The
Investment Capital Fund and the Alliance Schools Initiative—A Brief History
Leaders of the Texas
Industrial Areas Foundation organizations understand that if schools are to
prepare our children to attain high levels of achievement, all stakeholders—teachers,
parents, community leaders, administrators, public officials—must be held
accountable for effective, directed collaboration. These parties are connected through the
Alliance Schools Initiative, a partnership committed to fundamentally changing
the way communities work together for student achievement.
Alliance Schools continue to outpace the state in improving
student achievement and garner national, state and local acclaim for their
success. Across all Alliance Schools in
2001, the rate of students passing the TAAS tests increased from 2000 at more than double the pace for all
students in the state. Among Alliance Schools in 2002, the rate of students
passing the TAAS tests continued to increase at a greater rate than for all students in the state. The most dramatic increases on individual
campuses ranged from 10 to 24 percent
more students who passed all TAAS tests than the year before.
These achievements are due in
large part to the partnership established with the Texas Legislature. Since 1993, when the state-wide constituency
worked with the Legislature to provide $2 million for the Investment Capital
Fund (ICF), the leaders have worked with legislators to incrementally increase
funding for the ICF each session reaching $14 million in 1999. The ICF open grants competition directly
funds schools committed to reform through local control and accountability.
The
Investment Capital is unique in that it:
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Supports
a process that pushes decision-making to the local level (the school),
not a program of activities that is overlaid on top of a school’s
regular activities by a centralized bureaucracy. According to TEA, approximately 280
individual campuses from across the state benefit from the ICF each biennium, over 70% of which have
numbers of economically disadvantaged and/or limited English proficient
students which exceed the state average.
Ÿ
Helps
school communities to raise academic achievement by investments in teacher and
parent knowledge and inquiry in district, school and classroom practices.
Ÿ
Requires
school staff to build relationships with the families, community leaders, the
district, the Texas Education Agency, and a community-based non-profit
organization
Ÿ
In
working with the community-based non-profit organization, organizes and develops
the skills and knowledge of parents, teachers, administrators and community
members about school reform, student achievement, distribution of resources,
and accountability.
Ÿ
Creates
a broad-based non-partisan constituency at each school to support education
reform and whole school change.
Ÿ
Is
not supported by any other funding from the state or federal government.