BEAT THE ODDS INSTITUTE NEWS
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THE ARIZONA WE WANT INSTITUTE NEWS
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CENTER FOR THE FUTURE OF ARIZONA NEWS
Coursework that Can Prepare Kids for Early Graduation (School Solutions, KPNX TV, June 21, 2010)
The Move On When Ready concept seeks to prevent bored students from dropping out and increase the number of students who are college and career ready. Currently, only 48 percent of Arizona seniors are eligible for college enrollment.
Arizonans, CFA Working to Advance Citizens' Agenda: Five June Town Meetings to Help Decide Questions for Candidates During 2010 Elections (News Release, June 8, 2010)
This month Arizonans have some new opportunities to shape the conversation with candidates as part of the 2010 elections. Residents from five communities will participate in The Arizona We Want citizens' agenda through a series of invitation-only town meetings in Peoria (June 8), Flagstaff (June 14), Mesa (June 17), Tucson (June 21) and Sierra Vista (June 22). Additionally, all Arizonans are encouraged to submit their questions for candidates online at www.TheArizonaWeWant.org.
Expect More Arizona Talks About the “Move On When Ready” Law
(Sonoran Living, KNXV TV, May 14, 2010)
Sybil Francis, executive director of the Center for the Future of Arizona, discusses a new law that clears the way for Arizona high school students who achieve at very high levels to graduate early by earning a Grand Canyon Diploma. Students would then have the option of moving on to full-time community college or career and technical study, or remaining in high school and taking the necessary coursework to prepare for university entry.
Ground-Level Engagement (Governing Magazine, April 2010)
In recently released work for the Center for the Future of Arizona, the Gallup Organization adapted disciplines of measuring customer loyalty and satisfaction, and added indicators of community pride and passion, to create an empirical measure of attachment. Using longitudinal data, Gallup found that communities with higher levels of citizen attachment enjoy higher levels of economic growth than their less attached neighbors.
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Report: 85% Don't Switch Elementary Schools (Arizona Republic, April 9, 2010)
A new research report finds that a surprising number of elementary students are re-enrolled in the school they attended the previous year, even when the school has been labeled "failing" or "underperforming" by the state. CFA Executive Director Sybil Francis and other Arizona education experts comment on the findings.
Arizona Bill Provides Quick Way Out of High School (Arizona Republic, March 31, 2010)
Under a new proposal approved by the state House, Arizona high-school students who pass tough new exams and earn passing grades in certain core courses could graduate as early as the end of their sophomore year with a special diploma. The bill, which now goes before the state Senate, is part of a "move on when ready" concept supported by the Center for the Future of Arizona.
Bill Would Give Students Early Diploma Option (East Valley Tribune, March 25, 2010)
The Move On When Ready bill, which unanimously passed the House, promotes national and international levels of academic achievement. It would allow Arizona students to advance based on demonstrated academic achievement and, when ready, graduate from high school as early as age 16, and pursue one of several education pathways.
Cárdenas, McGregor and Post named to CFA Board of Directors (News Release, March 8, 2010)
The Center for the Future of Arizona has announced José Cárdenas, Ruth McGregor and Bill Post have joined its board of directors.
High School 'Pathways:' Give Seniors More Tools for Success (Arizona Republic, February 19, 2010)
The Center for the Future of Arizona proposes creating high-school "pathways" that offer students theme-based, structured coursework that can lead them toward a better-trained career.
Commentary: Principals Key to Beating Odds (Arizona Republic, Viewpoints Section,
February 14, 2010)
BTO Institute Director Marjorie Kaplan shares how school principals are raising student academic achievement in low-income, minority-intensive Arizona schools. After two years, Beat the Odds program participants made significant progress in math and positive progress in reading. In addition, 53 percent of the schools in 2008-09 improved their ratings under AZ Learns.
Education Reformers Push Early Graduation (Arizona Guardian, February 8, 2010)
The Center for the Future of Arizona is playing a key role in advancing the “move on when ready” education reform agenda in which students advance based on mastery of academic standards and when ready, “move-on” to college level coursework without remediation. It supports a bill introduced by House Education Committee Chairman Rich Crandall that would allow high school students to graduate by age 16.
Thirty-nine Valley Schools Honored by Beat the Odds Institute (News Release, October 29, 2009)
Thirty-nine metro Phoenix-area schools were presented with Beat the Odds Awards for academic improvement Wednesday evening, October 28, at a ceremony hosted by the Phoenix-based Beat the Odds Institute. The awards mark major milestones toward attaining the title of a “Beat the Odds School”—one in which individual student achievement is better than expected as a result of implementing research-based principles that are within every school’s control.
Gallup Arizona Poll Finds Strong Consensus Among Arizonans, Provides Foundation for New Citizens’ Agenda (News Release, Newspaper Articles and Broadcast Interviews, October 2009)
Gallup and the Center for the Future of Arizona on Friday, October 2, offered a surprising look into the hearts and minds of Arizona citizens. According to CFA Chairman and CEO Lattie Coor, findings from the Arizona Gallup Poll report entitled “The Arizona We Want” offer a clear and compelling picture of what citizens think about life in Arizona communities and what they want for the future.
Accio Education Fund: Beat the Odds Institute Awarded $450,000 Grant to Expand
Education Reform Efforts (August 2009)
The Arizona Community Foundation and Helios Education Foundation have awarded $450,000 to the Beat the Odds Institute to expand its Beat the Odds School Partners Program in Arizona over the next three years. The grant is being paid from the new Accio Education Fund, a "venture capital" type of charitable fund created by ACF and Helios to support the development and expansion of innovative education reform efforts for the benefit of Arizona students.
Arizona Announces Participation: "Tough Choices" Coalition to Overhaul Arizona Education
(AEA Advocate, Summer 2009)
Arizona has joined a national consortium of six states to support features of the world's most successful education systems identified in the "Tough Choices or Tough Times" research report issued by the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce. The Center for the Future of Arizona will work with education stakeholders to establish pilot projects based on the "Tough Choices" model.
Teach For America: Commentary by Dr. Lattie Coor (Arizona Republic, April 5, 2009)
Teach For America corps members are leading students in Arizona's low-income, high minority schools to academic improvement equivalent to two and sometimes three grades in just one school year. Helios Education Foundation has stepped forward with a $1 million challenge grant to enable the program to continue, despite losing critical state funding as a result of the current budget shortfall. Center Chairman and CEO Lattie F. Coor is encouraging Arizonans to provide the required matching donations that will make the Helios funding a reality.
Arizona Announces Participation in “Tough Choices” Coalition to Overhaul State Education System (March 2009)
On a day when President Obama called for new education reforms, Arizona announced at a Washington, D.C. press conference that it has joined a national consortium of six states committed to significantly improving student achievement through a dramatic overhaul of its state education system. It was joined by two of the nation’s leading business groups and the nation’s largest education employees union who urged states and the federal government to give a fair trial to the education reform framework known as “Tough Choices or Tough Times.”
Arizona TCTT News Release (PDF)
National TCTT News Release (PDF)
Business Groups and Teachers Union News Release (PDF)
Joint Statement from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the National Education Association (PDF)
Center for the Future of Arizona Receives Helios Education Foundation Startup Grant for Pathways Initiative (September 2008)
The Center for the Future of Arizona has launched a major new initiative focused on increasing student success through system-wide changes in public education.
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Pathways to Postsecondary: Commentaries (September 2008)
A new center initiative funded by Helios Education Foundation will help create seamless pathways to various forms of postsecondary education and career training for all students. Dr. Sybil Francis, executive director, will lead the project.
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Report Finds Think-and-Do Tanks are Filling Void (July 2008)
The Center for the Future of Arizona is one of seven organizations profiled in the new report “Thinking & Doing: Nationwide Citizen Groups Push for Political Pragmatism.” The organizations combine research by public-policy experts with pragmatic, fact-based problem-solving that serves the public interest and common good.
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Arizona High School Graduation Rate Drops 7 Percentage Points (May 2008)
Until recently, Arizona was on track to achieve its 2012 statewide graduation goal of 86 percent. Data on the Arizona Department of Education state report cards was recently revised to show a seven percentage point drop — from its high of 77 percent in 2004 to 70 percent in 2006 (the most current data available).
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Arizona Capitol Times Profile: Sybil Francis (February 2008)
Dr. Sybil Francis is working to create a seamless education system and “the Arizona we want.”
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Teacher ID Bill: Commentary (April 2008)
Dr. Sybil Francis describes the merits of HB 2787 in an Arizona Capitol Timescommentary.
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Esteemed Educator to Lead Institute, Help Arizona Students Beat the Odds (January 2008)
The Center for the Future of Arizona is pleased to announce that Dr. Marjorie Kaplan has been named the director of its newly created Beat the Odds Institute.
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