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Austin Participates In Education
Your Guide to Engagement
Volume 5, February 2006
From the Desk of Kathrin Brewer
January was National Mentor Month, and so it was fitting that the Texas Association of Partners in Education Conference was held here at the Hyatt Regency with APIE and Austin Schools well-represented. Our seven presentations are described later in this newsletter. Also in January, our mentoring recruitment was given a big boost as the first KUT Get Involved! Public Service Announcement featuring APIE was broadcast several times daily for one week.
One of APIE's current focuses is strategic planning. We have made much progress this year and have learned a great deal in the process, and we are using these learnings to plan for the future. Of course, when we talk about the future of education in Texas, the conversation invariably turns to funding. How can we serve our students' increasing needs with flat or decreasing funding? Our schools are overstretched in supporting multiple fill-in programs along with their core activities. This presents an operational dilemma:
- Can schools afford to commit resources to recruiting and managing temporary resources like volunteers and short-term grants?
- How can we use temporary funding to create permanent change?
- How can we expand a program to a systemic level with limited funds?
- How can volunteers be most effective for one hour a week?
APIE has these questions in mind as we plan next year's activities. We know that we need solid proven programs that have strong coordination, on-site coordinators, effective volunteer training, and a program configured to use our volunteers' inherent talent. Most importantly, we need external resources to directly support existing curriculum delivery.
One answer for APIE is to partner with solid, long-term programs like AmeriCorps for Community Engagement and Education (ACEE) and Communities in Schools (CIS), who have a solid record of success in maintaining consistent AmeriCorps funding. The ACEE/APIE Literacy Champions program will expand to six schools next year, coordinated by six returning AmeriCorps interns. A three-year funding promise, plus the backing of the UT Dana Center, allows a seasoned director, Mary Ellen Isaacs, to bring approximately 3000 students in six schools to a passing level for an incremental increase of $20,000 in funding. Strong coordination and curriculum ensures that volunteers are effective and efficient. APIE will also work with CIS to place volunteers with their site coordinators and to help them expand the number of coordinators in our schools.
Another promising model has emerged this Spring: teachers and volunteers have been collaborating to bring more study groups into the classroom. When business professionals work tightly with teachers, all kinds of good things happen: volunteers stay in synch with the curriculum, professionals provide real-life examples to illustrate lessons and facilitate students' career exploration, teachers and volunteers practice coaching together, and students gain confidence through interacting with their peers. Also, the program is more sustainable because the administrative burden around coordinating student-volunteer meetings is reduced. The AISD AVID and Dell Math Academy programs use this model in AISD. The expansion of their proven programs through APIE volunteers helps accelerate our mutual goals of increasing the academic preparedness of AISD graduates. We expect to be able to expand the APIE College Readiness and Study Groups programs to all high schools and several middle schools this fall.
How can we ensure that all of our students succeed in post-secondary education? Again, the answer is collaborative study. Many of our questions have been answered by the Director of the UT Austin Charles A. Dana Center, Dr. Uri Treisman, Professor of Mathematics. Dr. Treisman conducts research reducing the achievement gap and the effect of collaborative study on academic success. He consults across the nation and serves on the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council's prestigious Strategic Education Research Plan (SERP) Committee. The committee is charged with designing and implementing a 15-year initiative to strengthen K-12 education in the United States. Please read later in this newsletter about how Sari Waxler of AISD's GEAR UP program and Pam Fails of the Dell Math Academy are helping us use Dr.Treisman's guidance to reduce the math achievement gap in Austin.
Acknowledgements:
As we celebrate the work of our partners, we want to thank more of those who have been at our side as we work to truly make a difference for Austin students.
- The 3M Corporation has generously granted $5,000 in support of APIE Math Study Groups.
- As is fitting for January, National Mentor Month, KUT and Greenlights highlighted APIE's mentor program as the first feature of their 'Get Involved!' Campaign.
- The 19 volunteers from IBM have done an outstanding job, in conjunction with 21st Century and Gear Up, leading afterschool study groups for the Reagan High School Band.
- The CapMac Apple users group has now trained approximately 200 AISD families on Macs, and along with Goodwill, Trifusion, and AISD staff provided them with a refurbished computer.
- Grande Communications has committed a year of free internet to all of our students.
- Dell and Microsoft matched 10% to allow AISD to sell $8 Million of interest free bonds, saving taxpayers $4 million more than the $4.1 million that was expected for this year.
- Freescale professionals rallied 40 Math Study Group leaders in less than a month under the leadership of Bill McKean.
- Crescent properties continues to donate office space allowing APIE to focus resources on programs.
- The Glimmer of Hope Foundation has given over 1000 students the chance to see the Austin Toros Basketball Development League play at the coliseum through their Pass and Score Program.
- Baker Botts and Motive continue to bring the world of reading to 30 Allison Elementary students through their support of the Literacy Champions program.
- The Austin American Statesman, KVUE, and KXAN have been working with us to highlight our programs and bring resources.
TAPE Conference
In conjunction with National Mentor Month in January, the Texas Association of Partners in Education held its annual conference in Austin. APIE and AISD were well represented:
- Ruth Becker of 21st Century presented their after-school programs including our collaboration on Literacy Champions.
- Uri Treisman of the UT Dana Center presented on closing the achievement gap and the APIE Math Study Groups.
- Drew Scheberle participated in a panel discussion of Chamber - School partnerships.
- Our own Jeannette Sprague and Audrey Glaser presented the APIE paperless systems.
- Bedichek students and their teacher came to the conference to demonstrate their technical prowess in the Dell TechKnow presentation with Dell's Thessaly Startzell and Jeannette…and to ride the glass elevators.
- Kirk Watson accepted our invitation to provide the keynote speech and graciously highlighted APIE programs.
- Angelia McFarland of IBM presented our Afterschool Study Groups at Reagan, and Mary Ellen Isaacs presented the ACEE literacy program and her 'swimming pool' model for involvement at our 'New Models for Partnerships' presentation.
2006 Salute Banquet
On May 3rd, 2006, over 1400 participants in Austin Partners in Education's Salute Banquet will recognize Austin's Teachers of the Year and our Partners. This is a great opportunity to thank our most outstanding teachers, staff and partners for their service and support in 2005.
We would like to extend an invitation to join us in honoring our teachers, colleagues and promoting our partners. Please show your support by sponsoring a table or admission for teachers and school staff. By taking advantage of this opportunity, you will help support our on-going efforts to strengthen the connection between Austin's businesses and our schools. You can do this directly on our website at www.austinpartners.org/salute2006.html. We are looking forward to seeing you at the 2006 Salute Banquet!
Featured Program Coordinator: Amy Buczynski
Since January 2005 Amy Buczynski has been coordinating the Baker Botts Literacy Champions Program at Allison Elementary. This program is a collaborative effort between Austin Partners in Education (APIE) and AmeriCorps for Community Engagement and Education (ACEE) and funded through a grant by Baker Botts LLP. Literacy Champions recruits community volunteers to work on fluency and comprehension with 2nd -5th graders. Success metrics include a fluency measure that is administered at each volunteer session.
Amy says of her experience with the Literacy Program, 'I believe what makes the Allison Literacy Champions program successful is a combination of factors. Firstly, the school has to be willing to be an active participant in the program by providing space, and by ensuring cooperative teachers and open communication with vital staff. Secondly, consistent volunteers are needed every week. A consistently positive volunteer experience is important to ensure their return. And, finally, an on-site coordinator is needed to direct and focus on all the finer details, like selecting a reading passage at the right level, checking for progress, and facilitating meetings, testing, and answering participant questions.
'The students receive one-to-one attention, which allows the student to explore different thoughts and questions that they may not be able to do in the classroom. The tutor participants bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experiences that can open up the world to the students they work with and make the books they read together become more meaningful.'
In addition to coordinating the program, Amy is using her experience to develop a replicable program package, and training Americorps Interns to act as program coordinators at expansion schools. Amy brings to her Literacy Champions' role an extensive background in a variety of community and school based programs which have focused on lifting the educational success of children. It is the dedication to program excellence of coordinators such as Amy Buczynski that help ensure program success.
Featured Leader: A Conversation With Mary Ellen Isaacs
Crystal Cao, APIE's Literacy Champions Program Coordinator, had the opportunity to speak with Mary Ellen Isaacs, PhD, who is the Executive Director of Americorps for Community Engagement and Education at the UT Austin Charles A. Dana Center.
Crystal - Why did you choose Americorps?
'Mary Ellen - In 1997, the opportunity arose to become the literacy trainer and program coordinator for the AmeriCorps for Community Engagement and Education (ACEE) program at the Charles A. Dana Center. ACEE had been providing early literacy intervention to young struggling readers in two low-income elementary schools in AISD since 1994, when the national service program, AmeriCorps began.
'I had always been a Peace Corps "wannabe", and was very intrigued by the opportunity to continue to work with struggling readers, but to also be involved in the growing national service movement. It has been one of the best decisions I've made. ACEE is a collaboration among AmeriCorps and local community partners (AISD, UT-Austin and local businesses and foundations) that harnesses the idealism and talents of recent college graduates and current college students to help meet the critical educational needs of children in our community.
'I was convinced early on that with proper support and ongoing training from literacy specialists that the AmeriCorps members could be effective tutors, and this has proven to be true, with 75-80% of the children we tutor reaching or exceeding grade level in reading by the end of the year.'
Crystal - 'What makes the Baker Botts early literacy program at Allison so successful?'
Mary Ellen - 'I am very excited by our partnership with APIE because we have the unique opportunity to develop a meaningful community volunteer tutoring program that is based on the ACEE tutoring program model and the research on effective use of volunteer tutors.
This research is very clear that volunteer tutors need quality initial and ongoing training and site-based support from a knowledgeable reading trainer. We have built these three key components into the Literacy Champions program. The Literacy Champions coordinator, Amy Buczynski, has done a fantastic job in planning and implementing the trainings and is on-site when tutors are working with children. She coordinates all aspects of the program for the school personnel, who do not have the time to adequately coordinate, train and support volunteers.
'We started the project in the Spring 2005, and 75% of the 27 tutors returned for a second year, and additional tutors have joined us this year. The tutors attribute their satisfaction with the program to the training and the coordinator's presence on site to assist them when they have questions.'
Crystal - 'What future goals do you have for AISD and Americorps?'
Mary Ellen - 'ACEE is a unique resource to the district and community that adds value to the existing early literacy initiatives and interventions of the district. ACEE focuses on preventing future reading difficulties by helping children build a strong foundation in reading skills in their first years in school. We focus on working with the children who are slightly below grade level and not likely to qualify for other district reading initiatives.
'We will continue to provide the research-based early literacy intervention that has been the highlight of our program since 1994, but we are also excited about our initiatives to involve parents in their children's education and to bring more community volunteer tutors to serve alongside the AmeriCorps members in our schools.
'ACEE will begin a parent-child literacy workshop series this spring, and we hope to expand to additional schools in 2006-07 and to bring the Literacy Champions volunteer tutoring program to all ACEE schools.'
Crystal - 'Why are volunteers necessary for early literacy programs?'
Mary Ellen - 'I believe that community volunteers can make a significant contribution to students' academic achievement when the program follows these basic principles--define tasks for the volunteers that match their time commitment and provide initial and ongoing training and on-site support so they can be successful in those tasks.
'We are focusing in Literacy Champions on improving reading fluency and reading comprehension. Volunteers provide a unique experience for our students - the adults commit time to read with a child each week and to share themselves and their life experiences with this child. Not only do our students get much needed additional practice reading and talking with an adult about what they have read, but they connect with a community member who encourages them to meet personal goals, and who enjoys being with them. The adult's time and support are immeasurable gifts for our students.'
Crystal - 'In what other schools are your programs?'
Mary Ellen - 'ACEE currently serves Allison, Graham, Walnut Creek and Winn Elementary Schools. Through the curriculum that Amy is developing, we hope to expand ACEE to two additional schools in 2006-07. The really exciting part of this program is that returning Americorps interns will be leading the volunteer program at other schools.'
Featured APIE Program: Math Study Groups
APIE Math Study Groups, a spring-semester pilot, use the power of academic collaboration to explode the achievement gap for AISD students. The power of collaboration is also evidenced in the growing excitement of teachers, principals, community groups and businesses as they cooperatively develop this model for AISD.
This program grew out of APIE's after-school study groups at Reagan High School run by Angelia McFarland, Marketing Manager at IBM's Systems Technology Group with the 21st Century and GEAR UP coordinators. Angelia is pursuing a Masters in Education Policy at the LBJ School, and mentioned her professor, Dr. Uri Treisman to Kathrin Brewer, Executive Director of APIE. Aware of the Dr. Treisman's groundbreaking work around collaborative study and its impact on academic success for first generation college students, Kathrin immediately suggested (an understatement) that they all meet to talk.
Dr. Uri Treisman from the UT Austin Dana Center, a world-leader in research and development around reducing the achievement gap, offered to donate his time (typically school districts and educators across the country pay handsomely for his consultation) to AISD, providing leadership in applying research to the development of the AISD program. Together with GEAR UP's Sari Waxler, and Dell Math Academy's (SMART) Pam Fails, Uri has met with AISD teachers and principals to co-develop a program around principles that are proven to make a difference the classroom environment.
Teachers express excitement about having professionals as coaches in the classroom. As one AISD teacher reported, 'I have the perfect math problems to use for this program. Without the volunteer support, I could not consider doing these deeper problems, but with the students working in small groups, this is a great opportunity to take them to that deeper level.'
In the initial fall pilot, IBM recruited 19 math and science professionals to run successful after-school study groups in several academic areas for Reagan High School's Band students.
Now Freescale has recruited 40 engineers, accountants and other math-savvy professionals to lead math groups in the classroom. The allocation of 20% of the class teaching time is unprecedented for a volunteer program.
This program is helping to develop a new way of teaching in the classroom. Pam Fails of Project SMART, trains teachers and volunteers in coaching and facilitating collaborative study groups. Pam stresses the leader's role as helping students truly understand math; put it into context rather than using memorization and tricks. The students lead, always holding the pencil with the coach on the side asking probing questions and cheering them on. APIE Board member Sari Waxler, helped the business professionals to understand the demands of the hectic school environment so that they would feel more comfortable entering the school and interacting with the students.
Joining the IBM study groups at Reagan, the math classroom pilot program is fully staffed in three schools with 45 business professionals and six teachers. These include:
- 4 sections of Algebra I at Reagan High School
- 3 sections of Algebra II at Travis High School
- 2 sections of 6th Grade Math at Bedichek Middle School
Freescale Vice President, Bill McKean and Diversity Director Phyllis Calhoun-Hurley of Freescale, enthusiastically promoted Math Study Groups throughout the company and especially in their diversity groups. Other volunteers came from companies including Legerity, IBM, UT, and the City of Austin
The concept of Math Study Groups has struck a chord with Austin's engineering community. We have tapped into a very interested group, a group that loves math and wants to work with teens, a group that uses math in their careers.
These volunteers are very excited about this project and stated reasons for volunteering including, 'I just love math and want to share my interests with students' and 'I want to give back to my community and I feel I can do this best with math.'
Math Coach Volunteers met the teachers the week of January 16th and began their semester of weekly coaching the week of January 23rd. If you are interested in being a Math coach, please go to our website, www.austinpartners.org, and sign up.
Featured School Program: Reilly Elementary
Reilly Elementary's mentoring/partnering program, currently staffed with 75 mentors, is an example of the success that comes with implementation of best practices. Principal Anna Caballero states that she believes the Reilly program has been successful because, 'These wonderful partners have been welcomed with open arms by our students, as well as the faculty and staff. This is a program that was in place prior to my arrival and the positive impact these people have on our children is very evident. The partners' willingness to spend time each week with our children is to be commended.
'The effect on our student population is a very positive one. They have an additional adult to talk to, to support them, to cheer them on, and to offer advice as appropriate. Our children look forward to their visits and worry when their mentors are not able to visit.'
The principle from customer service that it is easier to hold onto existing customers than obtain new ones, is reflected in Principal Caballero's attitude of reassigning mentors to new students should a student move onto a new school. Principal Caballero says that, 'We never let mentors go!'
Reilly's mentor partners are the Department of Public Safety, the Texas Youth Commission and the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, among others. HEB has also given Reilly funds for our use in what ever area is needed.
One of Principal Caballero's mentors commented 'I am really enjoying mentoring my student. She is a sweetie, and everyone over at Reilly is so nice. I mean everyone, from the janitors to the principal. I am very impressed with Reilly Elementary. This is my first year, and I will be doing it again. Thank you for the opportunity to give back.'
Principal Caballero has ambitious goals in wanting to secure additional mentors to support every single one of Reilly's students. She says, 'We are at 75 right now, I'd like to double that next year, and then recruit the needed mentors for the rest of our children. We currently have a few mentors with our 5th grade group and the mentors I've spoken to want to follow their mentee to Middle School. I have also asked them to consider picking up one of our students as well. Most of the mentors I've asked have responded positively.'
Reilly Elementary's mentor program success is underscored by strong school involvement as well as support and recognition for the valuable and generous contribution of community volunteers.
Junior Achievement's Financial Literacy Program
Junior Achievement has teamed up with APIE to recruit volunteers for their highly successful financial literacy program. Junior Achievement (JA) is a partnership between the community and the classroom. JA puts the best financial literacy curriculum in the hands of trained volunteers who work directly with students. Financially literate students understand the importance of staying in school, realize the difference their education can make, and dramatically increase their chance of becoming successful adults. As a volunteer, you will bring Junior Achievement's hands-on curriculum to the same class 30-45 minutes once a week for a 5 to 10 week program, depending on grade level. Prior to your class, JA will introduce you to the teachers and train you on the curriculum during one 2-hour training session. Volunteers are provided with all the materials and training needed to be successful in the classroom.
Schools that currently need volunteers to be able to offer Junior Achievement to their students this Spring include: Allison Elementary, Andrews Elementary, Barrington Elementary, Cowan Elementary, Fulmore Middle School, Langford Elementary, Patton Elementary, and Pillow Elementary.
For more information, please go to www.austinpartners.org and select Junior Achievement from our home page. Please contact Audrey Glaser at 637-0974 or aglaser@austinpartners.org if you have any questions.
Featured Training Opportunity
Dialogue on Diversity
Tuesday, February 28th, 7:00-8:30 pm
Omni Hotel, Bouquets Meeting Room
All volunteers, mentors, tutors, and school personnel are invited to attend this important event with Mary Black, President of Accelerating Latino Academic Success, leading the discussion.
Topics addressed will include:
- Working with Hispanic students
- Hispanic education issues
- Cultural strengths of Hispanic students
- Hispanic Families
- Culture of Poverty and its effects on students
Current volunteers may sign up here. Others may register by calling Christi Caballero at 637-0983 or by emailing ccaballero@austinpartners.org.
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