Creighton School District's Larry C. Kennedy School a 'Beat the Odds' Success Story

PHOENIX - November 10, 2009 - Schools that beat the odds know it takes more than a magic wand to attain better than expected academic improvement.

After two years of hard work, Larry C. Kennedy Elementary School in Phoenix (Creighton School District) received a Beat the Odds bronze award for its 2008-2009 performance during an Oct. 28 ceremony.

The award was one of 39 presented to Arizona school principals by the Phoenix-based Beat the Odds Institute, an initiative of the Center for the Future of Arizona, a 501(c) (3) organization. Since 2007, the institute has provided training and support in implementing research-based principles often resulting in better than expected academic achievement in schools with mostly low-income, minority students.

The 39 awards marked a significant increase from the nine Beat the Odds awards presented the previous year. The increase demonstrates one of the six Beat the Odds principles - find a good program and stick with it.

"Beat the Odds gave us a laser-like focus on what we needed to be addressing, whether it was skill levels, teacher needs or parent involvement," commented Principal Sean Hannafin of Kennedy Elementary School. "By working on (the issues) throughout the year, we were able to turn them into our strengths."

For example, before joining the Beat the Odds program two years ago, Kennedy Elementary School's 7th grade was not making annual yearly progress.

"By analyzing and planning using the data as we did, and looking at individual student data, our students' AZ LEARNS (rating) grew significantly in language arts and math," Hannafin said with pride.

The awards are major milestones toward attaining the title of "Beat the Odds School" - one in which individual student achievement is better than expected based upon demographics.

Schools receiving the silver award for 2008-2009 performance attained the highest possible award for the second year of a multi-year program. The silver-level designation requires schools to demonstrate academic growth by the majority of students in reading and math internal test scores.

In addition, they must meet the criteria for bronze status, which includes effectively implementing research-based leadership principles school-wide, and receiving at least a "performing" AZ LEARNS label from the Arizona Department of Education for the 2008-2009 school year.

The highest level of achievement is the gold Beat the Odds Award, which confers the title of a "Beat the Odds School." Schools will be eligible for the gold designation at the end of the current school year, and thereafter.

The Gold designation requires meeting the criteria for silver status, plus the school must demonstrate statistically significant growth in AIMS reading and math test score data in all grades over at least a three-year period, or it must consistently perform above the state average.

In addition, the school must outperform the test scores predicted for its demographic make-up by a statistically significant amount for two years, including the most recent year.

During the 2009-2010 academic year the Beat the Odds Institute is providing training, assistance and support to 85 Arizona principals and their schools statewide. The Beat the Odds Institute seeks to expand its School Partners Program to 120 schools in 2010-2011.