May/June 2007

"It's Being Done" School Criteria

1. Significant population of children living in poverty and/or a significant population of children of color
2. Proficiency rates above 80 percent, or a very rapid improvement trajectory
3. Smaller achievement gaps than the state
4. Two year’s worth of comparable data
5. High graduation rates and high proportion of freshmen who are seniors four years later (Promoting Power Index)
6. Annual Yearly Progress met
7. Open enrollment for neighborhood children (no magnet, charter, or exam schools)

Source: Adapted from Karin Chenoweth, “It's Being Done": Academic Success in Unexpected Schools (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press, 2007).