Early results promising in Houston school reform effort

Ericka Mellon:

Student attendance rates are up, suspensions are down and math performance is improving in the nine struggling Houston ISD schools taking part in the district's experimental reform program called Apollo 20.

But the instruction in many classrooms remains too basic and boring, according to the first major progress report on the $29 million effort being watched by urban districts nationwide. Questions also remain about future funding of the program.

HISD Superintendent Terry Grier, who released the Harvard University report to the school board on Saturday, described the first-semester results as "very good news" but acknowledged some weaknesses.

"This is a three-year pilot," he said. "You're not going to turn around the lowest-performing schools in the district, all of them, in a year."

The Apollo program launched in August at five middle schools and four high schools that ranked among the lowest-achieving in the Houston Independent School District. The effort started with a staff shake-up. Grier's administration replaced all the principals, and about 40 percent of the teachers are new to the campuses.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at January 31, 2011 1:02 AM
Subscribe to this site via RSS/Atom: Newsletter signup | Send us your ideas