Achievement Plus

Achievement Plus - An effort to close the achievement gap in St. Paul Public Schools

Speakers: Lynnell Thiel, director of student and family support for Achievement Plus
Dan Mueller, Associate Director of Wilder Research

The Achievement Plus schools in St. Paul were supported by Wilder Foundation, St. Paul Public Schools, city of St. Paul, Ramsey County, and at the beginning, the state of Minnesota was a major funder. Schools involved were Dayton’s Bluff, John A. Johnson and Cleveland Junior High. (Cleveland was added in the last few years.)

Monroe (K-8) was part of Achievement Plus for most of its history but is no longer an Achievement Plus school. (For whatever reason, the Achievement Plus model did not get implemented strongly at Monroe. Academically, although the school performed better at the beginning and had fewer low-income students and students of color, its academic performance didn’t really change.) Among the outcomes:

• From 1997-2001, Achievement Plus only provided the social supports; it did not address classroom issues. The program showed no clear, consistent patterns of school success. It pointed to the need for a stronger curriculum and instructional program. “We have learned that it is very difficult for support services alone to have substantial school-wide effect on student achievement.”
• The following 3-4 years, a standards-based instructional program was implemented by then-Superintendent Harvey, .. America’s Choice … adapted by SPPS, now called Project for Academic Excellence.
• Daytons’ Bluff has most improved test results, outperforming statewide peer group on math and reading. Dayton’s Bluff showed improved attendance rates. (In the 2001-02 school year, at the time that Achievement Plus added the academic piece, the school was reconstituted). The school had a big change in administration and staff, with a focus on academic outcomes.
• Johnson and Cleveland students lagged behind peers in reading and were above average in math. Johnson in particular had low reading scores.
• Teacher ratings suggest improvements in order and discipline and a growing belief that Achievement Plus makes a difference.

UCLA did informal research with urban teachers and they said only 10 percent of student came to class ready to learn. What does it take for a child to arrive in school ready to learn? Breakfast, sleep, stable homes, love, health care, safety, parents that read to them, pencils and supplies, high expectations, good teachers. …. Said Thiel: “That is the Achievement Plus model.”

Started: 1997, an effort to reform urban education using a community school model: The schools are the center of the community. Backers are Wilder Foundation, St. Paul Public Schools, city of St. Paul, Ramsey County, at the beginning, the state of Minnesota was a major funder.

Mission: Achievement Plus community schools are the foundation of a comprehensive urban education reform model that integrates the school community, families, and the resources of public and private organizations to ensure academic achievement for all students.

Schools involved:
•    Dayton’s Bluff, John A. Johnson and Cleveland Junior High. (Cleveland was added in the last few years.)
•    Monroe (K-8) was part of Achievement Plus for most of its history but is no longer an Achievement Plus school. (For whatever reason, the Achievement Plus model did not get implemented strongly at Monroe. Academically, although the school performed better at the beginning and had fewer low-income students and students of color, its academic performance didn’t really change.)
•    North End Elementary is going to become an Achievement Plus Community School, a college-prep school with gender-based classes. The district will use the school for research on closing the achievement gap.

Student demographics: Achievement Plus schools tend to have more poor children and children of color. Half of families served live on less than $20,000/year. Dayton’s Bluff and Johnson are at or below district averages for special education and limited English proficiency; Cleveland is above district averages. Students are mobile: approximately 80 percent who start in the fall will stay in school throughout the year. Perhaps up to 50 percent of the students who start in kindergarten will continue through 6th grade.

Key parts of the Model:

• Academics: A standards-based program with a focus on writer’s workshop, reading workshop and math workshop, each one hour a day (Direct instruction and kids working in groups.) Schools are demonstration site for the district, and focus on professional development.

• Extended Learning: After school programs can’t serve all students, they are targeted to children who are academically behind. They get one hour of academic support (aligned with school curriculum) and one hour enrichment.

• Learning supports: On site services to prepare students to learn, such as tutoring. Elementary schools have dental clinics and mental health services, one school has a community clinic to serve undocumented and uninsured families. Each school has a family room to help with basic needs: emergency food, clothing, parent education, adult education and housing support. East Side Family Center runs family rooms; last year. The schools are open after regular school hours. (One Achievement Plus schools had 387 Saturday and evening events during an eight-month stretch.) The program included home visits.

• Partnerships: Each on-site service is provided by a community organization invited to work in the school. Theil creates the partnerships and coordinates them. Organizations get free rent, free phones and sometimes copy machines when it not broken. In exchange, they provide services for students and families. It gives them great access. East Side Family Center, before moving into Johnson, was in a little office with security access, they saw three families a month; now they see 1,200 families a month. Now they are in four St. Paul Public Schools.

• Costs: Program did a per-pupil cost a long time ago and it was high. In the beginning, it was “way more expensive.” At this point, Achievement Plus is three staff people. The idea was to build partnerships, so that the community partners would take on the programs  It has not done a recent per pupil cost. The school district does not charge community organizations rent; the program leverages an estimated $1.5 million in services.

Outcomes:
•    Evaluation has changed over the years. Achievement Plus had an elaborate evaluation in the first 4-5 years and over the years the evaluation has gotten smaller. …. In some ways that was intended.
•    From 1997-2001, Achievement Plus only provided the social supports; it did not address classroom issues. The program showed no clear, consistent patterns of school success. It pointed to the need for a stronger curriculum and instructional program. “We have learned that it is very difficult for support services alone to have substantial school-wide effect on student achievement.”
•    The following 3-4 years, a standards-based instructional program was implemented by then-Superintendent Harvey, .. America’s Choice … adapted by SPPS, now called Project for Academic Excellence.
•    Daytons’ Bluff has most improved test results, outperforming statewide peer group on math and reading. Dayton’s Bluff showed improved attendance rates.
•    Dayton’s Bluff also was reconstituted in the 2001-02 school year, at the time that Achievement Plus added the academic piece. The school had big change in administration and staff, with a focus on academic outcomes.
•    Johnson and Cleveland students lagged behind peers in reading and were above average in math. Johnson in particular had low reading scores.
•    Teacher ratings suggests improvements in order and discipline and growing belief that Achievement Plus makes a difference.
•    Additional data available on Power Point printout presented at the meeting.

Questions:

Q: What have we learned about the differences between how to approach and support African American families/students as opposed to new immigrant families/students? Are we learning that there are different methods?
A: Not sure we are, yet. ThieI said she was more involved in the human services side.

Q: Have you compared these schools to those schools where they also implemented the new curriculum and/or reconstituted staff to tell what of this is the academic change compared to services?
A: It is a difficult comparison. … There are other schools that are similar to these … In terms of service richness, we don’t have that data on service richness at other schools. It is a good idea to try to tease that out.

Q: Why not expand the program to more schools (if it only takes three staff to keep it going once it is up and running?)
A: We are in sustainability now. We are not doing programming, we are working with community partners who are doing programming. Why SPPS didn’t expand? They replicated pieces of it. Extended learning is in many schools, and some pieces of learning supports. They did not make the commitment to replicate the whole model. I don’t know why.

Q: Surprised that collocation of services, a big part of your program, didn’t have any academic effect?
A: Yes.
(Comment from audience: The lack of changes in test scores did not mean the social supports did not make a difference in children’s lives, we just haven’t figured out how to quantify the value. We don’t have measure that fit into neat NCLB categories to determine that. How do these values play into kids being ready for school.)

Q: What kind of pre-K experiences do students get? How do you measure where kids are when they enter the program?
A:  Both Achievement Plus elementary schools have 4-year-old programs on site. They are an important part of the whole school. Goal is to get them (early in preschool) and keep them…. Kindergarten teachers see a huge difference for those kids with preschool experience.  … (Student performance was not measured at kindergarten … )

Q: How come Johnson school students did so poorly in reading, given it is a standardized curriculum?
A: We have taken MCA data apart and I don’t think we have found an answer. Personal opinion: Perhaps we did not keep the same rigorous academic program as we did at Dayton’s Bluff … that is my own idea.