America’s
Choice Helps School Make AYP
The Challenge
- The William E. Doar
Jr. Public Charter School for the Performing Arts opened its doors to 153
preK–5 students in September 2004, with a mission of providing both a college
preparatory, standards-based curriculum and professional-grade artistic
instruction and practice.
The
Solution
- Doar selected the
America’s Choice School Design as its instructional model. The school integrated the design’s
standards-based focus across all content areas, including the arts.
The
Results
- In a district where
many schools are struggling, Doar made AYP for the first time in its third year
of operation.
- Of the students who
have been in the school for the three years since it opened, 65 percent were
reading at or above grade level in 2007, compared with 15 percent when they
arrived. With this strong academic progress, the school has a long waiting list
for admission.
School Snapshot
William E. Doar Jr. Public Charter School for the Performing
Arts
Washington, DC
- Grades PreK–10
- Urban
- 495
students
- 98
percent African American
- 2
percent Hispanic
- 69
percent economically disadvantaged
2007 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Report Cards 
“We’re thrilled with the America’s
Choice School Design. It allows us to work with the population we chose to work
with—urban youth. It gives us the ability not to ‘track’ students, but to
respond to different learning styles by working with flexible learning groups
in one classroom. It really lends itself to working with the arts. We like the
workshop model. The idea of practicing what you’re learning—in the arts, in
social studies, in reading, in math, in science—really appealed to us.”
- Mary Robbins, Arts
Partnership Director and Co-Founder, William E.
Doar Jr. Public Charter School
for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC
