A SHARED FOCUS –

A COMMON GOAL

Submitted by Olander Worthy, Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, Inc. and Lucie K. Lewis, Central Team Facilitator

Last month we shared the story of the Stanton Elementary School in North Philadelphia whose success story is undeniable.ⁱ The principal, Barbara Adderley, was quoted as saying that "Data is the key."ⁱⁱ After attending the November 16, 2006 training sponsored by Step Up Springfield, where several community-based organizations were empowered to interpret and use data to develop strategies for student improvement, one agency embraced the value of data as the key to moving forward with the community effort to provide the support needed to allow our students to grow in character and engage in effective effort in order to attain academic proficiency.

This past December, the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center (“MLKCC”) staff also received hands- on training, sponsored by Step Up Springfield, on the power of data to inform their programmatic planning and to help them implement strategies in more targeted ways to meet the needs of their students. Using aggregate student performance data from the Springfield School Department based on the quarterly District Formative Assessments, the staff at MLKCC has learned how to develop strategies that respond with age/grade appropriate material to help improve student mastery of the subjects they are struggling with. The staff response was extremely positive. While the significance of this critical move will become increasingly evident over time through the improved academic performance of students, the model it establishes for collaboratively embracing the message of Step Up Springfield is an essential lesson for today.

Additionally, the MLKCC staff embraces the notion that character is the engine that drives academic achievement. Their primary strategy for the introduction of character traits is the use of a study guide entitled “People of Character.” This guide highlights traits of people who have achieved great things. Is there a better model of demonstrated commitment than the examples set for us by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks’ brave commitment to equal rights?

Step Up Springfield believes that, with “effective effort”ⁱⁱⁱ and proper support, every child can succeed. Its mission is to mobilize the community to come together through partnerships, working collaboratively to share resources in order to ensure that all of our children learn at high levels and achieve academic and character proficiency. Collaborations such as this cooperative effort between the school department, Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center and Step Up Springfield only mark the beginning of the great progress that will be made as the efforts of many, joined together by a shared focus and a common goal, result in the achievement of academic and character proficiency in our children.

For more information about the ways that you and your organization can collaborate with Step Up Springfield to use data for the benefit of our children, contact Mr. Tim Allen at (413) 693-0228 ext. 140, or visit www.stepupspringfield.org.0

^{i ii} Smith, Tracy, “Finding The Good News”, CBS Sunday Morning, Chester, VA., Nov. 26, 2006, p2 ¶13. Retrieved on December 5, 2006 from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/26/sunday/main2208898.shtml.

ⁱⁱⁱ Smith. p2 ¶22.

^iv Howard, Dr. Jeffery, Efficacy Foundational Training, The Efficacy Group, Boston, MA