State Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson has announced the award of $620,500 to 55 Title I schools for making notable academic gains and narrowing the performance gap among their student ethnic groups based on the 2005 WASL scores.

"I am pleased to give some extra recognition to these schools for their efforts to raise the achievement of their students," said Bergeson. "They are making true strides in closing the achievement gap, which is an essential focus of our work in public schools."

Sylvester Middle School is to receive $14,700 to be used in a way that benefits student reading, writing, and mathematics achievement. In the 2005 WASL, Sylvester’s results showed dramatic improvements in the Hispanic and African American student performance.

The awards are made possible through a special set aside of federal Title I money given to each state through the No Child Left Behind Act. Title I refers to federal funding provided to states and schools to help address the academic needs of low-income, low-achieving students.

This is the second year Washington has given these special awards to Title I schools. Each school will receive between $10,000 and $14,700.

To be eligible, schools must have received Title I funds for the past three years and made "adequate yearly progress" in at least two of the previous three years. Additionally, based on scores from the Washington Assessment of Student Learning, they need to have substantial reductions in the achievement gap or scored higher than the statewide average in reading, writing or mathematics over a specific period of time in one or more of the ethnic minority groups.

Final consideration for selection included additional information about the eligible schools, such as the size of the academic gains, the number of minority groups making the gains and the number of subjects where gains were made.

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