Louisiana Schools Exceed Student Achievement Goals With Help of TargetTeach

LAFAYETTE, LA--(Marketwire - August 7, 2009) - Three Louisiana school districts have overcome the difficulties associated with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and have redefined the notion of "recovery" to now include impressive gains in student achievement as documented by results from LEAP testing. Caddo, Assumption and Iberia Parishes can all boast of a newfound mastery by students in language arts, math and/or reading. Each of these three districts hired school reform company Evans Newton Incorporated (ENI) to help local schools grow student achievement through ENI's TargetTeach process and instructional materials.

During the 2008-2009 school year, Caddo Parish and ENI completed a seven-week pilot project in J.S. Clark Middle School. The 8th grade LEAP English Language Arts results for 2009 jumped from 73% passing in 2008 to 84% passing in 2009. With the success of the pilot project, Wanda Gunn, Assistant Superintendent of Academic Affairs, remarked, "We were pleased with the promising results of our pilot in J.S. Clark Middle School. And we look forward to expanding the same proven concepts to serve other schools this fall." Caddo Parish has approved an expanded partnership for the 2009-2010 school year, with ENI providing support to 28 schools. The new project will support elementary, middle, and high schools with curriculum alignments, custom curriculum materials to fill gaps, formative assessments, and professional development supported by at-the-elbow coaching.

Starting with the 2005-2006 school year, ENI and Assumption Parish began a partnership to raise student achievement in Math for grades 9 and 10. The partnership included curriculum alignment, formative assessments with scoring and reporting software, and professional development and coaching. Additional support has also been provided for high school English. Following the 2007-2008 school year, an independent research project, conducted by Arizona State University, showed that math results in 9th and 10th grade increased, with statistically significant gains for the 9th grade (x2(2) = 8.59, p < .05). Glenn Ledet, Director of Curriculum Secondary, remarked, "Our instruction capacity is higher than ever, and we are pleased with the growth out students have shown."

Iberia Parish and ENI also formed a partnership during the 2005-2006 school year. ENI has provided curriculum alignments and formative assessments, with scoring and reporting software -- to help Iberia focus on making data driven instruction a reality. The district has seen increases in overall achievement, including growth in the Advanced and Mastery level. Carey Laviolette, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, commented, "Data-driven instructional decisions are paying off. We now have a double digit number of students scoring at the Advanced level. Additionally, we have numerous students scoring at the Mastery level. I am certain that the focus on data during the learning process has made the difference in Iberia Parish."

By implementing the TargetTeach process, these three Louisiana school districts have used one or several of ENI's services including curriculum alignment, formative assessments with web-based scoring and reporting, and instructional materials that fill instructional gaps, address remedial skills, and engage parents. ENI coaching for teachers adds focus implementing the process for success.

About Evans Newton Inc.

For over 35 years Evans Newton Incorporated (ENI) has partnered with K12 schools and districts to improve student achievement. Employing a collaborative approach, the partnership designs and implements a customized research-based model for school improvement. TargetTeach® is ENI's proven model for school improvement and student achievement. ENI's trusted and adaptive systemic program is designed to improve school climate and instructional capacity. The combination of the program components with ENI's expertise in implementation, coaching, preparation of teacher coaches, and building professional learning communities, leads to increased measureable student achievement.