New Partnership With Leading School Improvement Group to Strengthen Student Achievement and College Preparation for CMS Students
Posted on: Tuesday, 12 June 2007, 15:00 CDT
CHARLOTTE, N.C., June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) today announced a new partnership with a leading school improvement group - the Parthenon Group - to better address the educational needs of the district's low-performing students and prepare all students for success in college and career.
The Parthenon Group will use its extensive research and consulting experience to help CMS develop an improvement strategy and business model that will target reform in 10 Achievement Zone schools serving the district's high-need students. This planning process will be funded by an $800,000 investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
"The Parthenon Group has a proven track record of success in public and private business sectors," says Dr. Peter C. Gorman, CMS superintendent. "It has public education expertise and the ability to leverage national and international efforts to help our students and our schools succeed."
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, with 133,000 students, is the 23rd-largest public school district in the United States. It is a consolidated city-county system with a mix of urban and suburban students in 161 schools. The student population is 42 percent African-American, 36 percent white, four percent Asian and four percent Native American or other ethnicity. Almost half - 45 percent - of the district's students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, the federal standard for poverty.
CMS has received national recognition for leadership in increasing accountability, raising academic standards and reducing the achievement gap. The district increased the number of African-American students reading on grade level from 35 percent in 1995-96 to 84 percent a decade later. In 2006, 90 percent of all district fifth-graders were reading on grade level. CMS fourth-grade students have also outperformed their peers in North Carolina and other states on the reading and math tests given by the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2005.
Students in the district's Achievement Zone schools are challenged by social barriers, including high rates of poverty among students. These schools also tend to have higher percentages of students who are not on grade level, have limited English proficiency or receive special education services.
The CMS Achievement Zone includes 10 underachieving schools with high concentrations of at-risk students and a new program that focuses on rising ninth-graders who need additional academic support. The zone was created as part of a district-wide reorganization that will take effect in the 2007-2008 school year.
The CMS/Parthenon Group partnership will help provide at-risk students with a high-quality education that prepares them for success in college, career and life. Strategies likely will focus on recruiting and retaining high quality teachers, and using innovative education strategies to boost student learning.
CMS and Parthenon expect to create a model that can be used in other learning communities as the district decentralizes and pushes more decision- making authority to local schools.
Parthenon, a strategic advisory firm based in Boston, will assess CMS' current school improvement efforts, research what's working nationally and internationally, and then develop a plan of action for the Achievement Zone.
The Parthenon Group
The Parthenon Group is a leading boutique strategic advisory firm with offices in Boston, San Francisco and London. Since its inception in 1991, the firm has embraced a distinctly entrepreneurial and committed approach to strategic advisory services. The Parthenon Group is a leading advisor to the education industry, and offers unparalleled services to its clients through its Education Center of Excellence, bringing experience across the K-12, higher education and corporate training markets.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
CONTACT: Kathleen Bell, +1-980-343-0472, +1-704-506-1731, Cell,+1-980-343-3647, Fax, or Tahira Stalberte, +1-980-343-6775, +1-704-634-7583,Cell, +1-980-343-3647, Fax, or Cyndi Robbins, +1-980-343-1081,+1-704-634-5136, Cell, +1-980-343-3647, Fax all for Charlotte-MecklenburgSchools
Web site: http://www.cms.k12.nc.us/
Source: PRNewswire
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