Bridgeport, CT Brooklyn, NY Hartford, CT New Haven, CT New Staff Training Achievement First: Mission, History & Results

2 Aims GTWBAT explain how the mission of AF resonates with them GTWBAT sequence the key chapters in the history of AF GTWBAT explain the 3-phase vision of AF, including describing where AF is now GTWBAT analyze the results, explaining areas of strength & weakness Aims & Agenda for the Morning Agenda Intro & Mission – 20 min History – 20 min Vision – 10 min Results – 30 min Priorities – 10 min -- Core Values – 30 min

3 This is the ROOM Is this the room that has the kids who DON’T do their homework? … NO! Is this the room that has the kids who talk back to their teachers? … NO! Is this the room that has the kids who make excuses? … NO! Is this the room that has the kids who … _________? NO! What room is it? This is the room that has the kids who want to learn to read more books to build a better tomorrow

4 Our Mission

5 The Mission of Achievement First is to deliver on the promise of equal educational opportunity for all of America’s children. We believe that all children, regardless of race or economic status, can succeed if they have access to a great education. Achievement First schools will provide all of our students with the academic and character skills they need to graduate from top colleges, to succeed in a competitive world, and to serve as the next generation of leaders for our communities. Our Shared Mission

6 Our History

Achievement Gap: 2009 NAEP 8 th Grade Reading Gap Between Poor and Non-Poor Students 7

8 Based on U.S. Department of Education statistics, the reading and math scores of African-American and Latino 12th graders are roughly the same as those of white 8th graders. Census 2000 shows that white children are twice as likely as African-Americans, and three times as likely as Latinos, to earn a college degree. Data from Connecticut Voices for Children shows that black and Latino students in Connecticut’s inner cities, compared to their largely white peers Connecticut’s wealthiest suburbs, are: Twice as likely to enter kindergarten without a formal preschool experience Six times less likely to meet the state goal on all three (reading, writing, and math) 4th grade Connecticut Mastery Tests (CMTs) Eight times less likely to meet the state goal on all three 8th grade CMTs Twenty-one times more likely to drop out of high school What is another powerful achievement gap statistic or anecdote that gets you fired up to do this work? Achievement Gap Stats

Sequencing Our History 9 Get into groups of 5 Every group gets an envelope, and each person in the group gets one piece of paper with a “chapter” in AF’s history. Each person should read their chapter out loud to their group Put yourselves in order of AF’s history! Special brownie points to groups that can fill in the blanks with the correct dates and numbers. Raise your hands when your group is done!

10 Our Vision

Goal: Start an outstanding charter school that proves that the achievement gap can be closed 11 Our Vision Phase I: Build a model school Phase II: Build a model “district”  Goal: Prove it’s possible at scale: Create a gap-closing network of 34 schools serving 12,000 students who go on to graduate from college and become leaders in their communities; Develop a non-bureaucratic, performance-oriented, student-focused “district” that provides world-class support for schools and staff Phase III: Grow & share 2011 & on  Goal: Continue to expand impact, maybe by:  Continuing to open more gap-closing schools and refine systems of excellence  Partnering with districts, CMOs, other charters  Knowledge sharing (e.g., consulting)

12 AF’s Strategic Plan: Areas of Focus Quality: Ensure that all AF schools achieve real excellence and deliver on our promises to students & families Scale: Increase the number of students we help climb the mountain to college. Sustainability: Build systems that support growth and enable scale; make the work do-able for the long term.

Student Achievement Results 13

AF-CT Elementary School Performance – Grade 4 14

15 Connecticut State Averages – 8 th Grade Cohort In general, students in Connecticut schools make minimal progress over time.

16 Elm City MS – 8 th Grade Cohort *Note: Pre-AF Scores were not available prior to As a proxy, the Pre-AF 4 th grade scores of Elm City MS 7 th Graders have been used.

17 Amistad Academy MS – 8 th Grade Cohort *Note: Pre-AF Scores were not available prior to As a proxy, the Pre-AF 4 th grade scores of Amistad MS 7 th Graders have been used.

18 AF Hartford – 6 th Grade Cohort (Most Tenured)

Direct Impact: 2009 Hartford Public Schools Annual Performance Improvement Gains 19

20 AF Bridgeport – 7 th Grade Cohort (Most Tenured)

Direct Impact: 2009 Annual Performance Gains of Connecticut Middle Schools 21 Achievement First Bridgeport Academy Greatest middle school student performance gains in the state.

22 Gap-Closing Math Performance - CT

23 Gap-Closing Math Performance - NY

NSVF Proficiency of Low-Income Students Schools 3 years or older, compared to host districts 24 76% (c) NewSchools Venture Fund % of schools are 20 percentage points higher than their host districts in both reading and math Reading Math AMISTAD HS AMISTAD MS ELM ES ELM MS CROWN ES CROWN MS ENY ES END MS BUSH ES

NSVF 20/20 Honor Roll in Reading and Math Schools 3 years or older, compared to host districts 25 (c) NewSchools Venture Fund 2010 Across the portfolio, the low-income students in 36 schools outperformed district counterparts in both reading and math by 20 percentage points. CMONumber of Schools Achievement First8 Aspire7 Uncommon6 Mastery4 Noble3 KIPP DC2 Alliance2 DC Prep1 PUC1 Success Charter Network1 Leadership Public Schools1 Total36

What is this data telling you? What actions does this data suggest? What questions do you have? Data Triplets: Reflect and Analyze

The Stockdale Paradox Confront the brutal facts + Maintain the unwavering belief that you can and will prevail 28

29

High School Performance – Grade 10 30

31 Overview – CT Mastery by Subject Area

NYS Test ELA Performance – Capstone Grades 32

33 NY ELA Performance, Capstone Grades

What is this data telling you? What actions does this data suggest? What questions do you have? Data Triplets: Reflect and Analyze

35 AF Challenges & Opportunities Ensuring Instructional Every School Setting our sights really, really high – never selling our scholars or ourselves short The urgent and geeky pursuit of great instruction Read, baby, read! Reinvigorating a culture of hard work and, more broadly, enhancing our character and leadership development efforts Recruiting, Developing & Retaining Outstanding Staff Maintaining the AF Culture & Core Values Securing Adequate Facilities, Funding & Freedom Building Support Systems that Scale Maximizing the Power of the Network

The Mission for Me

37 Bringing It Altogether Partner A Describe the 3-phase AF vision Partner B Describe what you see as the most important challenge or opportunity the AF team will face as it works to realize that vision Partners A&B Describe why you are here – what does the mission mean to you?