From the Dec. 13, 1996 Daily Report Card:
-> *1   CLOSING THE EQUITY GAP:  EQUITY 2000 EXPANDED
->    The College Board's EQUITY 2000 program, which seeks to
-> "redress the gap in success rates and college enrollment between
-> advantaged and disadvantaged youth," will be expanded beyond the
-> original six pilot sites launched in 1990 (The College Board
-> press release, 11/11).  "The EQUITY 2000 program has clearly
-> transformed the educational experience as well as future
-> opportunities for thousands of students," said College Board
-> President Donald Stewart.  "The expansion of the program will now
-> widen that circle of opportunity for thousands more disadvantaged
-> young people across the country."
->    The six pilot sites are:  Fort Worth, Texas; Milwaukee,
-> Wis.; Nashville, Tenn.; Prince George's County, Md.; Providence,
-> R.I.; and San Jose, Calif.  EQUITY 2000 is a districtwide K-12
-> program that eliminates tracking at all grade levels and in all
-> subjects.  All students must complete Algebra I by the end of the
-> ninth grade and geometry by the end of the tenth grade.
->    In order to accomplish its goals, the program provides
-> "extensive" professional development for elementary, middle and high
-> school teachers, counselors and administrators, writes the release.
-> It also offers academic enrichment for students and
-> provides parent-involvement activities.
->    According to the College Board, an evaluation of EQUITY 2000
-> found that the program is close to achieving its objective of
-> 100% enrollment in Algebra I or higher-level mathematics by the ninth
-> grade.  In the pilot schools, the percentage of ninth
-> graders enrolled in Algebra I rose from a range of 31% to 69%
-> before EQUITY 2000, to a range of 61% to 100% afterward.  At
-> Providence, Milwaukee and San Jose Unified, the enrollment of
-> ninth graders is at 100%.
->    The report also noted that after EQUITY 2000 was introduced
-> at the schools, students passed Algebra I at rates comparable to
-> those before the program was introduced, even though enrollment has
-> almost doubled.  And the percentage of tenth graders enrolled in
-> geometry rose after the introduction of EQUITY 2000 -- from a range
-> of 26% to 53% before, to a range of 46% to 77% afterward.   According
-> to the report, more teachers and students are
-> "grappling with what it means to rethink teaching and learning in
-> algebra and geometry," which indicates an increased use of
-> teaching strategies that keep in mind the new standards of the
-> National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
->    From the report:  "Students at the sites are, in general,
-> being exposed to improved forms of mathematics instruction and to the
-> skills and knowledge that will better prepare them for
-> postsecondary education."  The preliminary success caused The
-> College Board to expand EQUITY 2000 from the current six sites to
-> eight.  School districts in Fort Wayne, Ind. and Memphis, Tenn., are
-> the first expansion sites for the program.
->    The College Board intends to add 12 new sites per year; and
-> by the third year of expansion, as many as 42 sites across the
-> country may be involved.
->    Initial support for EQUITY 2000 was provided by the Aetna
-> Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, the Amon G. Carter Fund,
-> the DeWitt Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, the Ford Foundation, the
-> General Electric Foundation, the Meadows Foundation, the National
-> Science Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Sid
-> Richardson Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett
-> Foundation.
->    For more information, see The College Board's Web site:
-> http://www.collegeboard.org.
--- PCBoard (R) v15.3/M 10
---------------