October 27, 2009
ISU grads play instrumental role in Texas school’s nationally-recognized success
Long-standing relationship beneficial for ISU, Aldine
Aldine Independent School District in Houston, Texas, has received the 2009 Broad Prize for Urban Education from the Broad Foundation. Aldine has a long-standing partnership with the Iowa State University teacher education program, and credits much of its scholastic success to Iowa State educators in the classroom. |
By
Laura Dillavou
A commitment from educators to turn the low-income, inner-city environment of the Aldine Independent School District (Aldine ISD) into an award-winning student body didn’t happen overnight. But eventually, it did happen – and Iowa State University teacher education graduates played a major role in that status.
On Sept. 16, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan joined Eli Broad and members of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to announce Aldine ISD (Houston, Texas) as the winner of the 2009 Broad Prize for Urban Education – the largest education award for school districts in the country. The prize is designed to reward districts that improve achievement levels of disadvantaged students. As the winner of the Broad Prize, Aldine ISD will receive $1 million in college scholarships for graduating seniors next spring.
An urban school district where more than 84 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, Aldine educators faced the challenges of their environment to close achievement gaps in reading and math, improve student proficiency rates, and maintain a rigorous professional development schedule – as well as a commitment to constantly monitor and evaluate curriculum. These steps enabled Aldine students, parents, teachers, and administrators to break the predictive power of poverty. Broad Prize data analysis shows that school-level poverty did not appear to be statistically related to student achievement in Aldine at any grade level in reading or math.
In a different part of the nation, Iowa State educators are celebrating, too. For nearly 20 years, Iowa State’s teacher education program has partnered with Aldine schools, sending student teachers to urban areas for in-class experience. Often, these pre-service teaching roles lead to full-time job offers and an opportunity to make a change in the lives of students.
Dave Whaley, director of Iowa State’s teacher education program, said the student teachers have been successful due to the strong academics, grounding in pedagogy, and high admission standards found in the program.
“To achieve the Broad Prize, there are legions of good teachers that truly get the message – it is more than test scores and assessments,” Whaley said. “Iowa State teacher education students come to Aldine with many hours of field experience and a strong understanding of all the roles a teacher must play. In a district like Aldine, this has proven to be vital to its success.”
Jeff McCanna, director of human resources for the Aldine ISD, said the district has employed 400 to 500 Iowa State graduates over the past 20 years. From school principals to special education teachers, Aldine students are impacted by the teaching philosophies and practices of Iowa State graduates on an everyday basis.
Scott Corrick, the curriculum and instruction assistant principal at an Aldine ninth-grade school, is one graduate who journeyed to Texas as a student teacher 14 years ago – and has been at Aldine ever since.
“When I came out of Iowa State and into the Aldine classroom, I felt more than prepared to take on the challenges of this diverse district,” Corrick said. “Now, as an administrator, I see the student teachers that come from the Midwest, particularly Iowa State, and they are just the best. Their business and day-to-day interactions are top-notch, they have fewer discipline problems in the classroom, and their technology skills are outstanding.”
Like Corrick, many Iowa State teacher education graduates have moved up in the school system to now hold administrative positions. Winning the Broad Prize, Corrick said, is one of the most public – and impactful – indicators of the hard work educators have put in to increasing student achievement.
“The students may not know what the Broad Prize is, but they know they’re getting a great education,” Corrick said. “This award tells everyone else we’re an urban school district that has some outstanding potential – and to the administrators and educators, it’s a pretty good indicator that we’re doing something right. Anywhere you go in Texas, they know about the success of Aldine – and we have many Iowa State teachers to credit for that.”
For more information on the Aldine Independent School District, visit www.aldine.k12.tx.us/.
