Expanded Effort Recognizes All Students Should Be Prepared for College

SEATTLE -- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and its partners today announced Washington state investments of more than $16.8 million to unite schools, districts, communities, and the state around a mission of high expectations for all students. The grants will support district-wide efforts aimed at ensuring students leave high school prepared for college, work, and citizenship.

Some form of higher education or training is more important than ever, yet the state’s college-going and college completion rates are among the lowest in the country. State surveys find Washington employers struggle to find skilled workers, and the state’s two-year community colleges report that half of recent high school graduates require remedial courses in math.

“The successful efforts in the districts we are supporting combined with high standards set by the state point us in the right direction,” said Tom Vander Ark, executive director for education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “These districts have raised the ante in the state—setting clear, ambitious goals to help more students graduate, and graduate eligible and prepared for college. The importance of this work cannot be understated, either in terms of local community development or statewide economic impact."

These grants are designed to galvanize communities and the state around a new mission for public education. Additional investments will help educate parents, students, and others in more than a dozen other communities around the state about the critical connection between a high-quality education and success in today’s global economy.
 
About $11.9 million of this investment will directly serve the more than 15,000 high school students in Highline, Bellingham, Kennewick, Nooksack Valley, and Mabton.
In recent years, these districts have demonstrated significant improvement at the elementary level and are turning their focus to high schools. The investments will support district-wide change to advance school improvement efforts including professional development for teachers to foster powerful teaching and learning. Districts will work to align the courses they teach and the methods they use with college and work requirements. In Nooksack Valley, for example, the district will emphasize math and science in all grades to match the growing economic demand for graduates with math and science skills.

The foundation is also working with the state and the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction in a $4 million effort to support improvements in five struggling districts: Mount Vernon, Tacoma, Yakima, Toppenish, and Granger. The investment will boost the state’s capacity to help struggling high schools and districts by strengthening support and intervention strategies. 

Over the past five years, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has invested more than $250 million (including college scholarships for low-income students) to advance the goal of raising the state’s graduation and college-readiness rates. The work is challenging and complex, but it has already yielded important lessons—for the state and the nation.

District grants

• Highline Public Schools ($5.6 million)
  Highline (17,711 students) is a new grantee for the foundation. More than half of students in this racially and ethnically diverse district qualify for free or reduced lunch. The district faces significant achievement gaps between white and Hispanic and white and African American students. Earlier this year, the district received a $300,000 grant to inform and involve the community in the effort to transform its high schools into academically rigorous learning communities. This new investment will support the district’s goal of helping 90 percent of students achieve state standards at all grade levels by 2010. The support will help focus the district around a mission of high achievement for all students; increase support for students and teachers; improve high schools; and support the ongoing community engagement efforts.
  
  Contact: Catherine Carbone Rogers (206) 433-2331
  
  
• Bellingham ($2.1 million)
  Bellingham (10,763 students), in northern Whatcom County, has undergone significant organizational shifts in the past five years to support more effective teaching practices. Nearly one-third of the students in the district come from low-income families and less than half of all graduates meet the requirements to enter the state’s university system. The district has set ambitious goals for high achievement for all of its students: 100 percent of students meeting state standards by 2009. Building on its success improving teaching and learning in the younger grades, the district will focus on the secondary level, expanding its teacher coaching model to every high school teacher. In addition the district will create small learning communities in each of its three high schools. This investment will support district implementation of a college awareness curriculum; increase rigor in middle and high school courses; and engage the community around the urgency for change.

Contact: Dr. Dale Kinsley, Superintendent, (360) 676-6501

• Kennewick ($3 million)
  Kennewick (14,934 students), a rural district in eastern Washington, faces significant mobility issues. Only 56 percent of its third-grade students are still enrolled in the district by eighth grade. Kennewick has made a concerted effort in the past decade to improve its literacy rates. Last year, 83 percent of fourth-graders met the state standard in reading. The district has set high goals for student achievement for its middle and high school students. One strategy is to give students greater options and choice through open enrollment. In addition, the district plans to launch a community campaign to build support for a college-ready curriculum for all students. This investment will also improve teaching and personalize learning.

Contact: Kennewick PIO Rich Buel, (509) 222-7424

• Nooksack Valley ($686,000)
  Nooksack (1,863 students) is a small rural district in Western Washington that has suffered from a struggling economy and an extremely low tax base. Forty-four percent of students come from low-income families, and there has been a significant increase in the number of bilingual students. The district has focused on a strong system of professional development and adult learning in literacy, and has been recognized for the resulting student achievement. The district has established ambitious college-ready targets for 2009, and aims to raise awareness about the importance of college-ready goals for all students. This investment will support community engagement efforts; high school redesign with powerful instruction and personalization; and an increased focus on math and science in K-12.

Contact: Sandy Austin, Assistant Superintendent, (360) 988-4754

• Mabton ($386,560)
  Mabton (913 students), in rural central Washington, is 95 percent Hispanic and faces high poverty and mobility issues. More than half of the students are identified as migrant and miss school for family seasonal work. The district has made remarkable gains in student attainment over the past five years. Last year, 94 percent of the senior class graduated and 82 percent went on to four-year colleges. Still, the district loses half of its students between seventh and 12th grade. The investment will help the district focus on the serious drop out and academic failure rates. Strategies include improving curriculum and instruction with a college-ready mission for all students; expanding accountability and support; and engaging the community in the importance of high expectations for all students.

Contact: Superintendent, Sandra Pasiero-Davis, (509) 894-4852

Community Engagement
The foundation is partnering with two organizations, the Partnership for Learning ($1.28 million) and the Washington Education Foundation ($1.7 million), to support initiatives designed to engage parents, community members, educators, legislators and others in the effort to improve Washington schools. The Partnership for Learning, an organization dedicated to ensuring high standards for all students, will continue to engage business and civic leaders, parents and educators in school reforms. The Washington Education Foundation will support outreach and communications efforts at the state level and in the communities that have received Achievers grants.

State Partnership
The foundation has pledged to match a $2 million state effort to strengthen and expand the Office of Public Instruction’s (OSPI) existing School Improvement Assistance program, which is geared toward struggling high schools and districts. The investment will help five struggling districts—Mount Vernon, Tacoma, Yakima, Toppenish, and Granger—and support the development of new intervention strategies.