattle are implementing new efforts to avoid "the ninth-grad bottleneck." With the addition of new counselors and tutors and close monitoring of students throughout their freshman year, schools have seen improvements in retention rates, grades, and test scores. One principal said, “Our aim was to create a culture where failure was literally not an option.”

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While Pa. debates merits of Pre-K, Ontario goes all-in

Kevin McCorry

August 30, 2017 |

Keystone Crossroads |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Canada, Toronto, Ontario

Part 4 of the "Equity or Bust: Are Ontario's Public Schools a Model for Pennsylvania" Series: Ontario is widely lauded for its education system. But, like Pennsylvania, evidence in Toronto suggests that Ontario has struggled to close achievement gaps between historically underserved minorities and their peers. Many believe universal pre-K will prove to be the decisive factor in bridging that gap.

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Ontario celebrates diversity, but still works to close achievement gaps

Kevin McCorry

August 29, 2017 |

Keystone Crossroads |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Toronto, Ontario

Part 2 of the "Equity or Bust: Are Ontario's Public Schools a Model for Pennsylvania" Series: Ontario has become widely lauded for its education system, celebrated for both high performance and relatively smaller achievement gaps between wealthy and poor students, particularly compared to the system in Pennsylvania. Keys to Ontario's success include celebrating diversity and catering education modules to the varied backgrounds of their students, as well as increased parent-teacher involvement.

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Forging Their Own Path: Parental Activism Helps Launch Citizens of the World Charter School

Tammy Worth

July 31, 2017 |

KCPT |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Kansas

A group of Kansas City parents were frustrated with the local public and charter school offerings and sent out an RFP seeking potential partners and funders for a new type of school. The group ultimately decided to work with Citizens of the World to design a school more reflective of the cultural and economic diversity of the population. “Education needs to be parent-driven, and if they feel their needs aren’t being met by traditional schools, they ought to be in a position to affect change in that system or seek alternatives,” Al Dimmitt, superintendent of a local charter school network, noted.

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A Rust Belt City's School Turnaround

Amadou Diallo

July 18, 2017 |

The Atlantic |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Buffalo, New York

In a Buffalo school district where many students from low-income families struggled with trauma, attendance, and the effects of poverty, a nonprofit initiative called Say Yes to Education is implementing drastic change. The program increases graduation rates for minority students, grants scholarships and admissions guidance to colleges, provides medical and mental health care to under-served students, brings in mentors and after-school programs, and even assists students parents with job-readiness workshops and housing assistance.

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Reimagining failure: ‘Last-chance' schools are the future of American high schools

Natalie Gross

July 05, 2017 |

The Hechinger Report |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

In the last decade, collaborations between non-profit student-support organizations and public schools have fostered a model called "Last-Chance Schools" with remarkable success. The program targets root causes for dropping out, including economic disadvantages, mental health challenges, violence, and unstable home lives. As several Boston charter schools demonstrate, use of social-emotional learning, conflict mediation instead of zero-tolerance discipline, and flexible curricula has helped boost graduation and college acceptance rates while lowering suspensions.

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Building From Within: KCPS Parents Score Unique Victory In Reopening Hale Cook Elementary

Tammy Worth

June 20, 2017 |

KCPT |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Kansas

In 2013, a group of Kansas City parents successfully reopened a formerly shuttered elementary school, sparking new optimism following the mass closing of schools from 2009 to 2010. However, the project has garnered significant criticism for catering largely to a white and wealthy population. One longtime local education advocate remarked, “I support parents wanting the best education for their kid,” she said. “But I don’t support creating little enclaves that function as well-vested private schools and calling them public.”

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Why Boston Is Paying Ex-Gang Members To Go To College

Andrew Zaleski

June 02, 2017 |

Bloomberg CityLab |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

Dorchester, the Boston neighborhood with the highest poverty levels, struggles to keep kids in school from engaging with gangs and crime. But College Bound Dorchester (CBD) is fast rewriting the solution to high drop out and recidivism rates, paying ex-offenders a weekly stipend to enroll in and complete a diploma program and proceed to (and through) college. With "core influencers" -- ex-gang members who have "left behind their troubled pasts" -- as role models in the community, CBD emulates similar programs in Chicago and Baltimore, and studies show the initiative is working.

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Research Says ‘Voucher' Programs Can Help Students

Tammy Worth

May 23, 2017 |

Flatland |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Kansas City, Kansas

The Catholic Education Foundation in Kansas City has provided nearly $600,000 in scholarships to approximately 300 low-income students to give them the choice to choose where they want to go to school. Because it is funded by businesses through tax-deductible contributions, it is a contentious issue by involving public money. The program has found over time that although the difference in test scores between private and public schools is modest, the real benefit of the program is helping families make informed choices about their education without access being an issue.

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Black Teachers Matter. School Integration Doesn't

Rafiq R. Kalam Id-Din II

May 04, 2017 |

Education Week |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Only seven percent of public school teachers are black. Rafiq R. Kalam Id-Din II dismisses school integration as the central solution to equal opportunity in education. He shows instead that dropout rates for black male students fell by 39 percent when students had at least one black teacher in grades 3-5.

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