Achievement First Scholars Close the Gap on State Tests

The hard work and focus of the Achievement First team and family paid off in impressive 2008 student achievement results for all Achievement First schools. In Connecticut, where the Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) was administered to our scholars in grades 3-8, students who have been with us at least three years scored at or above proficiency with averages of 77% in reading, 93% in writing and 94% in math - compared to district peers with averages of 53% in reading, 57% in writing and 62% in math.

This was the first year that our Brooklyn 3rd graders took the New York State exams, and 84% achieved proficiency on the English language arts (ELA) exam while 100% of students achieved proficiency on the math exam. As one Achievement First Crown Heights 3rd grader said, “I’m on my way to college!”

Elm City College Prep’s 4th graders in New Haven are our oldest elementary students in the network. With an average of 84% of these students testing at or above proficiency in reading, writing and math - a full 25 percentage points higher than their New Haven peers and five points higher than the state average - these 4th graders proved that Connecticut’s vexing achievement gap can be closed! This group of students is now the entering class at Elm City Middle School, marking the first time an Achievement First middle school received students from an Achievement First elementary school. While our incoming 5th graders have historically averaged two years below grade level, many of these students are more than a full year ahead!

Achievement First’s New Haven 8th graders continue to set the bar high. Our 8th graders at Elm City and Amistad posted results that were more than double their New Haven peers and topped state averages in all three subjects.

In its first year of testing, Amistad Academy High School showed remarkable results on the Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT), with our 10th-grade students (the oldest in our network) achieving 93% proficiency in math and 100% proficiency in all other subjects - reading, writing and science. These results position Amistad High’s students as number one in the region for reading and number two for writing, outperforming students in both Madison and Guilford.

Of our first 7th graders to take the test in Brooklyn (at Achievement First Crown Heights), 76% achieved proficiency on the ELA exam and 85% achieved proficiency on the math exam. These Achievement First Crown Heights scholars outperformed their community district peers by 25 and 30 percentage points, respectively.

We are proud of Achievement First’s teachers, scholars, families, supporters and staff for showing that the achievement gap can, in fact, be closed through high expectations, targeted support and a lot of hard work. While we are pleased with these results, we are reminded about how much more there is to do. We are especially concerned about our students’ reading progress, which continues to lag behind math and writing achievement at almost every grade level. A team of principals and teachers from across the Achievement First network has been working for the last few months to re-examine and revise our approach to teaching reading through the help of high-performing schools in NYC and our friends at Haskins Labs in New Haven.

We look forward to another great year of helping our scholars continue their climb to college.

Achievement First Adds New Schools in Brooklyn and Hartford

Student enrollment reaches 3,700 with the addition of new academies and grades

Achievement First kicked off the 2008-09 school year with an increase in enrollment of more than 48% over last year - bringing the total number of scholars in our network to 3,700. The growth is the result of nine academies each adding a grade and three new academies opening their doors for the first time.

Our newest additions to the team and family are Achievement First Brownsville Charter School in Brooklyn, which started with grades K and 1, and Achievement First Hartford Academy, which started with grades K, 1 and 5. Gina Musumeci, principal of Achievement First Brownsville Elementary, spent the 2007-08 school year as a principal-inresidence at Amistad Academy Elementary in New Haven. Gina is known for her boundless enthusiasm, high standards and passion for great reading instruction. According to Lesley Esters Redwine, who helped lead Achievement First’s student recruitment efforts in New York, “We had almost three applicants for every available seat. The parents of Achievement First Brownsville’s 1st graders are incredibly enthusiastic. They started chanting ‘Achievement First’ at the school’s lottery and were thrilled to have their children accepted.” John Kaku is one of these parents. He has high hopes for his 1st-grade daughter, Nana, and said, “The best gift I can give my daughter is a good foundation for a better education. This is what made me look to Achievement First Brownsville Charter School.”

Claire Shin assumed her role as principal of Achievement First Hartford Elementary after two years as a teacher and grade team leader at Achievement First Bushwick Elementary. Prior to Achievement First, Claire worked for Teach for America New York, where she ran teacher development and support efforts for the largest TFA site in the country. Jeff House, principal of Achievement First Hartford Middle, spent the last school year as principal-in-residence at Amistad Academy Middle School. Prior to Achievement First, Jeff was the lead teacher and grade level coordinator for 5th and 6th grades at Edward Brooke Charter School in Boston. In Jeff’s last year as a full-time teacher, his 6th-grade students outperformed all their peers in the city of Boston on the state math exam.

While opening any new charter school is hard work, the story of Achievement First Hartford Academy’s inception will be one for the Achievement First history books. In May, the Connecticut General Assembly ended its session without passing a revised budget, which meant that there was no funding for the new school.

Thanks to an amazing show of teamwork and leadership by parents, Governor Rell, Mayor Perez, Hartford Public Schools and private donors, the necessary funds were cobbled together and the school welcomed 252 scholars on August 27. Necessary funds were secured from a real group of “Hartford Heroes”—the State of Connecticut, the Hartford Board of Education, the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, the Olson Foundation, George Weiss, Jon Sackler and Mary Corson, the Hartford Steamboiler, the H. A. Vance Foundation, Michael and Joyce Critelli, the Imagineers Foundation, and anonymous gifts from a Greenwich foundation and other individual donors.

Linda J. Kelly, President of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, had this to say about the new school: "Achievement First Hartford Academy offers great promise to address one of the most critical needs in the Greater Hartford region - closing the academic achievement gap between Hartford students and their suburban peers. While this kind of grant is extraordinary for the Hartford Foundation, we felt compelled to step forward and partner with others to ensure that this educational opportunity is available for Hartford children."

Alumni Spotlight: Q & A with Rozina Haile

Rozina Haile graduated from Amistad Academy Middle School in 2003 and received a full scholarship to attend Choate Rosemary Hall through the Icahn Scholars program. At Choate, Rozina made the Dean’s List for three straight years and was awarded the David T. Lyman Jr. Prize for exceptional “earnest and persistent effort.” Rozina is currently a sophomore at Wesleyan University.

What was it like going to Amistad and then Choate?
I was only 10 when I started at Amistad, but I was immediately able to tell the seriousness of the school. On the first day we had to sign a contract, and we learned all the rules and expectations of the school.

I can honestly say that every teacher I had at Amistad had a strong and positive influence on me. One teacher who stands out in my mind - and who is still teaching there - is Ms. [Jaime] King. I admired the energy she brought to class every single day and how she always tried to make every kid feel special. Although she made sure we followed the rules, she treated us with a lot of respect and even shared funny and interesting stories about her life.

As probably any Amistad student or alum could tell you, the REACH values (Respect, Enthusiasm, Achievement, Citizenship, Hard Work) were a huge part of my time there and are still something that I hold with me to this day. With the chants that we shouted each morning and the REACH banners that decorated each classroom, I was constantly reminded of what the REACH values were and how to abide by them. The REACH self-evaluations we did every month were a powerful tool that helped us reflect honestly on our goals.

When I arrived at Choate, I learned a lot about myself as a student. My workload was almost overbearing at times, which made me step back and reflect on how I was going to do things differently. Although I had excelled at Amistad, sometimes it felt like Choate challenged me even more.

Choate taught me how to manage my time better and how to communicate effectively with teachers (since I often had to go to them for extra help). Boarding school also definitely opened my eyes to a world that I had not seen at Amistad or in my neighborhood. I went from an environment where everyone looked like me and grew up like me, to a school where the majority of students led a totally different lifestyle. I was able to build valuable friendships with people with whom I initially thought I had very little in common.

What’s it like being a student at Wesleyan?
I love being a student at Wesleyan. The people are really friendly, the school is small and the pre-med advising program is great. One of my favorite extracurricular activities is volunteering twice a week as a tutor in an afterschool program that the college runs at a housing complex nearby. The students in this program are from low-income backgrounds and benefit from extra advice from a mentor who has been through what they are dealing with, and I try to give them hands-on encouragement with their homework.

What are your plans for after college?
After I graduate from Wesleyan, I really want to do some volunteer work for a year or two - maybe something like the Peace Corps. I also dream of going back to Eritrea, where my parents emigrated from, to do some type of service work there. Afterwards, I want to go to medical school. I’m intrigued by forensic pathology, but otherwise, I’m not sure what kind of doctor I want to be yet. I’ll let you know when I decide!