Karin Chenoweth, Author of It's Being Done: Academic Success in Unexpected Schools, says that schools of success "are akin to the Wright Brothers who were told that drag and gravity were insuperable obstacles to manned flight. Orville and Wilbur demonstrated that with sufficient lift and thrust it was possible to overcome drag and gravity. These schools demonstrate that with sufficiently thoughtful instruction, careful organization, and the same kind of pig-headed optimism displayed by the Wright Brothers, the forces of poverty and discrimination can be overcome." (Quoted in the Marshall Memo # 198)

 

At the heart of The Efficacy Institute is the mission of getting all our children to proficiency. Efficacy President and Founder, Dr. Jeff Howard, elaborates on Ms. Chenoweth's example: "Remember that a huge majority of our kids are fully capable of academic proficiency. What keeps them from getting there are the drag and gravity of incorrect adult attitudes, and ineffective adult practices--in homes, schools, and community institutions," he says. "The examples we all know of great teaching and effective parenting represent the lift and thrust we need to achieve adult proficiency--if we can get the word out. This is really what the Efficacy approach is all about."

 

This issue of From Now On is dedicated to stories of lift and thrust in the movement for adult proficiency. These stories not only inspire, they also instruct. Sharing them spreads the belief that high-level achievement is possible, and teaches by example how to make positive change happen.

 

But success in our schools isn't just a holiday feel-good story; we need to confront ourselves year-round with stories of what is possible--what real people in schools across the country are actually doing, right now, with children from every background and socio-economic category. From Now On will continue to seek out, and highlight, stories of achievement, but we hope you'll help us by sharing your stories. Write to us at fno@efficacy.org, or visit our Discussion Forum online.

 

 

To read a sample of success stories featured in Ms. Chenoweth's It's Being Done, visit: www.achievementalliance.org/news.

 

Of the seven urban school districts in Florida, Palm Beach County is the only one to have earned an 'A' from the Department of Education for three consecutive years. "We've been growing progressively every year," says Manager of Single School Culture for Academics, Cheryl Baker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2006 Bunche was the first Compton school to earn a California Distinguished School Award, and in 2007 they scored well above state targets - on par with schools from affluent communities such as Beverly Hills. But it wasn't always that way at Bunche. In 1999, they ranked in the lowest 10% of California schools. With almost an entire student body of black and Latino students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches, Bunche was just another example of the achievement gap.

 

What caused the turnaround at Bunche?

 

Ms. Belcher credits then Principal Mikara Solomon-Davis for making targets and expectations clear to her hard-working staff. "We were always focused on the big picture," she says. "Our kids are all going to score proficient or advanced on the state tests, and they are all college-bound." And it was just as important, she adds, that educators communicated these expectations to students and their parents. In a March 2007 article from The Achiever, Solomon-Davis speaks to the need for high expectations from students, parents, and staff. "You really have to create a culture of 'no excuses,' which in essence results in a culture of excellence," she says. This meant that students and parents understood that Bunche's strict academic and behavioral policies served not to punish, but to help students get to proficiency - and college. "It wasn't about rules," Ms. Belcher says, "it was about expectation. We held students to a standard, and they understood why."

 

In order to get their kids to proficiency, Ms. Belcher says teachers had to believe that they were the ones responsible for student achievement. "We all felt accountable for our kids' results," she says. "There was never a question about who was responsible."  Teachers recognized that their students came from backgrounds that challenged their mission, but they were undeterred - those problems were outside of their controls so they "never became part of the dialogue."

 

 

Ms. Belcher will graduate from The Harvard Graduate School of Education this June, and expects to become a principal of her own urban school. She knows that a Bunche-like turnaround can be replicated elsewhere if the school leader builds a school culture where teachers believe their students can meet high standards, and then accept responsibility for doing whatever it takes to get them there. She says this means that teaching "isn't just an 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. job, and it isn't volunteerism when a teacher stays late." This tough love attitude might rock the boat, but Bunche's success proves that it gets the job done. And as we've said before, we'll say it again: Getting our kids to proficiency, whatever it takes, is just that important.