The North Office, located in New York City, includes the New England states, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

• America’s Choice has a long and solid partnership with the New York City Department of Education, the nation’s biggest school system with 1,500-plus schools and 1.1 million students. New York City schools were among the first to adopt the America’s Choice School Design—and the design has been used in city schools since 1998. Today, we are working with New York City schools across a spectrum of initiatives and are proud to provide a complete catalog of professional development offerings exclusively to New York City Schools.

• In one of our biggest projects, New York City selected Ramp-Up Literacy to improve adolescent literacy among middle and high school students across the district. For this intensive three-year project, which began in 2003, America’s Choice trained thousands of teachers to deliver the course, which resulted in improved test scores across the city.

• In a competitive bidding process, New York City selected America’s Choice to help schools develop effective assessment systems. We developed a series of workshops to help school staffs understand the role of assessment in standards-based education and create assessments that measure student progress and guide instruction.

• New York City schools also have used Mathematics Navigator in their summer school programs.

• The Massachusetts Department of Education selected America’s Choice in 2005 as a turnaround partner to serve two districts, Holyoke and Fall River public schools. In addition, we are collaborating with Boston Public Schools to implement our literacy programs in targeted schools.

• In Connecticut, Hartford and Stamford public schools are implementing our literacy and mathematics instructional systems, including Ramp-Up Literacy and Ramp-Up Mathematics, and our mathematics intervention program, Mathematics Navigator.

• The Pennsylvania Department of Education in 2007 selected America’s Choice to pilot Ramp-Up Literacy and Ramp-Up Mathematics for middle school students who are working two or more years below grade level. Eight schools in the Pittsburgh Public Schools are in their second year of implementing the America’s Choice School Design, while other urban and suburban schools in the state have adopted the design as well.

• In 2007, Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland—the second largest school system in the state and the 18th largest district in the nation with more than 134,000 students—selected America’s Choice to improve student performance districtwide. Currently, 33 elementary and middle schools are implementing the America’s Choice School Design and six additional middle schools have launched Ramp-Up Mathematics and Ramp-Up Literacy courses.

• For high schools in Prince George’s County, America’s Choice created a customized intervention to give students who failed the state’s High School Assessment in Algebra/Data Analysis better preparation to pass the test. Sixteen high schools have implemented this special instruction. (Beginning with the class of 2009, students must pass the test to graduate.)

South Region Highlights

This South Office, located in Atlanta and serves Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

• In 1999, Florida’s Duval County Public Schools began a seven-year partnership with us to implement the America’s Choice School Design in more than 60 of its lowest performing schools—more than a third of the district, which is the nation’s 19th largest.

• The Georgia Department of Education selected the America’s Choice School Design in 2001 to help improve student achievement in 100 of its lowest performing schools. The three-year project transformed Georgia education into a standards-based system focused on results.

• In the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Mississippi Department of Education selected America’s Choice to provide targeted assistance to 50 of its hardest-hit schools in 20 districts. Through “Project Assist,” we mobilized staff and resources to deliver on-site coaching, professional development, and instructional materials to strengthen these schools’ capacity to meet the needs of thousands of displaced students. This project was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

• The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, in 2006, identified America’s Choice as an approved partner in its statewide initiative to improve high schools. Six schools adopted the design in the 2007–08 school year to address performance issues and raise student achievement levels.

• In 2007, the Florida Department of Education included Ramp-Up Literacy in its list of approved providers to help students with serious deficits in reading.

• Schools in South Carolina have implemented the America’s Choice School Design. And schools in Tennessee are using Mathematics Navigator.