FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 28, 2011

CONTACT:
HOPE Foundation
800.627.0232
leadership@hopefoundation.org

American Institutes of Research Report Finds Correlation between Student Achievement Gains and Implementation of Failure Is Not an Option Six Principles

BLOOMINGTON, IND. – (March 28, 2011) – In a report released by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and the HOPE Foundation, research found a strong correlation between Dallas, Texas area Mansfield Independent School District’s (ISD) implementation of the Failure Is Not an Option Six Principles and standardized tests gains. By incorporating these research-based principles through a three-year-long model called Courageous Leadership Academy (CLA), Mansfield ISD maintained a high rate of student success while experiencing rapid growth, especially among English language learners, minority and low socio-economic status students.

This year the almost 40,000-student district achieved the status of “Recognized” by the state of Texas and has an overall above proficiency success rate of 88.5 percent.

“The results are promising,” said Rebecca Herman, managing research analyst at AIR. “The Failure Is Not an Option Courageous Leadership Academy targets areas that research suggests have the greatest likelihood of eventually improving learning. There was a high degree of implementation, and that implementation showed some encouraging correlations with student achievement.”

By examining the level of implementation, correlation between implementation and student achievement as well as overall student achievement, the report found implementing the six principles included in the award-winning book Failure Is Not an Option (Blankstein 2004; 2010) via the three-year-long Courageous Leadership Academy (CLA) produced strong results for students in  34 out of 40 schools studied.

The CLA model calls for the creation of school-based leadership teams and provides tools for them to interact as high-performing learning communities both within their schools and from team-to-team across the district. The goal is to not only enhance student engagement and achievement, but also build instructional leadership, decision-making protocols, and overall capacity and commitment among all members of the team and their entire school-based learning communities.

“The CLA process significantly contributed to our school district’s success not only in terms of maintaining high student achievement rates, but also in staff morale,” said Sarah Jandrucko, area superintendent at Mansfield ISD. “Our students are more focused and willing to learn, and we believe the educators within these 34 schools will create a wave of powerful, innovative leadership for the district.”

A case study on Mansfield and other districts undertaking the same CLA process is the subject of a forthcoming book titled The Answer Is in the Room by Alan Blankstein.  Corwin Press will publish the book. They previously published Blankstein’s 2005 National Staff Development Council Book of the Year Failure Is Not an Option.

While the AIR report indicates strong overall implementation and a correlation between implementation and student gains, the cohort consisting of elementary and middle schools had both greater gains and levels of implementation than did the cohort of high schools. The mixed achievement results overall may also have been as a result of the extraordinary growth in the district during the period of implementation, especially represented by an economically poorer student population than was the norm for the district prior.

“Further research is called for to clarify all the elements of success in the use of this model,” said Herman.

There will be a webinar to discuss the findings further on April 13, 2011 at 3:30 p.m. EDT featuring Rebecca Herman, Sarah Jandrucko and Anne Richards, dean of faculty for the HOPE Foundation.

For the full report or to find our more information on the HOPE Foundation and CLA model, visit www.hopefoundation.org or call (800) 627-0232.

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About HOPE Foundation
Since 1989, the HOPE (Harnessing Optimism and Potential through Education) Foundation – a non-profit 501(c)(3), whose Honorary Chair is Archbishop Desmond Tutu – has led the way in creating learning communities where student success is the only option. HOPE helps to develop high-performing leadership teams and school cultures where Failure Is Not an Option® for any student. For more information about HOPE Foundation, visit www.hopefoundation.org.

About AIR
Established in 1946, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., the American Institutes for Research (AIR) is a nonpartisan not-for-profit organization that conducts behavioral and social science research and delivers technical assistance both domestically and internationally in the areas of health, education and workforce productivity. For more information, visit www.air.org.