Much Better Than Adequate Progress

"The first year Maryland administered state tests, in 1992, we were not prepared. It was the Maryland State Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP), which required a lot of reading, writing, and even some group work. We had kids throwing up in buckets, we had teachers crying.

"When the scores came back, we were at the bottom of the state.

"That experience taught us to raise expectations. I still think that MSPAP was too arduous for young children, but it tuned us in to the fact that young children can read and write much more than we ever thought possible. One purpose for state assessments is to raise expectations.

"Today, our students perform at the same level as students in the wealthiest schools in Maryland.

"To get the results we have gotten, you have to begin with a caring staff, and they need to know a great deal. My teachers are highly trained in reading instruction. They go to conferences and learn the most effective teaching methods to teach reading using motor skills, sight, sound and touch. My teachers reach out and use all the senses, all the talents.

"We don't prepare specially for the new Maryland state tests, the MSAs, which replaced the old MSPAPs. We decided to focus on reading and writing, and we teach science and social studies as part of that. I'm a big believer in theme teaching, so if a teacher is teaching the fiction novel Stone Fox, she will teach math, geography, history and writing related to the book.

"Three years ago we became a full-inclusion school, meaning that our students with disabilities are fully included in regular classrooms. If you walked through our classrooms, I don't believe that you could determine which students have Aspergers, autism, chromosome defect, major behavioral concerns, incarcerated parents, or loss of a parent recently due to suicide, unless I indicated which children they are. The expectation is that there are no excuses. They're all children capable of learning. Our job is to teach them.

"Equally important for every child are love, respect, and dignity. I feel that from the moment I greet children as they get off the bus in the morning, until they leave, that each child receives an abundance of these."

Centennial Place Elementary School, Atlanta, Ga.

Located next door to a federal housing project, Centennial Place has about 520 students, 65 percent of whom qualify for free and reduced-price meals. Two nearby homeless shelters provide a steady stream of children. Ninety-five percent of the students are African American. About 8 percent of the students are identified as having disabilities.

For the past few years, all but a very small handful of children have met state standards, and in 2005, half exceeded standards in reading and 20 percent exceeded them in math.

Cynthia Kuhlman, principal:

"When we first opened, in 1998, we were haunted by a story that no student from Fowler, the school Centennial Place replaced, had ever attended the Georgia Institute of Technology. The children grew up literally across the street from one of the most prestigious science institutions in the South, but none had ever been admitted. We agreed that a science theme school would best prepare students for Georgia Tech --- or at least for college. We worked with Georgia Tech faculty to develop the thematic units, and the students study biology, geology, physics and botany through hands-on projects. We have also worked hard to bring the arts to the school. Chuck Davis, the founder of the African-American Dance Ensemble, taught a week-long program here on African dance and on one memorable afternoon, the members of our orchestra met with Yo-Yo Ma, who put the children to work testing the acoustics of the Georgia Tech auditorium.