When Nelson Mandela Elementary opened five years ago in 2015, its leaders set out to close the achievement gap by making sure all attending scholars were on grade level in reading, writing, by the time they reached third grade. Data from the Woodcock Johnson, a comprehensive assessment used to evaluate academic achievement and cognitive development, reveals that current fourth grade scholars have achieved 5.75 years of growth in reading and writing. That is almost 6 grade levels in five years. Not only are Mandela scholars on grade level, but they are surpassing it.
Mandela uses a curriculum known as Spalding, a phonetics-based approach to reading and writing. Although there is no data to support a direct causation, the test data suggests that there is a strong positive correlation between Spalding and growth in reading and writing.
Mandela is proud of its team of educators, past and present, who have worked hard to help scholars at Mandela achieve academic success. The best curriculum in the world would mean nothing without wonderful educators capable of teaching it. The team at Mandela looks forward to what the next five years will bring.