FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Date: August 1, 2000
Number: nr 00-15
Contact: Nan Powers Varoga, 713-658-1881, ext. 14
nvaroga@houstonaplus.org
Houston A+ IS CATALYST FOR CHANGE IN SCHOOLS
The Houston A+ Challenge hosted its first Public Reporting Luncheon today to show to the community at large how Annenberg has brought change to the schools it funds and how that change came about.
More than a dozen schools that receive funding from the non-profit brought students and teachers to show how Annenberg has helped them make learning more personal for students, show teachers proven ways to successfully reach their pupils and establish closer ties with the communities they serve.
“Houston A+ has worked as a catalyst for the last two years to move schools toward a day in which classrooms epitomize student-centered learning,” said Jonathan Day, chairman of the board of trustees. “That is, learning where students take charge of their education – where the students ask the questions, the students direct the teaching, the students discover the answers.”
Day also announced preliminary findings by the team of outside evaluators reviewing the work of the Houston A+ Challenge. The team, led by Dr. Pedro Reyes of the University of Texas, is composed of researchers from UT, University of Houston and Rice University.
Their evaluation shows that the 10 Beacon elementary and middle schools outperform demographically similar campuses in the city and even the state on the Texas Learning Index. Beacon schools are campuses that are laboratories for school change.
During the last three years, these Beacon schools achieved mastery or close to mastery of subject matter in reading and mathematics. The Texas Learning Index, or TLI, is a score that describes how far a student's performance is above or below the passing standard of 70. Mastery is achieved with a score of 85.
The Beacon high schools also have shown significant progress. Houston A+ has two initiatives underway with Texas Business and Education Council and the Carnegie Corporation to further that progress.
Houston A+ is a $60 million, non-profit, public-private partnership that funds school change in 88 schools in six school districts. Houston A+ also develops and implements programs in leadership, teacher professional development and in Colleges of Education.