|
Owensboro, Kentucky
Audubon Elementary: Reaping the Results of High Standards and
Accountability. Audubon Elementary in Owensboro, Kentucky is a formerly
low-performing school that has turned itself around and was recognized as a
National Title I Distinguished School in 1998-1999. This 450-student
high-poverty school now ranks 18th in the state for student performance. The
school ranks second in the state in writing, with the percent of students
identified as distinguished or proficient in writing going from 12 percent to
57 percent since 1994. Scores have also increased from five percent to 70
percent in reading, and from zero percent to 64 percent in science. In part
because of new teachers hired with funding from President Clinton's class size
reduction initiative, class sizes now range from 15 to 22. Under Governor
Patton, Kentucky has implemented standards, invested in low-performing schools
and now has high-poverty schools that rank among the best performing schools in
the state. In 1998, five of the 20 highest performing elementary schools for
reading were high-poverty schools, as were six of the top 20 in math, and 13 of
the top 20 in writing. This school is an excellent showcase of how high
standards, accountability, and investment can turn around low-performing
schools, and how high poverty does not have to relegate children to low
achievement. While at Audubon Elementary, President Clinton will urge Congress
to pass an Elementary and Secondary Education Act that will hold all states and
districts accountable for doing what Kentucky has done, by turning around
failing schools and helping all students succeed. |
