About Alliance College-Ready Public Schools
Alliance College-Ready Public Schools has been working since 2004 to open and operate a network of small high-performing public schools.These high-performing public schools, grades 6-8 and 9-12, in historically underachieving, low-income communities in California, demonstrate annual student academic achievement growth and graduate students ready for success in college.
In the 2011-2012 school year, Alliance will operate 20 schools – 14 high schools and six middle schools serving more than 8,500 students in low-income areas of Los Angeles.
Turning to blended learning – and Education Elements
Alliance’s Blended Learning for Alliance School Transformation (BLAST) model, first piloted at two Alliance high schools in the 2009-2010 school year, is designed to create 21st century learners ready for college success through individualized, student-centered instruction that makes academics both personal and relevant for each student. The Alliance BLAST model provides each student with a laptop and incorporates a variety of learning technologies, including interactive tools, distance learning, digital content and online courses, while maximizing time with teachers. Through high-tech instructional tools that provide constant and immediate feedback, BLAST students learn at an accelerated pace, while monitoring their own progress through individualized, real-time data.
Students master college-ready skills and knowledge in small groups in a unique three-station rotational model that allows them to develop foundational skills through online curriculum, receive individualized support from teachers, and independently delve deeply into projects that stimulate critical thinking. The rotational model allows for a 48:1 class size, maximizing the reach and effectiveness of Alliance’s best teachers and school leaders and providing a more cost-effective model for operating schools.
Results and future work
Results so far have been significant: while students enter Alliance BLAST schools achieving three to five years below grade level in reading and math, digital content helped accelerate student achievement toward grade-level performance, improved algebra scores by more than 40 percent, and doubled expected reading gains.
Beginning in fall 2011, Education Elements will be working with Alliance to fully implement the BLAST program at three Alliance high schools, with content and assessments from a range of providers, including Compass Learning, Achieve 3000, Revolution Prep, and Apex Learning.
Learn more: www.laalliance.org/