For Immediate Release

Contact:
Tyler Reed
Scholastic Inc.
212-343-6427 
704-408-6969 (cell)
treed@scholastic.com

State Board of Education Pairs Scholastic Achievement Partners with Broad Ripple Magnet High School Leadership to Carry Out Comprehensive Turnaround 

NEW YORK, N.Y. (October 31, 2012) – One year after the Indiana State Board of Education (SBOE) paired Broad Ripple Magnet High School with Scholastic to help turn around a school in need of improvement, its state-assigned letter grade has improved from an “F” to a “B.”

Identified by the Indiana Department of Education in 2011 as a school in need of additional support, Broad Ripple has seen a rapid turnaround after just one year of work with Scholastic Achievement Partners, the services, consulting and school improvement arm of Scholastic Education. The SBOE this morning released its letter grades for the state’s high schools, including the score for Broad Ripple.

In the 2011-2012 school year, Scholastic and Broad Ripple Magnet High School focused on five key areas to quickly raise student achievement:

1. Improving Instruction – Scholastic and Broad Ripple set goals at the beginning of the year to identify key instructional best practices to implement in classrooms, and to provide professional development and support to teachers so they could learn them and use them. Scholastic helped create detailed professional learning plans for educators, enrolled teachers in online courses, provided side-by-side coaching, and closely monitored the implementation of new strategies and programs.
2. Supporting Struggling Readers – With the goal of helping students who struggle with reading accelerate their learning, Scholastic and Broad Ripple implemented the READ 180® program for 88 struggling students, and provided ongoing training for teachers in data-driven instruction and progress monitoring for leaders. READ 180 is a research-based program proven to be effective in helping struggling students get back to grade level in reading.
3. Building Instructional Leaders – Scholastic worked with Broad Ripple school leaders on a plan to build a network of instructional leaders within the school. The result was the creation of a Teacher Advisory Leadership Committee made up of administrators and teachers who understand best practices and who represent the voice of teachers.
4. Involving Community – With the goal of helping the school better communicate with the community and elevate the voice of families, school staff, supported by Scholastic Achievement Partners, organized two community open houses and provided ongoing coaching for staff on enhancing community involvement.

“Creating fast, meaningful change in an organization as dynamic as Broad Ripple Magnet High School takes a strategic approach and one that involves buy-in from all levels,” said Duncan Young, Senior Vice President of Scholastic Achievement Partners. “From the beginning, Scholastic and the educators and leaders at Broad Ripple approached the challenge of improving student outcomes as a team effort to help the school capitalize on successes, fine-tune instructional practices and focus on things that drive student learning. This was a true team effort involving the Indiana Department of Education, Indianapolis Public Schools, and of course the amazing team of Broad Ripple educators.  We’re proud of the progress that has been made, and we look forward to continuing our work with Broad Ripple to turn this B into an A.”

Launched in 2010, Scholastic Achievement Partners provides advice, consultation and a full complement of services to help school district leaders tackle their toughest challenges in improving schools, developing the skills and expertise of teachers and leaders, and effectively implementing academic improvement initiatives. SAP is a joint endeavor of three best-in-class organizations focused on raising achievement for all students.  Joining Scholastic is the International Center for Leadership in Education (ICLE), an educational services organization with a 20 year legacy of leadership development and school transformation, and Math Solutions, the nation's leading provider of professional development for math educators.

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