Better Solutions to Our Math Problem
When it comes to helping students gain ground, a few basic rules apply, according to the education nonprofit TNTP (formerly known as the New Teachers Project). Last year the group published an analysis of 28,000 schools, identifying 5 percent of them as “trajectory-changing schools,” ones where students who tested poorly at the outset were advancing by significantly more than a grade level within a year. The report found common practices: a strong focus on student growth, an emphasis on belonging, and a consistent, coherent approach to curriculum. It sounds simple, but it’s not the norm, says Michael Franco, the vice president for national consulting at TNTP. “So many students who are behind just experience a random set of instructional events,” he told me.
Good planning takes time, itself a scarce resource. I talked to Melanie Pondant, who’d been the principal of Judson STEAM Academy, in Longview, an East Texas middle school TNTP had identified as a trajectory changer. (She has since been promoted.) The practices she described were in line with those in the TNTP report.
Read the full article at Texas Monthly.
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Imali Ariyarathne, seventh-grade teacher at Langston Hughes Academy, introduces her students to the captivating world of science.
About TNTP
TNTP is the nation’s leading research, policy, and consulting organization dedicated to transforming America’s public education system, so that every generation thrives.
Today, we work side-by-side with educators, system leaders, and communities across 39 states and over 6,000 districts nationwide to reach ambitious goals for student success.
Yet the possibilities we imagine push far beyond the walls of school and the education field alone. We are catalyzing a movement across sectors to create multiple pathways for young people to achieve academic, economic, and social mobility.