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Dedication to reform
A comprehensive, whole-school reform program based on a proven curricula and research about elements of academic success was put in place at T. T. Minor and, four years later, replicated at The New School at South Shore.    There is evidence that the programs are resulting in positive changes at both schools although the results of our project at T.T. Minor were mixed.  During our work there, academic achivement improved for many students and the tone of the school changed for the better.  Community partnerships proliferated, and students expressed their smarts and creativity through award-winning art projects, a marching band, a violin program, chess club, and a double-dutch jump rope team; these wonderful enrichments have continued even without our grant.  However, the academic results were not as positive as we had hoped.  We learned a great deal through our work with T.T. Minor, and applied these lessons in our New School partnership, where there is hard evidence to suggest that the programs are having an impact.  

The New School at South Shore is a powerfully effective public school.  Its families reflect the extraordinary diversity of the Rainier Beach neighborhood in which the school is located, so almost half the students qualify for free lunch, one-fifth are non-English speaking immigrants and the ethnic representation is truly mixed.  Poverty typically correlates with low academic achievement, yet 96% of all second-graders read at grade level or higher as measured by the Developmental Reading Assessment, a widely-respected measure of reading achievement.  (See more test result information below.)

• Not satisfied to stop at what has been done, The New School Foundation continues to serve as an independent advocate for school reform by engaging in the public process, and inspiring individuals, groups and donors to change public education. For example, the Foundation influenced the authors of the Families and Education Levy to include funding for more Parent Child Home Program sites, and for 400 preschool positions in public schools, based on its success with High/Scope pre-kindergarten efforts at T. T. Minor and The New School at South Shore.
• As a conduit for enacting the change it fuels, The New School Foundation serves as a resource for groups who wish to work with schools. The Foundation sponsored such a group - Dance to the Music - in its event to raise funds for instrumental music in all Seattle public elementary schools.

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• Ongoing dialogue and involvement with the Seattle Public School District helps support innovative approaches to education.
• Parents bring insight and passion essential to the future of the schools and the children. The New School Foundation has provided an avenue for parents to actively engage in the education and well-being of their children. The result is almost 100 percent participation!
• Community leaders, businesses, the University of Washington, volunteers - all have made an impact on the physical, emotional and educational lives of the children who attend T. T Minor and The New School at South Shore. From playfields to musical instruments, from architectural designs to digging in dirt, the children of our schools benefit from the involvement of a diverse group of volunteers and partners.

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• Home visits
• Wellness intervention services such as assessment, counseling, therapeutic daycare, intense tutoring
• Healthy classroom snacks
• Clinic supplies
• Programs for parents such as parenting classes and community building events
• Translation and interpreter services

• Certificated teachers and instructional assistants in High/Scope pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classrooms
• Supplies and technology
• Field trips and enrichment classes such as art, music and yoga
• School buses for pre-kindergarten students
• Administrative and fundraising support for the Parent Child Home Program

• Additional teachers to reduce class size
• Regular ongoing High/Scope training and evaluation
• Field trips for students and teachers
• Enrichment classes such as art and music
• Technology Instructional Assistant
• Library materials

• Provision of scholarships for Atlantic Street Center's summer tutoring program targeted to New School students identified as needing extra academic help
• Kids Company services for before and after school and during school breaks
• After school activities such as the T.T. Minor Marching Band

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Measurement of results

Annual Program Review

The Annual Program Review at The New School at South Shore is desigend to achieve three goals:

1)  Drive learning and improvement.  Help the school assess its performance, measure its progress toward achieving its school vision, and receive information that will help the school community learn and make improvements.

2) Strengthen accountability.  Help the foundation assess the effectiveness of its support for and investment in The New School at South Shore.  The foundation seeks evidence through this process that the New School is achieving its grant objectives and is a healthy organization that continuously builds on its strengths and strives to eliminate its weaknesses.

3)  Create new knowledge and tool.  Produce an analytical framework and effective process that can be conducted on an annual basis.  To support the foundation's growth aspirations, the created model/process should be replicable by other schools.  To meet the foundation's desire to showcase effective innovations that drive improved student performance, the created model/process should be adoptable by traditional school districts.

The Annual Program Review comprises three phases:

I.   Internal Review:  designed to help the school community (staff and parents) reflect on its performance and activities and identify areas of success and growth.

II.  External Review:  designed to leverage outside expertise and perspective by enabling the outside visit team to observe the school in action, help identify areas of success and growth, and offer feedback and suggestions for improvement to the school.

III. Follow up: process evaluation, inform subsequent year's planning and budgeting, use findings to assist with new staff induction.

Reading Assessments / Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA)

At The New School at South Shore the first group of kindergarten students was assessed for reading skills by three measures in September 2002 and in May 2003. By spring all but a very few of the 43 students achieved at least 80% proficiency level. The most dramatic improvement came from the students who spoke little English at the beginning of the year and were beginning readers by the end of the year.

In 2003, 39 of the pre-kindergarten students entered kindergarten and completed the same assessment after a year of High/Scope. Their average score was 17% higher than that of the first group of students who were not in pre-kindergarten.



The test results from Spring 2006 show the dramatic and consistent academic achievement of the students and staff at The New School.  Ninety percent or more of low-income second-graders and all ethnic subgroups are reading at grade level. 

New School 1st grade DRA data 04 to 06

New School 2nd grade DRA data 04 to 06

The Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) is a standardized test taken each April by third, fourth and fifth grade students in Washington Public Schools. 

Our first results from the WASL came in above district and state averages and were especially high for low income students, who comprised half the test takers:  70% of New School low income students surpassed the WASL reading standard, compared to 50% of low income students district-wide.  In math, 68% of the New School's low income third graders surpassed the WASL standard, compared to 49% of low income students district-wide.

WASL results - OSPI School Report Card - New School

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