Policy Makers

"The academic and social support offered by the Institute for Student Achievement gives students facing difficult obstacles the opportunity to get the educational foundation they need for a successful future.”

- Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi

With today’s schools in crisis and ever-shrinking budgets, the support of ISA’s public partners is crucial to helping ISA support even more at risk students. Did you know:

• By 12th grade, U.S. math and science students scored near the bottom of all industrialized nations on the TIMSS international assessment. Only two nations – Cyprus and South Africa – scored lower
• The national high school graduation rate is 75% for whites; 50% for African Americans and 53% for Latinos
• The average 12th grade African American and Hispanic student is reading and doing math around the level of the average 8th grade white and Asian student
• On the 2004 SAT, African American students, on the average, scored 104 points lower on the math test and 98 points lower on the verbal than white students
• Middle and high school minority and poor students are overwhelmingly placed in low-level math tracks from which they typically do not escape

ISA's mission is to improve the quality of education for children and youth at risk so that they can succeed in our society. Enlightened lawmakers have long been ISA’s allies in the creation of new and promising opportunities for high school students. Government funding fuels the growth of ISA and the proliferation of its successful small schools,and is clearly key to our progress.

Today, ISA is partnered with 31 small schools and small learning communities, with the largest number in New York City.  As a matter of fact, Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein recently announced that 36 additional small schools will open for the upcoming 2006-07 school year.  ISA will be opening three of those. 

We also have established school partnerships in Westchester County, New York; Long Island, New York; Fairfax County, Virginia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Union City, New Jersey.

Our results to date are impressive:

• Average attendance across all schools and SLCs is about 90%, compared to a New York City citywide average of 81%
• Of the three schools that have had graduating classes, 91% of the students graduated and 81% entered college
• The passing rate for small schools is 87% compared to a NYC average of 72%

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