• Category 2

    Selected in 2016

  • Grades: pre k - 8
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 232,000
    Student Enrollment: 270
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 65%
    White/Caucasian: 1%
    Hispanic: 31%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 3%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:15
    % Reduced Lunch: 89%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 1999
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Richard Baumgartner
  • CONTACT:
    207 N. Martin L. King Blvd.
    Lubbock, TX 79403
    806-744-0438
    risedirector@riseacademy.us
Rise Academy
Lubbock, TX
Our attitude towards improvement is to first recognize that we can improve. Don't focus on "closing gaps;" focus on never allowing gaps to open.
Describe your philosophy of school change or improvement.
The founder and director of Rise Academy has never been faced with having to turn-around a failing school. But even a school like Rise Academy that starts out successfully right off the bat can still improve. Our attitude towards improvement is to first recognize that we can improve. Beware of complacency. Don't become too satisfied. Often times teachers want to move on to the next thing because they find that new thing interesting or because they feel they have been teaching the same way long enough. But what such teachers must understand is the if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it rule. Effective, time-tested methods should not be abandoned because teachers would like to do something else. Teaching methods need to be selected and sustained based on what works for students.
What is the single most important factor in the success of your school that others could replicate?
The implementation of the direct instruction programs of Language for Learning (at the pre-k level) and Reading Mastery (pre-k thru 1st grade). However, simply adopting these programs alone won't have sufficient impact without a commitment to the fidelity of the instructional delivery they require. Schools have to work on the assumption (painfully proven to be factually true) that failing to teach low-income children to read at the kindergarten level is equivalent to setting these children up for a lifetime of failure. Don't focus on "closing gaps;" focus on never allowing gaps to open up to begin with.
Describe the program or initiative that has had the greatest positive effect on student achievement, including closing achievement or opportunity gaps, if applicable.
The most important program for student achievement at Rise Academy is the direct instruction program called Reading Mastery. Reading Mastery in a scripted, phonics based program originally created by Ziegfried Engelmann. Reading Mastery is begun with Rise students in pre-k and is the core of the reading program in kindergarten. Rise students complete kindergarten reading well into the 1st grade level. If students can complete kindergarten as solid readers, everything else that follows is much easier to teach.

Direct instruction programs like Reading Mastery are often rejected by school systems because they by design limit teacher latitude by requiring a strict adherence to a programmatic, scripted delivery. All too often, teaching methods are adopted to please teachers, rather than based on what works for students.
Explain how Title I funds are used to support your improvement efforts.
Rise Academy focuses a great deal on the early elementary years. All classrooms pre-k 3 thru 2nd have teacher assistants. These assistants are supported by Title 1 funds. Early elementary language and reading programs require that students be given direct instruction in small groups which rotate. Off groups are then given supplemental instruction by the assistants in basic skills, such as, in pre-k and kindergarten, fine motor skills, phonics, math, and other activities. Assistant support keeps off groups occupied and productive so they don't disrupt the group that is "on" with the teacher during direct instruction.
Identify the critical professional development activities you use to improve teaching and student learning.
Rise Academy actually undertakes very little professional development activities, at least as conventionally defined. So many professional development or teacher training programs are essentially passing fads that offer little lasting impact on effective instruction. Instead, we often bring in Reading Mastery coaches during the summer for the early elementary teachers, while the Rise founder and director may work with upper elementary and middle school teachers. The director also works with teachers as much as possible during the school year to coach teachers towards improving their performance.
Describe your school culture and explain changes you’ve taken to improve it.
Rise Academy school culture has always been one of high expectations and no excuses. There is an expectation that students will perform not in proximity to some predicted range of achievement based on socioeconomic factors but rather according to absolute standards that are not adjusted for circumstances. We never want to hear it said that Rise Academy students have done well in comparison to their demographic cohorts. We want to be able to say without hesitation that Rise students have done well compared to anybody.

The Rise Pledge is an affirmation which is recited daily to remind students that although society predicts it is the individual who largely determines his or her own fate.

Rise teachers are asked to accept an apparent paradox: They are expected to take major responsibility for student outcomes while at the same time recognizing there are key factors which they can rarely change -- parental shortcomings and sometimes even student attitudes.
Stats
  • Category 2

    Selected in 2016

  • Grades: pre k - 8
    School Setting: urban
    Town Population: 232,000
    Student Enrollment: 270
    Student Demographics:

    Black/African American: 65%
    White/Caucasian: 1%
    Hispanic: 31%
    Hawaiian/Pacific Islander: 0%
    Asian: 0%
    Native American: 0%
    Other: 3%

    Teacher/Student Ratio: 1:15
    % Reduced Lunch: 89%
    % ELL Learners: 0%
    Founded: 1999
  • PRINCIPAL:
    Richard Baumgartner
  • CONTACT:
    207 N. Martin L. King Blvd.
    Lubbock, TX 79403
    806-744-0438
    risedirector@riseacademy.us