Tibby and Thomas Jefferson elementary schools in the Compton Unified School District were recently recognized by United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as 2014 National Blue Ribbon Schools. The two local campuses are among 337 schools in 47 states—287 public (traditional, charter, choice, and magnet) schools and 50 private schools—announced Wednesday.
The federal Blue Ribbon Schools Program honors public and private schools from elementary through high school that are which are either high achieving or made significant academic improvement.
Both schools were recognized for the efforts in closing the achievement gap.
Tibby, using what the school described as a collective responsibility model that focused on literacy mastery, was able to grow its overall Academic Performance Index (API) score 111 points in the last three years—from 763 in the spring of 2010 to 874 in the spring of 2013.
At Anderson, which has a very high English Learner population and 95 percent of students are classified as economically disadvantaged, the API score of the school grew 107 points to 865.
Public schools are nominated by each Chief State School Officer (CSSO), including the Department of Defense Education Activity, and the Bureau of Indian Education. The Council for American Private Education nominates private schools. Based on state data, the nominated schools must be certified as meeting one of two eligibility criteria:
Exemplary High-Performing, defined as the achievement of the school’s students in the most recent year tested placing the school among the highest-performing in the state on assessments of reading (or English-language arts) and mathematics. Disaggregated results for student subgroups, including students from disadvantaged backgrounds, must be similar to the results for all students tested.
Exemplary-Improving, defined as schools that have at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds and have improved student performance to high levels in English-language arts and mathematics on state assessments or assessments referenced against national norms. “Disadvantaged” means students eligible for free or reduced-priced meals, who receive Title I services, are limited English proficient, migrant, or in need of special services.
The schools will be recognized during a national ceremony Nov. 10-11, in Washington, D.C. Each winner will receive a plaque and flag.
