WKNU: Cincinnati Public Schools Launches Campaign for Two Thousand Volunteers Hear Strive Partnership Executive Director Greg Landsman discuss how the campaign decided it wanted and needed two thousand volunteer tutors.

WLWT: Tutoring Program Brings Change to Students’ Lives Read about how Be the Change “touches every part of a child’s life, not just the academics.”

WLWT: Tutors Volunteer to Be the Change Watch a video highlighting the efforts of Be the Change tutors, including Strive Fellow Ben Greenberg.

WVXU: Cincinnati Public Recruiting Teachers Read about how one hour per week can make a difference, for both student and tutor.

Leading up to the event, two articles appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Just an Hour a Week has Real Impact Anderson Township resident, Leslie Gray, writes about her experiences tutoring through Be the Change.

Wanted: 2,000 Tutors Information about the Be the Change campaign and kickoff, including data on the campaign’s impact and its goals.

To apply to be a tutor, please follow this link: Be the Change

CINCINNATI — (Jan. 4, 2012) — The Strive Partnership, United Way of Greater Cincinnati, Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS), and others are teaming up for the second straight year to recruit reading and math tutors through the “Be the Change” tutor recruitment campaign.

The effort will build on last year’s success in recruiting hundreds of volunteer reading and math tutors for students in high-need elementary schools throughout the CPS district.

In addition to last year’s success, Be the Change has placed more than 100 tutors in schools throughout CPS this year.  This includes 52 tutors from KnowledgeWorks Foundation, 3CDC, and Taft, Stettinius & Hollister law firm who volunteer at Rothenberg Academy in Over-the-Rhine and five from Michelman, Inc. who tutor at Silverton Paideia School.

Be the Change will officially launch its tutor recruitment efforts for the 2011-12 school year with a volunteer celebration and recruitment event at 11a.m. on Thursday, January 12.  The event will be held in the gym at Rothenberg Academy, 2120 Vine Street.  The event is open to the public, and anyone interested is welcome to attend.

“We wanted to maintain a campaign to bring the adults in our city into the academic lives of our students,” said CPS Superintendent Mary Ronan.  “The impact of one-on-one tutoring is just phenomenal.”

“United Way is pleased to be a partner in this important effort that will further enhance student success. Be the Change is one way we can work every day to create a better life for all by focusing on education as one of the critical building blocks for that better life.  Tutors make a huge difference in students’ lives,” said Robert C. Reifsnyder, President, United Way of Greater Cincinnati.

“We know that when a student establishes a relationship with a tutor in key areas such as reading and math, the likelihood of that student performing better increases dramatically,” said KnowledgeWorks President and CEO Brian Ross. “I’m encouraged by the willingness of the KnowledgeWorks staff and the staffs of our partners to give their time to positively impact learning for Rothenberg and other CPS students.”

In April 2011, Education Week Reporter Sarah D. Sparks wrote about a study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation that showed a student who cannot read on grade level by the 3^rd grade is four times less likely to graduate by age 19 than a child who does read proficiently by that time.  When poverty is considered a factor, a student is 13 times less likely to graduate on time than his or her proficient, wealthier peer.

A recent evaluation of community learning centers (CLCs) in Cincinnati conducted by Innovations in Community Research provides evidence that one-on-one tutoring has a substantial impact on a student’s academic success.  Students who received tutoring in CLCs made gains on their Ohio Reading and Math assessments that were 2.5 to 3 times greater than students who did not.  The study, reported in the Nov. 18 Enquirer by Education Reporter Jessica Brown, found that tutoring provides the “most significant impact of any service the CLCs offer.”

Be the Change provides a collaborative, whole-community response to the need for tutors, recruiting individual and corporate volunteers to spend one hour a week giving a student one-on-one tutoring attention.  The campaign goal is to recruit a tutor for every student who needs one, and certainly enough to provide the critical mass needed to accelerate progress on reading and math achievement throughout the district.

Be the Change is part of a larger effort to increase the momentum that has earned CPS the distinction of being the highest-rated urban school district in Ohio.

According to data from the Ohio Department of Education, fourth-grade test scores in reading and math improved over the previous year by 7.5 and 5.3 percentage points, respectively, in 2010-11.  At some schools, tutoring programs that help students master critical concepts make a difference.  Still, the number of students in need remains high.

Taft Partner Jeff Schloemer said the law firm is committed to helping students where the need is great. “With only 71 percent of fourth graders who are proficient in reading and 61 percent in math, we believe it is important for the community to step forward and take responsibility for our children’s educational progress,” Schloemer said. “One-on-one tutoring affords us all the opportunity to make a meaningful difference right now.”

Stephen Leeper, President and CEO of 3CDC, agrees. “Investing in the lives of kids goes hand-in-hand with investing in the city’s infrastructure,” Leeper said. “We won’t be able to sustain the progress we are making in Over-the-Rhine and other areas of the city unless we make sure we establish a secure academic future for our kids.”

Teachers and principals are customizing lessons to target individual student needs and monitoring progress throughout the year.  Partnering organizations
dedicate staff to help volunteers plan their involvement, complete their application process, and manage ongoing logistics. Tutors and students both have opportunities to provide weekly feedback on the student’s progress, ensuring that all parties involved benefit from the process.

Interested volunteers should contact BeTheChange@StriveTogether.orgor call 513-929-1343.  Volunteers can also contact William Thomas at The Strive Partnership, thomasw@strivetogether.org, or call 513-239-0493.

An online application form is available at: http://www.strivetogether.org/be-the-change/

]]> http://www.strivetogether.org/2012/01/news/%e2%80%98be-the-change%e2%80%99-continues-to-recruit-volunteer-tutors-for-cincinnati-public-schools/feed/ 0 http://www.strivetogether.org/2011/12/news/news-flash-progress-happens/ http://www.strivetogether.org/2011/12/news/news-flash-progress-happens/#comments Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:30:24 +0000 bergj http://www.strivetogether.org/?p=1816 The Strive Partnership was mentioned in the New York Times as making progress in 2011 towards our mission of helping others.

To read about Strive, as well as many other great social programs and initiatives, follow this link: News Flash: Progress Happens

Colvin, Executive Director of Education Sector, commends the efforts in Cincinnati: “Like many areas, Cincinnati recognizes that the strength of the local economy will depend in large measure on improving the skills of its workforce…. Area leaders also recognize, as do those elsewhere, that improving educational outcomes is critical to success. But, unlike many other communities, Cincinnati has not burdened its schools with the sole responsibility for addressing the problem.”

To read the full column, follow this link: ‘Striving’ to help Schools, Students Succeed

To learn more about the in-depth report from Education Sector on Strive, read our news post: Striving for Student Success: A Model of Shared Accountability

In a new report out by Education Sector, Striving for Student Success: A Model of Shared Accountability, authors Kelly Bathgate, Richard Lee Colvin, and Elena Silva highlight the work of the Strive Partnership, particularly in implementing and fosting a shared accountability system.

To read the Education Sector article covering the report, follow this link: Striving for Student Success

To read the full report, follow this link: Striving for Student Success

“The goal of the [Partnership] report, and the Strive Partnership,” says Brown,  ”is to use data to help inform the process of educating kids so that it has the most impact on their success.”

To read the full story, follow this link: Local Student Achievement on the Rise

Wilke also presents her readers with the impact that this issue has on childhood hunger: “The impact on children is heart-breaking. If education is the way out and the way up, how can we not pay attention when 65 percent of elementary school teachers say that students regularly come to their classes hungry?”

She calls for a collaborative effort from the leaders of Cincinnati, the business community, and the local non-profits in order to create change. If the city of Cincinnati is to succeed in ending childhood hunger, we must bring all of our resources together.

To read this whole story, and to see how Wilke ties this challenge to the work of the Strive Partnership, follow this link: Time for action on childhood hunger

Partnership’s report shows progress by partners to improve achievement in region’s urban core

81 percent of student achievement measures trending in positive direction

CINCINNATI – (Nov. 16, 2011) — The Strive Partnership released its fourth annual report today, which offers an update on the encouraging progress being made to improve student achievement and growth, cradle to career, in the cities of Cincinnati, Covington, and Newport.  In fact, of the 34 measures of student achievement on which the partnership is focused, 81 percent are trending in the right direction versus 74 percent last year and 68 percent two years ago.

Kathy Merchant, executive committee chair of the partnership, praised the results in this year’s report – as well as the partners that are driving the growth in achievement.  “We are so proud of the progress being made in Cincinnati, Covington and Newport to ensure that every child is succeeding, every step of the way, from cradle to career,” Merchant said.

Rob Reifsnyder, president and CEO of United Way of Greater Cincinnati, said he is pleased at the year-to-year progress and the gains made during the past five years. “Together, the hard work of all of our partners are preparing today’s generation to become tomorrow’s leaders and add long-term value to our community’s success,” Reifsnyder said.  For example,

• Kindergarten readiness has improved in all three urban school districts over the past several years. Thanks to the work of United Way of Greater Cincinnati’s Success By 6 ®, Newport’s readiness rate has improved 12 percent to 72 percent of students since 2005, Cincinnati’s readiness rate has improved 9 percent to 53 percent of students prepared since 2005, and Covington has seen a 4 percent improvement (versus last year) to 67 percent of students prepared.

• Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) became the highest-rated urban school district in the state and the only to receive a rating of “Effective”, which was maintained for a second year in a row. Covington experienced meaningful growth in 4th grade reading, 8th grade math, high school graduation rates, and has partnered with Gateway Community and Technical College and the Social Innovation Fund to transform Holmes High School to further drive academic success and postsecondary enrollment. Newport experienced growth in ACT scores and postsecondary rates.

• Both the University of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky University have seen retention rates improve since 2005, and all four local public colleges and universities have seen improvements to postsecondary completion rates and credentials awarded.

“We know that the success of our region depends in large part on our ability to have great schools,” said Mary Ronan, Superintendent of Cincinnati Public Schools.  “We’re moving in the right direction, but we all know that more work lies ahead.”

Superintendent of Covington Independent Public Schools Lynda Jackson agreed.  “Coming together around what works for our kids has to be job number one.”

As such, the partnership is focused on driving collective impact, resource alignment, and data-informed decision-making as a way to improve achievement. Highlights include:

• Social Innovation Fund, a unique funders’ collaborative representing The Strive Partnership, United Way of Greater Cincinnati, and fourteen others, is leveraging $6 million, including a $3 million federal grant, to support evidenced-based initiatives.

• Learning Partner Dashboard, combining student-level academic data with student-level service provider data (i.e. mentoring, afterschool, tutoring, etc.) at CPS. This effort is targeted to improve our ability to support students with specific resources, drive data-informed decision-making, and improve the impact of services on student success. Efforts are underway to connect the Dashboard with early learning and development data, as well as to take this unique platform to Covington and Newport this fall.

The partnership’s executive director, Greg Landsman, said that while great progress has been made, there is much work to be done. “Our collective goal of ensuring the success of every child can only be reached if we can continue to improve – together.”

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Founded in 2006, The Strive Partnership unites common providers around shared goals shared issues, goals, measurements and results, and then actively supports and strengthens strategies that work.  The Strive Partnership is a subsidiary of KnowledgeWorks.

KnowledgeWorks is bringing the future of learning to America’s high schools and creating widespread, lasting change in the communities and states we serve. Our portfolio of high school approaches includes New Tech Network high schools, EdWorks high school redesign, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) and Early College High School.

You can read the entire report here: 2011 Partnership Report

“No longer can we rely on hundreds of good programs, working in isolation, to add up to success for the young people in our region. In the collective impact projects our Pacific Northwest team at the Gates Foundation has funded, there are hundreds of educators, and political and community leaders stepping up to this challenge. Following the lead of Strive in Cincinnati, where student outcomes are improving, these communities are charting a new path forward.”

Read the whole story here: Connecting the Dots: Is Your Community “Program Rich, System Poor”

 CPS – the first and only urban district in Ohio to earn an Effective rating – ranked 13th among Ohio’s 609 districts on the state’s value-added growth measure, according to the data.

 Battelle for Kids, established in 2001 and based in Columbus, is a partnership with the Ohio Business Roundtable supported with an initial grant from the Battelle Memorial Institute. The SOAR Collaborative is a school improvement initiative of 100 Ohio districts committed to using comprehensive value-added analysis to improve teaching and accelerate progress.

 Part of the Ohio Report Card rating every district and school, the value-added measure indicates whether students gained a year’s worth of expected learning growth (yellow), less than a year’s worth of growth (red), or more than a year’s worth of growth (green). CPS’ classification is green, with a composite index of 8.376 value-added growth.

 “We are extremely proud of this accomplishment because it shows that our teachers and community partners are helping our students make the strong learning gains they need to reach high academic standards,” Superintendent Mary Ronan said.

 By contrast, other Ohio urban districts made less progress on the measure: Akron ranked 323 (of 609 districts); Cleveland, 568; Columbus, 199; Dayton, 59; and Toledo, 609.

 Greater Cincinnati school districts that also fared extremely well on the state rankings of value-added learning growth include Lakota, rated first among the 609 districts; Mason, rated fifth; Indian Hill, sixth; and Middletown, 12th.

Complete rankings of school districts in Hamilton County follow:

State Rankings of Value-Added Growth

Hamilton County, 2010-11 School Year