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| School allies sought - (06/18/2009) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Over sandwich wraps and potato salad, Chattanooga business leaders plotted with high school principals about how to ready the next generation of local workers. After two years of partnering with Lookout Valley High School, Glenn Morris, president and CEO of M&M Industries, decided it was time for other businesses to get involved with schools. |
| More students score high on ACT - (05/28/2009) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
More Hamilton County public school students taking the ACT college entrance exam scored a 25 or better this school year than last, according to district data. About 335 students out of 3,487 who took the test between August and April scored at least a 25, which ACT officials said is competitive for most colleges and universities in the nation. |
| Bonus rewards - (05/20/2009) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
East Side Elementary teacher Patricia Clark faces an uphill battle at the beginning of each school year. She must teach her students to read, but most of them don"t yet speak English. "It"s a very big challenge,” said the 18-year East Side veteran. ... She"s one of 33 teachers, two principals and two assistant principals being honored for making huge gains at high-poverty schools from 2005 to 2007. |
| Frist visits, boosts education reform - (05/05/2009) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
When it comes to working out the details of a pet project, it"s all about who you know, said former U.S. Senator Bill Frist. Dr. Frist, a former Senate majority leader, stopped by Orchard Knob Elementary on Monday to brainstorm with teachers on how to improve education across the state ... Dr. Frist chose to meet with teachers and principals at Orchard Knob because of the school"s involvement in the nationally recognized Benwood Initiative. |
| Red Bank Chamber learns about state of local schools - (04/27/2009) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Red Bank Council of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce speakers Christa Payne and Frances Haman[-Prewitt] of the Public Education Foundation are working to improve the local community by strengthening schools. "At Public Education Foundation we believe passionately that public schools are the key to a thriving community,” said Payne, PEF"s director of development and external relations. |
| Middle schoolers voice academic suggestions - (04/01/2009) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Hamilton County middle schoolers found a voice Tuesday as the students told groups of parents, teachers and administrators what they want out of school. ... During a session Tuesday at the Chattanoogan hotel, students examined test scores from the Explore test, a pre-ACT test taken by eighth graders. "It shows us where we are,” said East Ridge Middle student LeeAnn DeFriese, 12. "We"re not there now, but we can get there if we persevere.” |
| State top gainer in graduates - (03/12/2009) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Tennessee's high school graduation rate improved more than any other state"s in a new report by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. While the national high school graduation rate remained flat at about 75 percent between 2002 and 2006, the Volunteer State is one of a dozen states that made substantial gains, according to the report, released Thursday by the university"s Everyone Graduates Center. "It"s really a tribute to the hard work of teachers in each school in Tennessee,” said Rachel Woods, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Education. "Those are the ones really making the difference.” |
| Public education is finding its foundation - (03/11/2009) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
As the Public Education Foundation celebrates its 20th year, President Dan Challener is celebrating the success and support in public schools. He thanked the Southside Council of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce for its continuing contributions to public education. "To support public schools, especially today, I can"t think of anything more important,” he told Council members at their March meeting. |
| Schools, teachers appreciate professional evaluations - (03/09/2009) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Some people might bristle at the thought of outsiders evaluating their work and telling them what they"re doing wrong. But, for the most part, teachers at Brown Academy welcomed the critique. ... Education consultants Dick Corbett and Bruce Wilson observed teachers and students at Brown Academy and other high-poverty elementary schools in Hamilton County last week. |
| Frist says education his passion - (02/06/2009) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said Thursday he is largely stepping away from electoral politics — at least for now — and will devote much of his time to a grassroots initiative aimed at dragging Tennessee"s K-12 education system out of the basement. |
| PEF Hosts Meet-a-Teach at CreateHere - (11/26/2008) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Exploring the world of social media, the Public Education Foundation is working to get the community more aware and involved with teachers and students in public schools. "We want people to hear directly from the source that good things are happening in public schools,” said PEF Director of Development and External Relations Christa Payne. |
| Shoring up a declining grad rate - (11/17/2008) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
...Despite the overall decrease in the graduation rate, the news from the state Report Card wasn"t all bad. At 10 county high schools, the graduation rate improved last year, including at Brainerd and Howard School of Academics and Technology. ... Hamilton County"s 2.5 percent drop in the overall graduation rate is somewhat misleading, administrators contend, because of a change last year in how some of the district"s graduates were counted. |
| Senior projects helping members of class of 2009 test their skills - (11/13/2008) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
This year"s graduating class at Soddy-Daisy High School will be the first to participate in a new program designed to help them apply what they learn in the classroom on a yearlong project of their choosing. Administrators hope the programs will provide opportunity for students to apply their academic skills outside the classroom and get a taste of the kind of work they will do after graduation. |
| County Schools To Share In $1.34 Million NEA Foundation Award - (11/12/2008) | Chattanoogan.com
The NEA Foundation has announced that it will award $1,341,000 to three of its Closing the Achievement Gaps Initiative pilot sites, including the Hamilton County Schools. The grants will continue the work to advance systemic efforts to increase academic achievement, especially for low income and minority students, officials said.
Hamilton County Education Association President Sharon Vandagriff said, ”This exciting 2004 initiative began as the direct result of cooperative efforts of the Hamilton County Education Association (HCEA), the Hamilton County Department of Education and the Public Education Foundation to improve student performance and strengthen city schools. Hamilton County's teachers are thrilled to have this chance to do even more through this expansion.” |
| Schools make strides on yearly report card - (11/11/2008) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Hamilton County Schools continue to make progress in improving student achievement - 27 schools received straight A's in Value Added Assessments, and scores for kindergartern through eighth grade improved from a B to an A in math and a C to a B in science. Reading and science scores held steady. "We feel like we have a really good report this year," Superintendent Jim Scales said at a news conference. |
| College advisers guide students - (10/27/2008) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
It is almost the halfway point of the school year, and while thoughts of the future are just starting to creep into the minds of area high school juniors, their senior counterparts have had a year to stress out. To alleviate some of the pressure they face during these last months, college advisers have been placed in many area schools by the College Access Center, a Chattanooga-based nonprofit that helps students plan for their future education. |
| Ricks to quit foundation if he wins school race - (10/17/2008) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
To avoid a perceived conflict of interest, District 4 Hamilton County Board of Education candidate George Ricks said he would resign from his post on the Public Education Foundation board if he were elected. "I love the work, but it wouldn"t make sense,” he said. "I can"t serve on the (PEF) board and make decisions about the school system.” |
| Following a dream - (10/15/2008) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
It"s fall break for Hamilton County students, so most kids in Stephen Coleman"s Alton Park neighborhood are kicking back to enjoy a day free of books, learning and responsibility. But Mr. Coleman isn"t like most children. |
| Aspiring Teachers Take Up Residence - (10/15/2008) | Education Week
Boston"s toughest schools knowing almost exactly what they can expect and what"s expected of them. That"s because they"ve already spent a year in those buildings, observing and teaching classes under the watchful eye of a specially trained master teacher ... The teachers are graduates of the Boston Teacher Residency program, a yearlong, selective preparation route that trains aspiring teachers, many of them career-changers, to take on jobs in some of the city"s highest-needs schools. |
| Schools award more diplomas - (10/10/2008) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
More students have graduated from Hamilton County Schools each year since 2004, despite relatively flat enrollment, according to numbers released Thursday by the school system. ... "This is really good news for the kids who graduated and for the community," said Dan Challener, president of the Public Education Foundation, which jointly released Thursday's report. |
| A high school numbers game - (09/15/2008) | Editorial, Chattanooga Times
Thirty-six students in the region have been named as semifinalists in the prestigious National Merit Scholarship Program. Their scores indicate they are among the best and brightest of their generation, and they are to be congratulated for their accomplishment. Drawing any inference other than that of personal achievement from their selection, however, is a risky enterprise. |
| School system prepares for VW - (08/10/2008) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
With thousands of blue-collar jobs to be filled by Volkswagen in the next several years, educators know they have a choice: Train technically inclined students locally or risk losing the positions to out-of-towners... |
| Two local schools move to 'good standing' - (07/29/2008) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Strong leadership and a data-driven approach to education helped two Hamilton County elementary schools meet "adequate yearly progress” requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act for the first time since the 2002 law was implemented, a state official said. After about eight years of not meeting state or federal education standards, East Lake and Orchard Knob elementary schools have moved into "good standing,” state education officials announced Monday morning. |
| Benwood story proves potential - (05/28/2008) | Letter to the editor, Chattanooga Times Free Press
It would have been easy to herald the success of the Benwood 8 as evidence of the power of reconstitution, incentives, and better data systems. The Education Sector report told the other half of this remarkable story. Investing in the knowledge and skills of the teachers committed to the success of a school can produce a profound turnaround. |
| Benwood Initiative expands, improves - (04/23/2008) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Six years into the Benwood Initiative, a program to narrow the achievement gap between Hamilton County students in high-poverty schools and their counterparts in richer schools, the improvement continues. |
| Education Sector Releases Study of Benwood Initiative - (04/07/2008) | Education Sector, a national independent nonpartisan education think tank, today released a new report "The Benwood Plan: A Lesson in Comprehensive Teacher Reform.”
Chattanooga's Benwood Initiative is one of the most widely touted school-reform success stories of recent years. And many credit its success to financial incentives used to lure new teachers to low-performing schools. But the Benwood Initiative was about much more than pay incentives and attracting new teacher talent, concludes a new report from Education Sector. |
| PEF Names Director of Development and External Relations - (03/27/2008) | Christa Payne brings energy and enthusiasm to newly-established position. The Public Education Foundation has named Christa S. Payne as Director of Development and External Relations. Ms. Payne will direct the Foundation's fundraising efforts, including the creation of a long-range development plan. |
| More Hamilton County Graduates Enrolling in College - (03/24/2008) | Seventy-three percent of Hamilton County's May, 2007 graduates enrolled in college during the fall of 2007. This number is up from 70% in 2006 and 69% in 2005. Of these students, the percentage enrolling in four-year colleges rose from 57% in 2006 to 62% in 2007. Click the link to view the data in detail, including a map showing where graduates of the Class of 2007 went to college. |
| PEF's Debra Vaughan on "Building a Data Culture" - (02/15/2008) | Voices in Urban Eduation, Annenberg Institute for School Reform
In this article, Debra Vaughan (PEF's Director of Data and Research) and Kirk Kelly (HCDE's Director of Accountability and Testing) discuss how the school district and the Foundation are working together to promote the use of quality data in decision-making. Thanks to the Annenberg Institute for School Reform for granting permission to reprint Deb's article on this web site. |
| Urban Schools Aiming Higher Than Diploma - (01/17/2008) | New York Times In Chattanooga, Tenn., the schools have abolished their multitrack curriculum, which pointed only a fraction of students toward college. Every student is now on a college track. ... Those efforts, and others across the country, reflect a growing sense of urgency among educators that the primary goal of many large high schools serving low-income and urban populations — to move students toward graduation — is no longer enough. Now, educators say, even as they struggle to lift dismal high school graduation rates, they must also prepare the students for college, or some form of post-secondary school training, with the skills to succeed. |
| Hamilton County Featured on Front Page of New York Times - (01/17/2008) | In this article, "Urban Schools Aiming Higher Than Diploma," PEF President Dan Challener joins other experts in discussing how high schools must reinvent themselves so that all students are prepared for college. Dan reflects on the "transformational change" brought on by the School Board's decision to grant a single, college-prep diploma for all Hamilton County graduates. |
| Schools Make the Grade - (08/07/2007) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
85% of Hamilton County Schools make adequate yearly progress and are in good standing under No Child Left Behind guidelines. |
| Poll says residents support local high school reform efforts - (03/19/2006) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
By Beverly A. Carroll Staff Writer Nine out of 10 Hamilton County residents who responded to a Washington, D.C., telephone poll said high school reform requires the support of the entire community, survey results show. Four out of five people said failing high schools cannot get better by themselves. "That really does signal a change in attitude and awareness," said Connie Warren, senior program director for Carnegie Corp. of New York, a group funding high school reform throughout the country, including Hamilton County. "People are starting to understand that education is a community institution that requires multiple partners in the business and civic communities and from grass-roots parents groups," she said. |
| Better scores across the board - (07/17/2005) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
If anything should disprove the criticism heaped so relentlessly, recklessly and unjustifiably on the county school system by County Commissioners Curtis Adams and Fred Skillern, it is the steady, dramatic improvement of the system"s students across the board in the state"s TCAP achievement scores. |
| Great gains by local students! - (07/16/2005) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
With Hamilton County schoolchildren, their teachers, administrators, parents, a variety of supporting foundations and others making prodigious efforts to improve local educational opportunities and student achievement, there is great new proof that their efforts are succeeding. |
| Achievement gap narrows - (07/15/2005) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Student achievement improved for all Hamilton County students for the third straight year, and the performance gap between poor and more affluent students narrowed, according to 2005 test data released Thursday. |
| Prepping for Higher Ed - (06/03/2005) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Seventy-one percent of last year"s Hamilton County Schools" high school graduates pursued degrees at 122 colleges in 30 states, figures from the Public Education Foundation show. |
| Another Boost For Our Students - (03/10/2005) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Times Editoral: Now another big opportunity boost is coming for Hamilton County youngsters in our middle schools. Itís a five-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Education Association Foundation, in concert with the Hamilton County Education Association |
| Middle Schools Get Grant - (03/09/2005) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Leaders of the National Education Association Foundation announced Tuesday they have awarded their largest grant to Hamilton County for improving middle schools |
| A Bridge To Close The Gap - (03/09/2005) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Free Press Editorial: Hamilton County Schools have successful reform initiatives under way at both the elementary and high school levels. Now the system is going to bridge the two with a middle-school improvement program. |
| For Progress In Local schools - (02/07/2005) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Higher standardized test scores and higher rates of students being promoted from the ninth to the 10th grade are evidence that the generous gifts from the Carnegie Corp. of New York and the Public Education Foundation are making a difference. |
| Carnegie Leader Hails Reform - (02/04/2005) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
The president of Carnegie Corp. of New York came to Chattanooga on Thursday to celebrate reform -- funded by Carnegie -- in Hamilton Countyís 17 high schools. |
| Local Schools Score Higher than State - (01/13/2005) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Hamilton County elementary and middle school students are learning more than the state standard in reading and math, and high school students rank at the top in writing, according to tests that measure how much students learn from year to year. |
| Adult School Hails First Graduates - (12/14/2004) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
'This is to all the people who didn't think we would amount to anything,' said Ash-Lee Henderson, a member of the first graduating class of Hamilton County's first adult high school. |
| Rising Scores in County Schools - (11/17/2004) | Chattanooga Times Free Press Editorial
Test scores improved across the board from 2003 to 2004 scores in all categories and among all ethnic groups and all special education groups in the K-8 grades tested. |
| Budget Limits Slow School Reform - (10/10/2004) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Plans to expand East Ridge High School's construction career academy were shelved this year after schools officials' bid for additional funding for staffing and facilities improvements failed. |
| When Student Achievement Rises - (09/05/2004) | Chattanooga Times Free Press Editorial
The growing recognition of rising achievement levels in the city's Benwood schools, and the report on this year's scores on SAT college entrance exams underscore the value of investing the resources needed to lift achievement in schools that often are dismissed disdainfully as 'low-performing.' |
| Benwood Schools Lauded in Report - (09/01/2004) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
In a report to Congress last week, U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige highlighted the partnership between Hamilton County Schools, the Benwood, Public Education and Weldon F. Osborne foundations and the city of Chattanooga to promote recruiting, training and retaining highly qualified teachers. |
| Teacher Groups Meet to Critique - (06/28/2004) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
Teachers are surrounded by people all day, but they often are alone when they might wish to share ideas and tips with other professionals on how to do their jobs better. To help teachers bridge that gap, the Public Education Foundation of Chattanooga trains educators in how to create Critical Friends Groups at their schools. |
| Hamilton Schools win 'Achievement Gap' Grant - (06/03/2004) | Chattanooga Times Free Press
The National Education Association Foundation will give five Hamilton County middle schools up to $2.5 million over the next five years to help low-income and minority pupils close an 'achievement gap' with their more affluent peers. |
| Public Voices on Education - (05/30/2004) | Chattanooga Times Free Press Editorial
Community residents understandably rank public education as the top issue currently confronting Hamilton County. They're also willing to support a tax increase to underwrite improvements in public schools — if the increase were specifically directed toward improvements in the education system here. |
| A Chance to be Heard on Schools - (04/21/2003) | Chattanooga Times Free Press Editorial
The Public Education Foundation and the Urban League of Greater Chattanooga are working together to provide a forum in which residents of all ages and interests can help create a blueprint for improved teacher quality in Hamilton County Schools. |
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| | The Public Education Foundation [is] a stalwart partner in all efforts to improve schools here. | |
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