Organizations with information about high-performing, high-poverty schools - Center for Public Education

The following organizations offer information on high-performing, high-poverty schools. (Note that if you select an organization's web site link, you will leave the Center for Public Education web site.)

Council of Chief State School Officers
High Poverty Schools Initiative
One Massachusetts Avenue, NW Suite 700
Washington, DC 20001-1431
202-336-7000
http://www.ccsso.org/projects/School_Improvement_Initiative/

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) provides leadership, advocacy, and service to heads (also known as “chiefs”) of state education agencies. Through four divisions, CCSSO supports chiefs in their efforts to create, enhance, and maintain educational systems that effectively serve and prepare all students for success. The Division of State Services and Technical Assistance is responsible for the School Improvement Initiative (previously titled the High Poverty Schools Initiative), which focuses efforts on improving outcomes for students in high poverty schools by working with state education agency officials and their partners, including local education agencies.

The Council of the Great City Schools
1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Suite 702
Washington, DC 20004
202-393-2427
www.cgcs.org

The Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) is a coalition of 65 of the nation's largest urban public school systems. The Council serves as a national voice for urban educators, providing ways to share promising practices and address common concerns. Local school board members can access the site and find information on both a task force and promising practices on the “Achievement Gap.” The site links users to several relevant publications. Examples of such publications include the March 2004, Beating the Odds IV, a city-by-city analysis of student performance and achievement gaps, as well as Reform & Results: An Analysis of Title I in the Great City Schools.

Education Trust
1250 H Street, NW
Suite 700
Washington, DC 20005
202-293-1217
www.edtrust.org

The Education Trust works for the high academic achievement of all students at all levels, kindergarten through college. It strives to forever close the achievement gaps that separate low-income students and students of color from other youth. The basic tenet is that all children will learn at high levels when they are taught to high levels. At the Education Trust web site, users can explore “Dispelling the Myth Online” which enables them to search by state, by demographic and achievement criteria, either for a specific school, or for a list of schools, that are high performing/improving. Additionally, the Education Trust site hosts a section devoted to ESEA and No Child Left Behind. Through this portion of the site, users can download relevant publications such as The ABCs of AYP: Raising Achievement for All Students. This publication is a useful summary of the accountability requirements of Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act.

The Center for Comprehensive School Reform & Improvement
1825 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20009
1-877-277-2744
www.centerforcsri.org

Through funding by the U.S. Department of Education, the Center for Comprehensive School Reform & Improvement began its work to assist schools and districts engaged in comprehensive school reform in October 2004. Learning Point Associates administers the Center in partnership with the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, the Education Development Center, and WestEd. By reaching a variety of audiences (educational researchers, policy makers, staffs of local and state education agencies, principals, and teachers), the Center is able to help schools effectively organize, plan, implement, and sustain improvement based upon sound data and research.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
PO Box 23350
Seattle, WA 98102
206-709-3100
www.gatesfoundation.org

Established in January 2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation supports innovative efforts to improve equity in global health and learning. Through its Education Division, the Gates Foundation is currently involved in an initiative specifically devoted to “significantly increasing the high school graduation rate for all students and increasing the percentage of students who graduate prepared for college.” Through “partnerships” and grant-making opportunities, the Foundation seeks to turn around statistics that indicate that only 70 percent of students graduate from high school; only 50 percent of African American and Hispanics are high school graduates; and only one-third of high school graduates are prepared for college or the workforce. The Foundation is supporting the creation of high-quality high schools, the development of high-performing school districts, and the advancement of sensible state-level education policies. Their education efforts include a special focus on developing high-performing school districts in areas of significant poverty.

Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence
PO Box 1658
Lexington, KY
800-928-2111
www.prichardcommittee.org

The Prichard Committee is a nonpartisan citizen’s advocacy group in Kentucky that works to improve education throughout the Commonwealth. The Committee produced a widely disseminated report, Inside the Black Box of High-Performing High Poverty Schools, on high performing high poverty schools in February 2005. Website users can find additional information on resources ranging from assessment and accountability to school finance. The site offers extensive access to resources on Kentucky state reform. A review of these reform resources could serve as important guidance to local school board members who want to better understand the issues and take advantage of lessons learned from the Commonwealth of Kentucky.