Under ESSA Directive, School Improvement Initiatives Help Transform Texas School
January 6, 2020
As Beth Hawkins reports, one elementary school in Fort Worth, Texas, has gone from being “one of five schools that struggled with years of rock-bottom performance” to one that has attracted national attention for a number of closely watched school improvement initiatives that are credited with rapid academic gains.” The success of Leadership Academy at Como Elementary can be attributed to the school’s participation in the Texas Partnership Opportunity. After the Every Student Succeeds Act directed states to set aside a portion of Title I funding to “pay for evidence-based interventions at struggling, impoverished schools,” Texas chose to use part of that money to “fund competitive grants for districts (including charter schools)” that wanted to participate in the Texas Partnership Opportunity.