Posted by swhited on Friday, April 6th, 2012 at 3:54 pm
Young Scholars Frederick Douglass: A Philadelphia Renaissance School
STC Philly School, Young Scholars, is the open-enrollment free flagship school of Scholar Academies, “a non-profit, school management organization that exists to close the achievement gap. Scholar Academies’ goal “is to operate 12 schools in two to three cities serving 6,000 students when enrollment is at capacity.
One school towards this goal is Frederick Douglass, a Scholar Academies’ turnaround District school. In total, 13 Philadelphia schools were selected for turnaround as part of the Renaissance Schools Initiative which aims to bring “transformative changes to the District’s lowest performing schools in order to bring about dramatic improvement in student achievement.”
A third party group, Research for Action, has released an 18 month interim report on the success of the initiative and the results of its schools. Positive gains were made across K-8 Renaissance Schools, and the overall findings (found in the Executive Summary) conclude:
1. Student achievement in K-8 Renaissance Schools improved to a significantly greater degree than did achievement in similar schools not included in the Initiative
2. Student attendance at Renaissance Schools increased significantly more than did attendance at Comparison Schools
For details on the study, read the full report from Research for Action.
To learn how Scholar Academies Frederick Douglass is closing the achievement gap, visit their website and help them and their students achieve their goals with a donation.
Tags: education, Philadelphia, turnaround school, Young Scholars