Beat the Odds is an action-oriented, collaborative school-based initiative to increase K-12 student achievement in schools, especially those with predominantly low-income, minority student populations.

It is based on research that finds that demography is not destiny, and suggests that there is well-founded hope that students of all backgrounds can achieve at or above grade level.

Beat the Odds is not a prescriptive, one-size-fits-all program or tool. It provides educators with a flexible framework for making decisions about those things within their control; evaluating existing programs, tools and efforts; and working together at the school and district level to maximize student achievement. It benefits students of every race and economic group.

The Beat the Odds Institute, an initiative of the nonprofit Center for the Future of Arizona

Throughout the academic year

On campus at 85 K-12 public schools in the metro Phoenix area, Tucson and Whiteriver on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation

The research study “Why Some Schools with Latino Children Beat the Odds … and Others Don’t” found that Arizona’s minority student population is a valuable resource that through proper intervention can achieve academic success.

Currently, Arizona’s overall high school graduation rate and its student achievement scores are considered by many to be unacceptably low. Latinos, who are rapidly becoming the majority student population in Arizona
K-12 schools, tend to have especially low student achievement scores and high dropout rates. Approximately half of all Arizona Latino students do not graduate high school.

The current generation of students will enter the workforce as the baby boom generation is leaving it. The boomers represent a significant portion of the current middle class, which is at its earning and tax-paying peak.

Without an intervention, Arizona’s future labor force will be ill-prepared for the opportunities and challenges of the 21st century workplace. These citizens and their families are likely to suffer economic hardships and poor quality of life. The state’s economic vitality also will suffer.

The Beat the Odds School Partners throughout the academic year implement and practice the Beat the Odds framework for making decisions and working together that have been shown to lead to better than expected student achievement. 

Beat the Odds mentors work one-on-one with the principals to help them assess and benchmark their school’s current status, develop an action plan based on specific need areas for their school population, and provide resources to help achieve the goals of the action plans.

They also learn from each other as they share success stories and challenges in regularly scheduled Beat the Odds School Partner meetings and training sessions, and within password-protected areas of the Beat the Odds Institute Web site funded by the Arizona Board of Regents.

Center researchers track the schools’ progress in terms of increased student achievement based on the state-mandated Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) test and other assessment data provided by the schools, and implementation of the six Beat the Odds concepts school-wide. Those that meet their goals will be certified by the Center for the Future of Arizona as a “Beat the Odds School.”

BTO
SCHOOL PARTNERS PROGRAM
COMPONENTS :

-Preliminary and follow-up school evaluations
-One-on-one mentoring of the school principals
-Face-to-face and online peer mentoring through the Beat the Odds Institute Web site
-Development and implementation of school action plans
-Training and resource development
-Parent programs at schools to increase parent involvement

-Earn a designation of at least "performing" on state assessments

-Increase test scores in reading, writing and math

-Perform better than predicted by demographics

Primary funding for the development and implementation of the Beat the Odds initiative was provided by the Arizona Board of Regents, the Arizona Community Foundation (Sybil B. Harrington Trust), Arizona State University, the Bruce T. Halle Family Foundation, the Helios Foundation, the Lodestar Foundation, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, the Stardust Foundation, Peter Fischer, Bob and Karen Hobbs, Rusty and Rosie Lyon, and the Friends of the Center for the Future of Arizona.

University of Phoenix, the largest private university in North America, pledged the lead gift to implement the Beat the Odds School Partners program, a total of $500,000 over three years, which includes grants from University of Phoenix Foundation.

In August 2009, the Arizona Community Foundation and Helios Education Foundation awarded $450,000 to the Beat the Odds Institute to expand its Beat the Odds School Partners Program in Arizona to 200 schools over three years. The grant is being paid from the new Accio Education Fund, a "venture capital" type of charitable fund created by ACF and Helios to support the development and expansion of innovative education reform efforts for the benefit of Arizona students.

KEY RESEARCH FINDINGS FROM “WHY SOME SCHOOLS WITH LATINO CHILDREN
BEAT THE ODDS … AND OTHERS DON’T”

The Beat the Odds initiative is an outgrowth of the “Beat the Odds” research study. The nationally acclaimed study released in March 2006 was a joint project of the Center for the Future of Arizona and the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University. Jim Collins, author of the New York Times bestseller “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t,” actively collaborated in the research.

The research revealed six keys to success that were common to all the schools with high performing third and eighth grade students but typically were not evident in the seemingly identical comparison schools. The successful schools exhibited a culture of discipline, exemplified by disciplined people who engaged in disciplined thought and who took disciplined action.

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR THE FUTURE OF ARIZONA

The Center for the Future of Arizona is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is helping to shape and define Arizona’s future through an action-oriented agenda focused on issues and topics critical to the state. More than a think tank, the center is an independent “do tank” that combines public-policy research with collaborative partnerships and initiatives that will create opportunities and quality of life for all Arizonans.

The Phoenix-based nonprofit was founded in 2002 by Arizona State University President Emeritus Dr. Lattie Coor, who is the center’s chairman and CEO. It is governed by a distinguished board of directors and funded by donations from individuals, foundations, trusts, corporations and community organizations. More information: www.arizonafuture.org

MEDIA CONTACT:
Rebecca Heller, Heller & Associates LLC Marketing Communications
480-216-4550; hellerllc@cox.net