Blogger Notes Common Practices Among Award-Winning Schools

Maureen Downey wrote in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (11/7) that McLeod Bethune Elementary School in New Orleans "became a haven for its students after Hurricane Katrina." The school is "in one of New Orleans' poorest and roughest neighborhoods." Still, "62 percent of the school's sixth-graders read at an advanced level, compared to 4 percent statewide." Each day, students spend 120 minutes focused on reading skills and 90 minutes focused on math. Bethune Elementary "won a 2010 Dispelling the Myth Award from the Education Trust" last week. According to Downey, all of the schools that won the award have several similarities. Each has staff chosen by the principals; "they use data constantly and effectively to identify struggling children;" they have a strong team environment and clean campuses; mentors are provided for teachers; teachers look forward to going to work, and the schools "can't always pay teachers more, but they try to accommodate them where they can."