NINE VALLEY SCHOOLS HONORED FOR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS BY BEAT THE ODDS INSTITUTE

PHOENIX, AZ (October 30, 2008) — Nine metro Phoenix-area schools have reached the first milestone on the road to becoming a “Beat the Odds School” — one in which student academic achievement exceeds expectations.

The schools have completed the first year of a rigorous, multi-year school improvement program offered by the Center for the Future of Arizona’s Beat the Odds Institute. Its Beat the Odds School Partners Program helps principals implement ways of thinking and working together that research has found to characterize schools with better than expected student achievement. The program was launched in Maricopa County in fall 2007.

Schools attaining the designation of Bronze-level Beat the Odds School Partner, the highest possible level of achievement in the first year of the program, include:

Deer Valley Unified School District (Phoenix):
Paseo Hills School

Gilbert Unified School District:
Harris Elementary School

Isaac School District (Phoenix):
Mitchell School

Mesa Public Schools:
George Smith Junior High School

Phoenix Elementary School District:
Emerson Elementary School
Kenilworth Elementary School

Tempe Elementary School District:
Gilliland Middle School

Washington Elementary School District (Phoenix):
Desert View Elementary School
Washington Elementary School

To achieve bronze status, each school had to effectively implement the Beat the Odds framework school-wide. Each school also had to receive at least a “performing” AZ Learns label from the Arizona Department of Education for the 2007-2008 school year.

During the current academic year, schools will strive to earn a Silver-level Beat the Odds School Partners designation, which also requires statistically significant growth in internal test scores for at least two years.

According to Beat the Odds Institute Director Dr. Marjorie Kaplan, the highest level of achievement is Gold-level Beat the Odds School Partner, which confers the title of a “Beat the Odds School.” Schools will be eligible for the gold designation in 2009 and beyond.

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About the Beat the Odds Institute
The Beat the Odds Institute was created in 2007 under the umbrella of the Center for the Future of Arizona to implement the findings of the research study “Why Some Schools with Latino Children Beat the Odds … and Others Don’t.” The Beat the Odds School Partners Program provides training, assistance and support to Arizona principals in applying the six key principles for success identified by the research study. Dr. Marjorie Kaplan is director of the Beat the Odds Institute. For more information, visit www.beattheoddsinstitute.org.

About the Center for the Future of Arizona
The Center for the Future of Arizona is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to creating opportunities and quality of life for all Arizonans. A self-described “do tank,” the center helps to shape Arizona’s future through public policy, collaborative partnerships and research focusing on critical issues facing the state. The Phoenix-based nonprofit was founded in 2002 by Arizona State University President Emeritus Dr. Lattie Coor and public policy expert Dr. Sybil Francis, who are the center’s chairman/CEO and executive director, respectively.