Honolulu, HI & New York, NY – EdisonLearning increased its total number of schools served in Hawaii from 13 to 35 schools effective this school year. Three years of continued improvement in student achievement led the Hawaii Department of Education to expand its partnership with the company. EdisonLearning, the nation’s largest partner to public school districts and communities, extends its network to more than 100 schools during the 2008/09 school year serving 350,000 students in 23 states.
“We are looking forward to continued and expanded success with our EdisonLearning partnership,”
Since EdisonLearning began it’s partnership with Hawaii in 2005, there are now 1,600 more students at grade level and above in reading in the schools where EdisonLearning is providing achievement improvement solutions. There are now 1,800 more students at grade level and above in math, than in 2005. Over the three years of EdisonLearning’
Eight of the 12 schools working with EdisonLearning in Hawaii have made adequate yearly progress (AYP), the minimum level of improvement school districts and student groups must achieve each year in reading/language arts and math.
Terry Stecz, president and CEO of EdisonLearning said, “We are committed to Hawaii, and we are honored to provide our experience, knowledge and innovation to this endeavor and help to create a dynamic and supportive learning environment that every child deserves.”
Principals in the EdisonLearning – Hawaii partnership schools cite constant assessment of student learning and innovative teaching techniques as some of the key factors in helping their schools improve.
According to Sue Alivado, principal of Paia Elementary School – which made AYP this year, but not in previous years until it came under federal sanctions and was provided assistance from EdisonLearing, “The keys to our success was that the staff really made a commitment, and EdisonLearning kept us focused on helping our students achieve.”
Throughout its 17-year history, EdisonLearning has served predominately under-achieving schools in urban school districts and driven academic achievement.
When EdisonLearning began its partnership with the Philadelphia school district in 2002, 860 students out of roughly 13,000 in its 20 schools were performing at grade level in math. Recent state test scores show that there are now more than 4,000 performing at grade level and above. In reading, there were 1,400 students at grade level; today, there are more than 3,500.
“Not only are we impacting the children assigned to us, but building the necessary collaborative relationships with host districts across the country to lift all children's performance in every city that we serve,” Stecz reported.
