COR combats food insecurity at Carver S.T.E.A.M. Academy

March 21, 2023 No Comments

It started with what some might call a wild idea. Jennifer Bartl says she’s one of three Jenn’s, the ‘Jennerators’, (the other two are Jennifer Henn and Jennifer Greenlee) who decided to create COR to support trauma-affected and historically excluded students and provide them with what they need to succeed.

Bartl says that when they decided to house their organization in Carver S.T.E.A.M Academy in south Atlanta, they knew there was a lot of food insecurity in the school. COR works in South Fulton County (30315), which has a Child Well-Being score of 30.9 (avg. score for Georgia is 68), and 55% of children in the zip code live in poverty (United Way of Greater Atlanta, 2020).

“And so we opened a grocery store inside the school. If our kiddos have food in their belly and the rest of their basic needs met, they are more likely to come to school, stay in school, and thrive,” Bartl said. The food primarily comes from Second Helpings, an organization that “rescues” food that is still good from grocery stores, restaurants, and corporate events. Available items range from prepackaged sandwiches and organic fresh produce to hygiene items and clothes, all free to students and their families.

The CORner Store also has some necessities that can’t be bought with an EBT card. For instance, the Homeless Period Project provides pre-made bags of period products for students to grab and go, making menstruation one less thing that gets in the way of learning.

COR tries to reduce any barriers that might stand between students and their needs, and they provide more than nutrition. Bartl said that COR is unique because they offer counseling, prevention education and care coordination for students and their families, on-site at school. Services are offered where kids spend most of their day. Counseling is free and doesn’t require an appointment or an insurance card, so students can walk in when needed. They also equip students with important social and emotional skills necessary for adulting.

“The Whole Child Approach is an example of how we ensure students have access to a great K-12 public education,” says Dennis Dent, communications director, redefinED atlanta. “We [redefinED atlanta] partner with organizations like COR to address intersectional issues that create barriers for student performance and negatively impact students and families,” Dent added.

“Every child, no matter their socioeconomic status, deserves to flourish at school and beyond” Bartl said.

“Our idea is that your zip code shouldn’t determine whether or not you have food in your belly or access to a decent education, or to see a successful future for yourself,” Bartl added.

The CORner Store supplements the school lunch program when there’s not much food at home. Often the lunch and breakfast they receive at school are the two guaranteed meals they have. Bartl says that allowing students and their families to shop at their grocery store helps fill in those gaps.

“Maybe it’s that dinner meal that they don’t get at school, or weekend meals, or snacks,” Bartl said.

Another benefit of the store is that it provides a point of contact with parents or guardians who may otherwise be hard to reach.

“It’s like, oh, this students’ Mom comes every Tuesday to get groceries,” Bartl said, adding that regular contact and resources also help the adults in a student’s life to see interaction with the school as positive, rather than just a sign that their child is in trouble.

Improving family engagement is a frequently discussed goal of many school districts because involved parents can mean better outcomes for students. Bartl says that developing a strong relationship with parents was a happy consequence of the pandemic – they made countless home visits and became quite the fixture in many south Atlanta front yards and porches. Connecting with parents and caregivers is something they’ve been intentional about prioritizing since a return to in-person learning.

COR tries to educate students and families about nutrition by using models like the US Department of Agriculture’s My Plate plan. They love to share personal family recipes and parents often return with pictures of what they made and stories of getting their kids to try something new.

COR’s “CORner Store” and the other on-site services they provide help keep students in school. COR also advocates for students and will try to intervene if a student is on the verge of being disenrolled due to absence, starting with asking what is happening in the student’s life.

“We try to jump in if it gets to the point of saying ‘we’re going to disenroll’ and say, can we put some brief interventions and support in place to see if we could get this kid to come to school?” Bartl said.

Bartl said that school-based grocery stores and the kind of wraparound support that COR offers is an idea that is spreading.

“There’s one at Tri-Cities High School this year and they just put one at Banneker [High School],” Bartl said.

“In a perfect world, I think that this model of tiered levels of structured, in-school support should be the norm,” Bartl added.

While improving nutrition is an important part of COR’s approach, Bartl says the goal is to reduce all of the barriers that get in a student’s way.

“It’s never just food insecurity. Poverty, housing insecurity, racism, and the subsequent historial exclusion…you can’t separate [them]. And I know that none of our families struggle with just one. It’s layered, it’s infuriating, and it’s largely preventable,” Bartl said.

redefinED atlanta is transforming Atlanta into a place where every student in every community has opportunity, well-being, and self-determination. We will continue to grow and participate in coalitions to address intersectional issues that create barriers for student performance and negatively impact students and families. To learn more about our intersectional coalitions and grow your understanding of public education, take the A.R.I.S.E. pledge today!

Voting for Education Celebrates Black History and Black Futures

February 27, 2023 No Comments

Black History Month highlights Black achievements and people pushing for change. What better way to celebrate these past efforts than to advance future opportunities?

Education promotes future success and well-being for individuals and communities. That’s one reason to increase access and equity in our K-12 education system. Others include fighting systemic oppression, honoring Black youth and ensuring that every child in every community receives a great K-12 public education.

As passionate education advocates, we move this work forward in many ways. Whatever each of us does to advance systemic change, it’s also critical that we vote for education and encourage our friends and neighbors to do the same.

Civic Leadership and Our Schools

Since nothing about this work is quick or easy, keeping historic civic leaders and their progress in mind is helpful. Centuries ago, during post-civil war reconstruction, Blacks overcame countless barriers to educate children and increase the number of Black teachers. In addition, Black leaders and activists laid groundwork we’re still benefiting from and building on today — one being the building of the nation’s largest complex of Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU) in Atlanta between 1865 and 1881.

The effort was impressive and successful despite being repeatedly undermined by constantly shifting rules and political responses. One prominent example of this systemic undermining happened when the U.S. government stopped funding the Freedman’s Bureau in 1872. Another happened 82 years later when desegregation coupled with systemic racism shut out many successful Black teachers from our public school systems in Atlanta and nationwide.

Today, communities across the country continue to feel the impacts of disparities and inequities and a shortage of representative teachers and administrators in public education. Like those who came before, current-day leaders like you, parents and caregivers, educators and advocates, and our youth continue to navigate obstacles and find this moment’s opportunities.

Why School Board Elections Matter

One current-day opportunity worth taking a closer look at is school board elections. Unlike national elections, school board elections take place in a local context. By learning about and supporting candidates who champion educational equity, we can better our schools and create a pathway for more representative leadership at the state and nationally.

School board elections also promote democracy. Communities gain more understanding about school issues when candidates bring attention to their priority issues. Candidates representing and in dialogue with communities give citizens a voice and ownership over critical education decisions. Once voted into office, we entrust these elected officials to protect children, create safe and welcoming schools, equitably distribute funds, write, research, and vote on policies that ultimately advance the impact of education as a public good.

Voting Takes Our Work Further

At redefinED atlanta, we believe one vote can make a difference, but collectively we are even stronger. Our work around voter mobilization means activating a well-informed voter base that can help elect community leaders into seats of power who will aid in advancing policy change to ensure all children and families have access to high-quality public education.

In 2022, we set specific goals to grow voter participation among Atlanta public school families during the midterm elections and the race for state superintendent. The results are worth celebrating. Highlights include a 19% higher voter turnout at our four partner schools than in the general election in 2021. The turnout in 2022 among these families was also 23% higher than voter modeling predicted.

After incorporating lessons learned from our 2021 voter mobilization efforts into our 2022 campaign, we plan for even more progress later this year. A few lessons learned included starting our efforts earlier in the year, increasing the content we distributed online and in print, and securing voting champions at every school to increase outreach and engagement.

In addition, we launched an electoral fellowship, a pilot cohort designed to engage families and educators who served as organizers for their schools’ community. The fellows also hosted and tabled at events, canvassed in school communities and phone banked to mobilize families to increase voter turnout.

While one vote can sometimes feel insignificant, it’s not – especially when done as a community. It’s yet another example of the power of sustained collective effort over time. By making it a top priority to vote and urging those in our circle to do the same, our impact continues to grow. To learn more and grow your understanding of the power of voting, visit www.redefinEDatlanta.org/voter-mobilization.

STEAM Program Immerses Students In Hands-On Curriculum

February 19, 2023 No Comments

Celebrate National Engineering Week!

This week is National Engineering Week, a call to recognize engineers for their contributions to society. redefinED atlanta recently sat down with one of our pandemic innovation fund partners Dr. Marsha Francis, executive director for STE(A)M Truck, a program dedicated to immersing students grades 3-8 in hands-on STE(A)M content through high-tech and low-tech tools, unleashing their creativity to ensure that they can design the lives and future communities of their dreams.

Dr. Marsha Francis describes STE(A)M Truck as “an amazing mobile maker space and innovation lab on wheels.” Through their programs, 3rd-8th-grade students can roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty. STE(A)M Truck carries high-tech and low-tech tools into the classroom…from 3D printers, drones, virtual reality, and coding to drills, hammers, saws and glue guns.

That creative focus sparks understanding and interest in students who might need access to more intensive STEM programs in their neighborhood or district that engage them in ways that traditional classroom learning does not. It’s an intervention that can change the trajectory of their education and future careers–exactly the type of innovation and opportunity that redefinED atlanta strives to make possible to all K-12 students

As a former elementary teacher and district administrator, Francis believes the rigid “sit and get” style of teaching doesn’t stick, and more to the point it doesn’t allow students to develop the imaginative, creative, collaborative skills that corporations whose bread and butter is innovation are looking for.

Francis earned her Ph.D. at the University of Georgia, studying equity in science education, especially for elementary school students. When shewas teaching, one of her principals told her, “the kids we taught only needed to learn to read and count, and I knew that wasn’t actually true,” said Francis.

At the beginning of the COVID pandemic, redefinED atlanta provided funding that allowed STE(A)M Truck to convert its very hands-on approach to something that could translate into remote learning.

“The funding helped us breathe a little bit, spend some time thinking about what does this mean to provide virtual components and get materials out to kids and families and engage them multiple times to create a similar build,” said Francis. She added that while they couldn’t send everyone saws, hammers and 3D printers, they could find coding and art projects and other ways to get students to make things from home.

That necessity led to a partnership with Clayton County Schools, which is still thriving. Francis said that at first, they partnered with schools providing instruction virtually. Their programming staff led class builds through Zoom and eased the burden on teachers, who were trying to navigate the shift to remote classrooms. But as students returned to school buildings, they pivoted to providing professional development and support for teachers to lead projects with their students with coaching from STE(A)M Truck’s Teacher Engagement team.

Francis said that the teachers, who are frequently as weighed down with regimentation as their students, seemed to get just as much joy out of the opportunity to be creative in the classroom. “It’s not a worksheet, it’s not a lecture, it’s not a video, it’s a thinking, a doing, a talking, percolating, and that’s really really rich,” said Francis.

“That early support and that vote of confidence and that seed money from redefineED atlanta really helped us stretch and continue to be relevant and provide this just-in-time service to kids who were home but really deserved an opportunity to learn like this,” said Francis.

Francis said the pandemic highlighted the need to be innovative and nimble, but the need remains after schools re-opened. Changing technology means that the relatively slow pace of curriculum development and education policy changes may need to catch up with the demands of the job market.

Enter companies like SNIPES and Nike, that are willing to put their money where their sneakers are to develop the imaginative design skills they are looking for.

Francis said she got a call from SNIPES in September for a program that launched in October. “They wanted us to create an eight-week program for high schoolers to think about universal design, sneaker design and creating innovative sneakers for differently abled people,” said Francis.

“They said, high schoolers are really smart. We want to see what they would dream up if we gave them all these resources. And that’s STE(A)M Truck in a nutshell,” laughed Francis.

“I’m a person that when I get a blessing, it won’t be squandered,” Francis added.

Students were divided into teams and given roles equivalent to real-world project management jobs. They did everything from considering who their target audience was for a design, to sawing a sneaker in half to see how it was made and making multiple prototypes of inclusive footwear.

Students in the program responded with exactly the innovation the sponsors hoped for. One student designed a sneaker that would alert a deaf and blind wearer to a nearby object through electronic pressure sensors near the toe of the shoe.

“I’m optimistic about all that we have on our horizon. I love the commitment that our corporate partners are making to students. And we’re just excited to continue this work,” said Francis.

STEAM programs are important in exposing students in under-resourced communities to unique opportunities that enrich their education journey. redefinED atlanta will continue supporting STE(A)M Truck in its vision to ensure K-12 youth throughout Atlanta have equitable access to relevant, transformative and inspiring learning experiences that open doors for future life opportunities. To learn more about STE(A)M Truck and its programs, visit www.steamtruck.org.

Understanding What Educational Equity Is and Why It’s Important

February 9, 2023 No Comments

What Is Equity in Education?

Equity in education can’t be achieved without first understanding the meaning of equity. Equity is the pursuit of fairness and justice, used to create balance. This also underscores the imbalance in what people have access to from the start.

Educational inequity is the unequal distribution of academic resources such as books, technology, school funding, facilities and qualified educators. Historically disadvantaged or oppressed communities such as Black and Latinx families are often victims of these practices.

Equality vs. Equity

While both are important and deal with fairness, there is a difference between equality and equity. Equality requires that all receive the same. Equity takes this a step further by recognizing where each group started and ensuring that balance and justice is restored.

Equality in education is achieved when students are treated equally and have access to similar resources. Equity is achieved when students in marginalized groups receive the resources they need, even if they need more support than another school, so they graduate prepared for success after high school.

An Example of Equity in Education

Imagine two schools both have textbooks. On the surface, this seems fair because both possess the same type of resource. However, upon closer examination, one school has brand new textbooks while the other has 25-year-old textbooks and learning from old materials.

For there to be equity in their education, the students with old textbooks also need access to the newest ones. Learning from older materials means that students might be learning outdated information rather than a version incorporating new teaching methods and insights on making the material clearer. Access to the newest materials can give students the best shot at success in and out of the classroom, ensuring grade progression and minimizing potential learning gaps.

Using the textbook example above, if each school receives the same year textbook, all students have equality in the classroom. But, this doesn’t consider that, in previous years, students were learning from outdated textbooks. For there to be equity in their education, these students may need additional support to close the learning gap that inadequate resources created.

The Need for Equitable Education

The importance of equity in education is profound and the impact is exponential for Black and Latinx students and students in under-resourced areas.

Equitable academic outcomes:

Ensure high outcomes for all students
Remove predictability of success or failures associated with social or cultural factors
Discover and utilize unique gifts and talents in students

Educators in under-resourced schools have to focus precious energy and efforts on finding necessary resources to help students catch up to their thriving counterparts. When students are given access to equitable resources and opportunities, their growth accelerates because they have what they need to excel and their efforts are put fully toward learning.

How to Identify Students Who May Be Underserved

Educational inequity exists everywhere—often between different communities—but it can also exist within the same classroom. Identifying who may need additional support is the first step to restoring justice and equity in education.

Typically, historically marginalized and oppressed communities, under-resourced areas, or first-generation students have not received equitable access to education. Racism, homophobia, and other social risk factors impact whole communities—including education systems. Many schools in these areas have been discriminated against, excluding them from funding, resources and experiences.

Promoting Equity at the School and Classroom Level

Communities hold the power to affect change and promote equitable education for all students. Here are a few ways to take action:

Address systemic issues—recognize and spread awareness that systemic injustices exist in the educational system, and address these issues head-on.
Talk to the other parents in your community about what you are seeing and get their thoughts on these issues. Set up time to discuss this with your students’ teachers or administrators.
Address the roles of leadership and administration—school leadership can be a larger part of the systemic issues or be unaware that they exist, but as they are in positions of power and influence, they need to be a part of the solution. One way to hold your school’s leaders accountable is by attending school board meetings when they are held and speaking about the needs of your students at those gatherings.
Remove current barriers—create change through community awareness and school system policy changes. Use your vote and your voice to create change whenever there is a chance to vote for school board members or on policy changes at community meetings.
Understand how technology has a larger role in a student’s education—currently, equitable access to technology is one of the biggest barriers to student development as not every student has access at home.. Reach out to and petition school district leaders and board members to seek ways in which access to technology is available to students.

Empowering All Students to Succeed

Building an equitable learning environment empowers all students to maximize their potential, including those with diverse educational needs. Leaning into and prioritizing personalized learning opportunities can give each student the time, accommodations and resources they need to meet their educational goals.

Despite grade level, some students may have difficulty learning in certain subject areas, different reading levels or language barriers. Personalized learning and supplemental materials make all the difference for these students and students with greater needs. Allowing school leaders to have more autonomy to source the appropriate materials, resources, and training enables them to create an equitable learning environment.

Make a Change for Equitable Education

Equity in education impacts students’ academic success and entire communities alike. Equitably funding and providing resources to all schools, ensures the best possible outcomes for students and honors their unique gifts and talents. This learning environment allows educators to personalize student learning, which benefits students and gives them a more positive view of learning and their potential, shaping them into more confident and prepared adults.

Students are the future, and they deserve a more equitable and just school system. Interested in making a difference?

Building Collective Power to Provide a Great K-12 Education for Every Student in 2022 and Beyond

January 20, 2023 No Comments

We know transforming Atlanta into a place where every student receives a great K-12 education is only possible with leadership, buy-in and shared vision from our supporters.

For that reason, we engaged parents, caregivers, school talent and community leaders to listen, learn and identify opportunities to advocate for equity in education and grow great schools.

Our work is wholly about bringing our “village” together to serve, anticipate, and adjust to the rapidly evolving community and education landscape. In the words of W.E.B. Du Bois, “Education is that whole system of human training within and without the school house walls.”

Looking back over 2022, we focused outside those school house walls on building collective power for Atlanta’s K-12 students. Our A.R.I.S.E fellowship program engaged leaders from all nine of Atlanta Public Schools’ (APS) clusters to grow their advocacy for the city’s children. In addition, we’ve partnered with a new coalition of over 20 local education-focused nonprofits that are creating the space and structure for increased collaboration to move all our missions forward.

We’re motivated and inspired to build on the momentum from this year and continue creating real change for every student in 2023 and beyond.

2022 Highlights

A.R.I.S.E.

This year, we launched Atlanta Reimagining & Innovating for Schools Everywhere Fellowship (A.R.I.S.E.), a nine-month fellowship that aims to grow community power and influence by exploring the levers that drive systemic change for all of Atlanta’s children.

Through this fellowship, participants learned about the history of the APS district, explored student achievement trends and identified opportunities to partner with communities to allocate a two-year $300,000 grant fundthrough participatory grantmaking. These funds will offer support towards community-driven solutions focused on literacy outcomes for APS students.

Ultimately, graduates of this program can clearly articulate their commitment, goals and role in advocating for positive change in K-12 public education. We’re looking forward to opening applications for our next A.R.I.S.E. cohort in May 2023.

Education Community Convening

We facilitated quarterly convenings for more than 20 local education nonprofit organizations to work collectively in serving the expanding needs of children in Atlanta Public Schools. The Atlanta Board of Education’s introduction of the Goals and Guardrails policy in the spring of 2021 catalyzed the collaborative to grow into a working coalition.

After the policy passed in October 2021, the coalition’s participating organizations initiated efforts to formalize their partnership and announce the coalition and its focus during the 2022-2023 school year.

Scaling School Excellence

We worked closely to help expand two excellent charter schools, Amana Academy and Resurgence Hall, in Metro Atlanta to support their goals to serve more students.

Amana has consistently been a top-performing school in Fulton County for the past decade with outsized academic achievement and growth amongst a diverse student body.

Resurgence Hall has been one of the highest-performing schools in GA since its launch and was the only A-rated school on Georgia’s CCRPI in the area in 2019.

We have worked with both organizations for the past several years, but 2022 was special as we supported the launch of both Amana West and Resurgence Hall Middle School.

Amana West is the second school for Amana Academy and as they grow out, Amana will serve 750 students in the Metro Atlanta area.

Resurgence Hall has added a middle school to its existing campus to continue serving students in East Point. With the addition of the middle school, Resurgence Hall will grow to serve an additional 400 students.

We are so honored that our partnership and support of Amana and Resurgence will help ensure an additional 1,150 students in Metro Atlanta can attend a great public school.

Family & Community Engagement in Support of Great Schools

November 7, 2022 No Comments

Teamwork makes the dream work.

It may sound cliche, but it’s a statement that highlights the impact created when people aiming to meet a common goal work together to accomplish it. We often share our beliefs with an oversimplified equation: active family & community engagement + the best & brightest teachers & school leaders = great schools.

Though other factors like equitable access to resources and freedom and flexibility for teachers and school leaders are also necessary to serve the unique needs of every student, we know the power of people working together will get us further faster. Since the reopening of public schools, after they shut down due to COVID-19, we learned that additional financial resources were needed to jumpstart and strengthen schools’ engagement with families and community members.

Historically, we offered $1,000 grants to schools to support events or enhancements to efforts to engage families and communities. Through insights gathered from community listening with parents and caregivers, teachers and school leaders across the Atlanta Public Schools district, we decided to double down on the investment in schools’ engagement goals. This year, we dedicated $150,000 to offer Title I schools up to $15,000 to support their 2022-2023 academic year. More than 30 schools applied and we are excited to announce that we selected 16 schools to receive the inaugural Family and Community Engagement (FACE) grants, ranging from $4,000 to $15,000.

Congratulations to the recipients!

High School
- Benjamin E. Mays High School
- Frederick Douglass High School

Do you live near a school on the list? We encourage you to visit their website and stay tuned for upcoming opportunities to engage. Not sure which schools are in your neighborhood, enter your address here and consider attending their next GO Team or PTA meeting to get involved in supporting positive outcomes for children in your community.

References
Learn more about GO Teams here.

Learn more about Title 1 schools.

Use Your Voice + Vote for Atlanta Education

October 3, 2022 No Comments

Importance of Voting

Georgia’s general elections are on Nov. 8, 2022. These elections will decide races for the key positions that will impact not only our educational system but our city and state as a whole. You will have the opportunity to vote on the critical role of the State Superintendent, which is the person with the power to determine the school districts and budgets for the entire state, setting the future of Atlanta schools.

You might ask yourself, “does my vote even matter?” Of course it does! Voting is a critical way to be civically engaged and help shape the future of education in Atlanta. We believe that the knowledge, experiences, and strengths of community members, like you, are essential in building a brighter and more sustainable future for our young people.

Whether you’re the most civically engaged person or growing in your role of motivating your networks to vote in every election, not encouraging your neighbors and friends to vote comes with consequences. Two things that come to mind are A.) The continued achievement gap between minorities and disadvantaged students versus their white counterparts and B.) Ongoing income immobility. Children having access, or not having access, to education determines their future outcomes.

Additionally, you will be able to vote for U.S. Senate and House representatives, state Senate and House representatives, Georgia governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, and other state executive offices, as well as several state high courts.

Make a Voting Plan

With such an important election coming up, making a plan to vote will ensure that your voice is heard.

Registration
The first step to making a voting plan is registering to vote or check your registration status. You can register online or by mail if you are eligible.

If you are already registered to vote, it is important to check your registration status to ensure that your information is still correct in the system and to know where your polling location is if you choose to vote in person early or on election day.

The deadline to register for this election is Oct. 11, 2022. Please note, if you are not registered by that date, you won’t be able to vote in the November election.

Absentee Ballot Voting
Absentee ballots are an option for registered voters who prefer not to vote in person or will be out of town on the election day. You do not need an excuse to request an absentee ballot, but you must request an absentee ballot in order to receive one in the mail.

Once you receive your ballot, you will fill it out, and follow all instructions to submit it. Your County Registrar’s Office must receive your ballot before the polls close on election day to be counted.

Early Voting
Early voting helps voters avoid crowds or find a time to vote that’s better for their schedules in the weeks prior to election day. This is done in person in the same way that one would vote in person on election day. Early voting in Georgia is Oct. 17-23.

The assigned voting location for early voting may be different from your assigned location for election day voting. Be sure to check where you will need to go to cast your ballot.

Voting in Person on Election Day
Voting in person on election day requires individuals to arrive at their assigned polling station on Nov. 8, 2022, to cast their ballot. Be sure to check your registration status to ensure you go to the correct polling location between the hours that the location is open.

Many employers in the state of Georgia are required by law to give you time off to allow you to vote on election day. Paid administrative leave for voting is available to employees when their work schedule does not allow them at least two hours, including travel, to vote either before or after work. Employees who are scheduled to begin work at least two hours after the polls open or end work at least two hours before the polls close are not eligible to request paid leave for voting. Administrative leave for voting is not available for voting mid-day.

Discover Candidates’ Stances and Nonpartisan Resources

Information is a powerful tool. After you’ve made a voting plan, learn more about the candidates fighting for a seat and explore nonpartisan resources to be fully informed as you cast your vote. These resources can act as a guide for you to discover who is running for each position, as well as how each candidate feels about important issues to you and your community.

Resources

BallotReady

Branch

Look, voter fatigue is real, but local elections are just as important as presidential elections, especially with the ongoing impacts of COVID-19. Arguably, they are even more significant because the people elected are making decisions about your typical everyday operations like getting clean water to your home, ensuring your trash is collected, and in the case of children, the overall quality of schools and public education.

At redefinED atlanta, we are committed to partnering with you to advocate for an equitable public education that provides students with the knowledge and tools to pursue their passions, realize their full potential, and better their community and society. This vision is not possible without the voices and votes of our collective community, especially during such a pivotal election for our state.

Together, we can shape the future of Atlanta education for the better.

Georgia Milestones Results Shows Learning Loss from the Pandemic continues to impact Atlanta Public Schools students

September 13, 2022 No Comments

Over the past months, we have looked at various student-level data. Last month, the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) shared the statewide Georgia Milestones results for the 2021-2022 school year (SY). The state required Milestones for 2021-2022 testing after canceling the mandate for state assessment in response to COVID-19 in 2020. Schools across Atlanta Public Schools (APS) saw significantly higher participation rates, enabling us to better understand the scale of pandemic learning loss.

This month, the National Assessment of Educational Programs (NAEP) released its biannual nationwide assessment of student academic achievement in public and private schools across the United States. Both sets of data highlighted a few similar themes:

learning loss from the pandemic was significant,
learning loss was steeper in math than in reading, and
students that struggled before the pandemic were likely to have greater levels of learning loss.

National data from NAEP showed that scaled reading scores for 4th graders dropped by five points which represents the largest decline in reading scores recorded since 1990. Meanwhile, the 4th-grade math scale scores declined by seven points. This is the first time that NAEP results have shown a decline in math scaled scores. This aligns with what occurred in Georgia too.

Upon reviewing Georgia Milestone results between 2019 and 2022, proficiency across the state in grades 3-8 fell by eight percent in math and five percent in English Language Arts (ELA).

Another way to understand the data is that for every 100 students, eight did not meet the proficiency bar in math and five did not meet the proficiency bar in ELA.

The larger drops in math both at the national and state level align with projections noted in our summer 2020 learning loss report, Quantifying the Impact of School Closures on Metro Atlanta Student Proficiency.

These learning loss trends were also prevalent across APS. In APS, grades 3-8 ELA proficiency fell by six percent. Likewise, math proficiency in grades 3-8 math scores fell by 10 percent.

Students that are not yet proficient have even more pronounced results. NAEP scaled scores fell the most for students that were furthest behind before the pandemic.

This result was also consistent in APS with the Georgia Milestones results. Using developing and above Georgia Milestones scores, APS saw six percent declines in 3-8th grade reading and 12 percent declines in 3-8th grade math. When accounting for students in the developing and above category, the larger drops in math suggest there was greater learning loss with our students who entered the pandemic behind grade level.

Learning Loss Varied Even Among Similar Schools

NAEP has not yet released state or district-specific data, but the Georgia Milestones results include school-specific data. The state-level data shows that students and schools in under-resourced neighborhoods still need more support to recover from pandemic-era learning loss. However, the relationship is not the same in all cases. Using APS Insights data, we see that poverty matched up with Milestones performance. Still, schools with similar socioeconomics have as much as a 40-point difference in the percentage of students scoring developing and above on Milestones.

$Georgia Milestones 2022$ The Milestones Math Proficiency graph shows that test score changes from 2019 to 2022 have wide variation by the school.

Although the test scores from 2019 and 2022 were under different circumstances, we believe it is important to see the changes to understand the extent of learning loss at each school.

A New User-Friendly Way for Community to Understand the data.

In the spring of 2022, we soft-launched our Atlanta Schools Data Project to collect feedback regarding what is most helpful for different users. We designed the tool to organize publicly available data and make it accessible for APS parents, caregivers and community members to understand.

The tool does not determine what makes a great school; there is no amount of data that can determine what a student’s experience will be at a school. However, with information at hand for all, we can drive impact for the over 50,000 students that rely on Atlanta Public Schools for their education, setting them up for a lifetime of success.

So what’s next at APS?

A press release from APS mentions the district’s Academic Recovery Plan and The APS 5, five measurable methods to guide their academic strategy, based on the district’s five-year strategic plan: Data, Curriculum and Instruction, Whole-Child Intervention, Personalized Learning and Signature Programming.

In 2022-2023, the district will focus on effective implementation of and support for the academic strategy and monitor the plan’s progress through district and state data.
In 2023-2024, the district will continue monitoring the plan’s progress, assessing, reviewing, and making adjustments based on the data.

Now more than ever, we are committed to working alongside and supporting APS to realize their vision:

“a high-performing district where students love to learn, educators inspire, families engage and the community trusts the system.”

Forward, together.

We know public school systems exist to drive positive student outcomes and improve them when necessary. However, for generations, inequity in Atlanta’s public schools continues to disproportionately impact Black and Brown students and students living in under-resourced communities.

With the lingering impact of COVID-19 on students’ proficiency, we must all move with urgency to support students, encourage bold and innovative ways to accelerate learning and close the opportunity gap. We believe now is the time to reimagine public education. We can develop a new delivery system for Black and Brown students and students from under-resourced communities to give every student opportunities, a sense of well-being and self-determination.

Visit our Back-to-School campaign page to learn more about K-12 public education. Share the resources with your networks and get involved in supporting education for every student in every community!

Citation: The math comparisons include 2019 eighth-grade end-of-course results to create a more accurate comparison to 2022, when all eighth-grade students were required to take the eighth-grade EOG math exam

redefinED atlanta Announces Emily Castillo Leon as its New Senior Director of Schools

June 28, 2022 No Comments

Meet Emily Castillo Leon: the New redefinED atlanta Senior Director of Schools

redefinED atlanta, a nonprofit that engages communities, advocates for equity, and funds critical work to drive systemic level improvement in K-12 public education for students and families is pleased to announce that Emily Castillo Leon has joined the staff.

“Our staff is committed to working with parents, educators, community leaders and philanthropists to ensure students have opportunity, well-being and self-determination,” said Ed Chang, executive director, redefinED atlanta. “Emily’s background as a school leader will help propel redefinED atlanta’s vision to transform Atlanta into a place where every student in every community receives a great K-12 public education.”

Emily Castillo León was the Founder and Head of School of Ethos Classical. As the Founder and Head of School, she led Ethos from concept inception to execution, with Ethos now serving over 450 scholars in southwest Atlanta. She has a proven track record of transformative academic outcomes for scholars in district and charter schools. As the founding assistant principal of KIPP Nashville Collegiate High School, she led the humanities team to the highest scores in KIPP network history on the NWEA MAP Reading Assessment and scholars demonstrating growth in the 99th percentile on the Tennessee English I End of Course Exam.

Emily began her career in education as a high school English teacher in Charlotte, North Carolina. As Lead English II Teacher, she led her scholars, and her team to a 92% overall pass rate on the state writing assessment, positioning her school as the third-highest achieving of 21 high schools in the district. Emily has also served as Manager and then Director of Teacher Leadership Development with Teach For America where she modeled best practices with managers and teachers and led a cohort of first-year English teachers to “significantly exceed growth” on Common Core-aligned state assessments. Before founding Ethos, she was a fellow with the highly selective Building Excellent Schools Fellowship. Emily received a bachelor’s degree in English and communications from Wake Forest University.

In her new role, Emily will support the execution of redefinED atlanta’s school growth strategy. This position will play a vital role in the start-up of new schools, and school expansion and provide resources and guidance to school and district leaders and governance entities. As the senior director of schools, she will foster collaboration and accountability and stand with the community to hold the bar for quality and excellence.

About redefinED atlanta:

Every student in Atlanta needs access to a great K-12 public education. Together with parents, educators, community leaders, and philanthropists, redefinED atlanta is transforming Atlanta into a place where every student in every community has opportunity, well-being and self-determination. For more information, please visit www.redefinEDatlanta.org.

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