Alliance College-Ready Public Schools
Mission
The mission of the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools, a non-profit charter management organization, is to open and operate a network of excellent small high-performing 9-12 and 6-8 public schools in historically underachieving, low income, overcrowded communities in Los Angeles that will significantly outperform other public schools in preparing students to enter and succeed in college.
Profile
The educational model for Alliance is guided by our core values and beliefs that reflect best practices researched in high performing schools that consistently produce well-educated students prepared to successfully enter and succeed in college:
• High Expectations for All Students
• Small Personalized Schools and Classrooms
• Increased Instructional Time
• Highly Qualified Principals and Teachers
• Parents as Partners
Alliance’s core principles and educational model are implemented in all our schools. Our consistent approach of development and implementation enables us to test our high-performing small school model and build a strong school culture, curriculum, and staff from the start.
Results
Alliance’s brand of high performance schools delivers a consistent educational environment and experience for students—preparing every student with the skills, experience, and knowledge to enter college. The measures for success are that all students continuously enrolled for at least four years will graduate from high school prepared for college (passing University of California and California State University A-G course requirements), and that 100 percent of the graduates will be accepted into a college. Middle school students enrolled for at least three years will culminate ready for success in high school.
The effectiveness of the educational model described above can already be seen throughout our schools. Four Alliance College-Ready high schools have earned 2008 Academic Performance Index (API) scores that rank them among the top twelve high schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Two of these Alliance schools scored above 800.
Five Alliance high schools increased their API scores by double digits, with CRAHS #4 leading the network with a 121 point improvement over 2007. The average state API increase for high schools in 2008 was 9 points. Improvements over time are also significant. Alliance’s Huntington Park Academy High School has increased 138 points from their initial API score three years ago. All Alliance schools outscored the neighbouring public school that their students would otherwise have attended by a range of 112 – 296 points.
These early successes show that Alliance schools are on track to reach the 100% college-ready goal set for every student.
