Press Release
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jory Fitzgerald Kelly, Director of
Development
Business: 574.259.5666 x 306
Mobile: 574.876.1068
E-Mail: jfitzgerald@fccin.org
A Tremendous Impact on Student
Success
Boys & Girls Club of St. Joseph County cited as key
in improving student test scores
October 2010, South Bend – A recent independent
evaluation of eight of the local Boys & Girls Clubs branches by the
Indiana Youth
Institute cited the Clubs as playing a
significant role in increasing student test scores.
The following information, based on data from the
elementary level Club sites at Battell, Perley, Harrison, and Wilson, which are
also 21st Century Community
Learning Centers (21CCLC), was presented
in the report:
· Each site improved from 2009 to 2010. Highlights
include:
o Club members at Battell:
ISTEP pass rates increased 10% in Math from 2009 to 2010 and exceeded
state pass rates.
o Club members at Harrison: ISTEP pass rates increased in ELA by 20% and
14% in Math from 2009 to 2010.
o Club members at Perley:
ISTEP pass rates increased in ELA by 22% and by 30% in Math from 2009 to
2010.
o Club members at Wilson:
ISTEP pass rates increased in ELA by 8% and by 23% in Math from 2009 to
2010.
· The evaluator attributed much of the Boys & Girls
Club member success to the strong relationships Club staff has built with school
personnel and parents/families. These working relationships have proven to
significantly impact our kids. We are also offering Parenting Groups, Employment
Education, and Technology Education classes to assist our Club
parents.
· The attitudes and perceptions of Club parents have
changed over the past two years. In the past, most parents have viewed the
Club as a childcare facility, and now they see the club as a place that benefits
their child academically. 95% of parents reported being extremely satisfied
with Club activities and Club staff.
· Club kids showed gains in school day attendance, grades,
and ISTEP scores.
· The most dramatic impact on grades continues to be among
those students who are failing or nearly failing. In 2009 – 2010, just as in
2008 – 2009, many of those students who had F or D grades in either Mathematics
or English/Language Arts at the beginning of the school year improved
dramatically by the close of the second semester. Last year, these students
improved their English/Language Arts in-class performance by an average of 1.39
grade levels; this year, comparable students improved by an average of 1.26 by
spring 2010. Last year, students improved their in-class Mathematics performance
by an average of 1.25 grade levels; this year by an average of 1.5.
"The 21st Century program has helped us reinvent the
culture of learning at the Club's elementary school sites," explained John
Morgan, Executive Director of the Clubs.
“This recent evaluation is a very strong endorsement of what we've been
able to accomplish over the past several years as a result of partnering with
both the South Bend and Mishawaka school corporations."
On average, across all school
based sites, kids who attended the Club for 30 days or more averaged a higher
passing percentage (in ELA, Math, and Science) than kids who did not attend
Club, or those who attended less than 30 days.
*30 days or more is the
standard used by the State and Federal government.
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