Large, Countywide, and Suburban District Consortium

Large, Countywide and Suburban District Consortium Quick Facts The Large Countywide and Suburban District Consortium (LCSDC) is a unique network of some of the nation's most successful district leaders. It has been established to support strong, innovative, local-level action and to foster improvements in policy and practice – toward college and career readiness - through collaborative action and sharing. The members of this network have joined forces with the belief that by working together they can not only build on their records of success, moving further and faster, but also can provide much needed examples of practice that should be promoted through policy, dissemination and continuous improvement. At present, the LCSDC includes ten school districts, each with considerable diversity in student enrollment. Together, LCSDC districts span more than 3000 square miles and serve more than one million students. On average, their student enrollment includes:*  30% Black students, 21% Latino, 10% Asian and 7% Native American and multiracial  44% low- income free and reduced lunch eligible students  11% English as a second language students  11% students with disabilities They continually rank high in student performance. On average:*  83% of students graduate in four years  79% of 2011 graduates are entering college  Student SAT score of 1519 *Data aggregated as reported by 9 of the 10 LCSDC participating districts Individually, their achievements include the following: In 2010, the Broad Foundation recognized Fairfax County Public Schools as one of the top performing school districts in the nation for improving African-American and economically disadvantaged student achievement. Over the past three years, the black/white achievement gap on Standards of Learning (SOL) reading tests has declined from 13 to 10 percent. The Hispanic/white achievement gap on SOL reading tests increased from 10 to 11 percent. On SOL math tests, the achievement gap between black students and white students declined from 15 1 to 13 percent. The Hispanic achievement gap also declined from 16 percent three years ago to 11 percent. (FCPS, 2011 State of the Schools Report) Between 2007 and 2010, Miami-Dade was more successful than at least 70 percent of other Florida districts at increasing the percent of low-income students who performed at the highest achievement levels (levels 4 and 5) in reading and math at the elementary and high school levels. (2011 Broad Prize, Miami-Dade Fact Sheet) Three high schools in Fulton County are among the nation’s best high schools according to U.S. News & World Report’s recently released survey. According to the 2012 report, Northview High School and Riverwood International Charter School are respectively ranked #4 and #5 in Georgia, earning each a gold medal designation and a place among the magazine’s rankings of top schools. (Fulton County School System) In Greenville County, eleven high schools, 14 middle schools, and 46 elementary schools earned state recognition for their academic performance and/or closing achievement gaps in 2011-12. The Palmetto Gold and Silver Awards program recognizes schools that attain high levels of absolute performance and growth, and schools that close the gaps in achievement for historically lower- and higher-achieving demographic groups of students. (Greenville County Public Schools) In Montgomery County, over a span of five years, the percentage of kindergarten students reading above grade level has increased from 56 percent to 73 percent, with strong gains among all student groups. In high school, students continue to dramatically outperform students in the state and the country on assessments such as the SAT, ACT and AP exams. In 2011, the number of AP exams taken by Black or African American and Hispanic/Latino students increased 3 and 12 percent in one year, respectively, and the percentage of test takers earning a college-ready score jumped 7 percent for both groups. (Montgomery County Public Schools, 2011 Annual Report) The Cobb County School System received state and national recognition in 2010-2011 for its excellence. Among the achievements and distinctions: 91 percent of Cobb schools made AYP in 2010; the district was named to College Board Advanced Placement Achievement List, ACT scores climbed for the 6th consecutive year (22.2 avg. composite score), and 13 Cobb high schools rank among the nation’s top challenging schools in the Washington Post National High School Challenge Index. (Cobb County School District) Prince George's 2011 Maryland State Assessments test results for the showed increases in a number of areas. To be truly appreciated, the gains must be viewed against the backdrop of the past decade. Consider, for example, that in 2003, only 42.9 percent of elementary students were proficient in reading, compared with 81.9 percent in 2011; in middle school, there were 41.9 percent students proficient in reading in 2003, compared with 74.6 percent in 2011. Similar, dramatic gains were seen in students’ mathematics performance. (Washington Post) 2 In 2009, Gwinnett County outperformed other Georgia districts that serve students with similar family income levels in reading and math at all school levels, according to The Broad Prize methodology. The achievement gaps between African-American and white students were among the smallest in the state in reading at all school levels and in elementary and middle school math. In addition, a greater percentage of the district's African-American, Hispanic, and low-income students performed at the highest achievement levels on the state reading and math assessments compared with their counterparts. (2010 Broad Prize, Gwinnett Fact Sheet) During the fall of 2011, 95 percent of Arlington Public Schools' kindergarten students met or exceeded the benchmark for success on the annual Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) test. Sixty percent of Grade 8 students enrolled in Algebra I or Geometry. That means that more students are ready for higher level and more rigorous mathematics and science courses that prepare students for post-secondary opportunities and to be career and workforce ready. More and more students are preparing for the rigors of post-secondary educational opportunities by taking advanced courses. Currently, 42% of all high school students are enrolled in one or more AP or IB class. (Arlington Public Schools) In recent years, Charlotte-Mecklenburg narrowed achievement gaps between African- American and white students in reading and math at all school levels. For example, from 2007 to 2010, achievement gaps between African-American and white students decreased by 11 percentage points in high school reading. In addition, achievement gaps between Hispanic and white students were narrowed in math at all school levels, and in reading at the middle and high school levels. (2011 Broad Prize, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fact Sheet) 3