An effort that began as an after-school tutoring program for 25 ninth graders in Long Island, N.Y., is now a national nonprofit organization that works in partnership with schools and school districts to enable at-risk middle-and high-school students to stay in school, graduate, and go on to college or other postsecondary education, job training, or work. The Institute for Student Achievement (ISA) believes that with high-quality, intensive academic enrichment and counseling support, every child can succeed in school.

Two programs, COMET (Children of Many Educational Talents) for middle schools and STAR (Success through Academic Readiness) for high schools, have been implemented in 10 school districts in four states, serving 2,000 secondary students. In small learning communities, academic coordinators, counselors, and a career and college coordinator work with teachers to evaluate each student's academic needs, attitude, attendance, and parental support. Then, based on their results, they develop an academic intervention plan. This support team stays with the students from year to year, providing continuity and consistency. ISA's model has improved student achievement - all participating students progress from grade to grade on time, 95 percent graduate from high schools, 85 percent go on to postsecondary education, and attendance rates are significantly higher than the national average. One ISA graduate said, "All through life, stumbling blocks are going to be thrown in your way. STAR gave us the positive reinforcement and showed us they are only stumbling blocks."

The program, which has both after-school and summer components, operates in six school districts in New York State, including Long Island, New York City, Mt. Vernon, and Troy. At Hempstead High School on Long Island, where over 74 percent of the mostly minority student body is eligible for free lunch, STAR has had great success. In 2001, 113 ninth through twelfth graders participated (81 percent black and 19 percent Hispanic). The program was started at Hempstead in 1996 and by 1998, test scores had improved so much that the state removed the school from its list of low-performing schools a year ahead of schedule.

Institute for Student Achievement
444 Park Avenue South, Suite 1202
New York City, NY 10016

Phone: 646-742-3700
Fax: 212-779-8963

Web site: http://www.studentachievement.org

Safe and Smart: Making After-School Hours Work for Kids - June 1998.
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/SafeandSmart/