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Home Visits Yield Hope and Cooperation
May 31, 2012 by John Rosales
Teachers, support staff, and parents team up as co-educators to build trust and benefit students in Oregon’s Salem-Keizer school district through following a model for home meetings called the Parent Teacher Home Visit Project.
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A Second Chance to Soar
February 2, 2012 by Staci Maiers
At Roberts, an alternative high school in Salem, Oregon, the focus is not only on boosting test scores but also on raising up the whole student—and the result is that academic success follows. Gains in math went up by double-digits and reading scores climbed 15 percent.
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Roosevelt Stands Out in Portland Grad Rate Rise
February 1, 2012 by Amy Buffenbarger
Roosevelt High School, one of the NEA Priority Schools Campaign intensive support sites, has increased its four-year graduation rate from 38 to 51 percent. Graduation rates for the Portland Public School district as a whole rose 5%.
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ESPs Making Parents a Priority
September 23, 2011 by John Rosales
It’s late. The school day is over. Outside the rain-soaked grounds of West Seattle Elementary School in Washington, parents begin arriving for a meeting with Elizabeth Enriquez, a bilingual instructional assistant. Many of these parents are Latino immigrants. They are…
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Brewing Up Student Success
September 6, 2011 by Staci Maiers
What does a white chocolate mocha frappuccino or a double-tall decaf skinny latte have to do with student achievement? In Salem, Oregon a cup of coffee delivers more than a jolt of caffeine. It also provides an opportunity to connect…
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Summer School for Educators
August 18, 2011 by Staci Maiers
Instead of trips to the beach or a day at the ballpark, hundreds of teachers went to “summer school” to dive into professional development and to learn from their peers about what’s working—and what’s not—to improve education for needy students at priority schools.
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Standing Up to Attacks on Teachers
August 5, 2011 by PSC Editor
A video of actor Matt Damon defending public school educators went viral this week. MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell expanded on Damon’s comments. “Teachers who have committed their lives their lives to the classroom deserve better than our politics has given them,”…
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Baby, Degree and Me Makes Three
July 25, 2011 by Staci Maiers
Fifteen-year-old Karina Guzmán was taking honors classes in English and history as part of the Talented and Gifted (TAG) program at her high school, and there was no doubt in her mind that she was headed for college. Then she…
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Sharing the Wealth
June 30, 2011 by Staci Maiers
School reform. It’s the hot topic du jour. It seemingly produces a daily silver bullet answer that changes with each person asked. But what really works to transform public schools that have persistently struggled? Research gathered by the National Education…
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Connecting with Students One Stitch at a Time
June 8, 2011 by Staci Maiers
Innovation doesn’t necessarily mean smart boards, computers, or the latest tech gadgets. It can be as basic as needle and yarn, along with a desire to weave success into students’ academic lives. Many of the students attending Roberts High School…