StudentsStudents tell our story. Like a mosaic, they form a brilliant collective that represents the promise of America’s future. They are achieving from the day they enter ninth grade until the day they graduate prepared for and, most often, accepted to college. Rigorous, inquiry-based learning projects require students to interact with their knowledge, helping them acquire the critical thinking skills that will assure their future academic and professional success.
Our small schools and small learning communities do everything possible to provide an environment that builds trust and relationships and instills work ethic and discipline. Our students respond. Yet we always remember that it’s the students themselves who ultimately find their own greatness. They do the work, persevere, and make the drive toward success their own. When they graduate from high school, most of them (81 percent in the class of 2005) enroll in college.
A recent study by the Academy for Educational Development found that students in ISA partner schools reported “greater feelings of support from teachers, administrators and other students compared with non-ISA students.” They entered more positive responses than non-ISA students to survey questions dealing with academic support and engagement, especially in terms of “emphasis on providing helpful comments on student performance and on encouraging students to explore new ideas.” Moreover, ISA students reported slightly higher educational aspirations than students in comparison schools. Additionally, these students maintained higher core course grades, which the report describes as “suggesting a positive impact on student achievement.”
Visit the Students Who Inspire Us page to learn more about the ISA student experience. |
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