Comments on: Five Oakland schools win Title I achievement awards

By: Lisa Capuano Oler

Lisa Capuano Oler — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 02:30:46 +0000

I think the IEP is a great idea. It means you have to know your kids. Looping definitely increases accountability.
Actually ,I am at Burckhalter. We are about 30:1 at every grade level this year. I wish the vast majority of Title I schools were 20-25:1. That is not true, sadly enough.

By: Debora

Debora — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 01:56:38 +0000

Cleveland is about 22:1 in K, 1, 2 and then closer to 30:1 in 3, 4, and 5. They also have a large percentage of English language learners.

American Indian Charter is about 30:1.

Lighthouse Charter is closer to 25:1

Lisa, the vast majority of Title 1 schools in the district are closer to 20-25 to 1 than these high performing schools. I think the biggest difference is the looping of teachers for two consecutive years and the Individualized Education Plans that help everyone keep their focus.

By: Lisa Capuano Oler

Lisa Capuano Oler — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 19:03:12 +0000

Do you know what the student:teacher ratios are at these schools? I know Burckhalter is about 30:1. When I looked it up online I was getting about 20:1 for Lighthouse, AIC, and Cleveland. Is this old data? It was on findthebest.com.

By: Debora

Debora — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 18:33:31 +0000

Congratulations to all of the schools.

I personally know that Cleveland, American Indian Charter and Lighthouse Community Charter have been incorporating art, music and science into their curriculum in innovative ways. Each of these schools also pay very close attention to students achievement at all levels and move up ALL students, whether the students have already mastered grade level material prior to moving into the grade or whether the students are working at below grade level.

Every day at each of these schools all teachers, school workers and the students themselves are aware of the work that needs to be done. And, each of these schools has the equivalent of an Individualized Education Plan for each and every student at the school that is signed by parent/guardian, student, and teacher(s) and is updated at least annually.

All of these schools (three mentioned) have a “no excuses” policy for the learning plans for each student.

Congratulations to all and keep up the excellent work with these future leaders of our city, state and country.