After three years in the making, Hiawatha Leadership Academy (HLA) surpassed expectations with its latest Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) test scores. HLA students in the third grade finished in third place with 70.2 percent proficiency in Math ann in second place in Reading with 68.1 percent proficiency according to a list recently published by the Star Tribune of schools with 85 percent plus poverty rates that beat the odds.
HLA in its short history has proven to bring a different approach to teaching and their MCA state results are more than remarkable. HLA has proven that an innovative teaching strategy determines the success of a student and not preexisting socioeconomic factors.
Shannon Blankenship, the Chief Executive Officer at HLA, strongly believes any kid from any nationality can perform with excellence academically. Blankenship said: “How they perform shouldn’t be determined by economic conditions or by the wealth they may have inherited. With these test results, we are proving the impossible possible. What does not seem fair is that people are surprised. That upsets us and reinforces that kids of color can achieve as well as or better than anyone who comes from privileged homes,” said Blankenship. “It’s simply not true that disadvantaged kids can’t achieve. The model that we have to go about teaching them and working with our families has to be different. It fires us up and makes us hungry to say our kids will be able to compete this time around.”
Ultimately what the teaching staff and the CEO want to accomplish in the long run is to have their kids perform at the level of students who attend private schools anywhere in the state of Minnesota. The reason MCA tests are administered is to be able to measure student progress towards achieving and meeting academic standards. HLA has met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for 2010 results for Minnesota schools.
HLA’s specialized discipline and teaching style works well with the predominantly Hispanic and African-American students it serves, who make up 95% percent of the total population of the school. This demonstrates kids of color can perform with academic excellence. It disproves the conventional wisdom that privileged kids are the only ones with academic advantages, when it boils down to a good quality education.
HLA accomplishes this academic success by setting a clear culture of success and by developing
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