Students at Perry Walker High School in New Orleans Succeed with Grade Results’ Online Tutoring

Carrollton, Texas – June 30, 2009 — Over ninety percent of students at the O. Perry Walker charter school in New Orleans who received Grade Results’ one-to-one online tutoring passed the Louisiana state tests in Mathematics, Language Arts, Science and Social Studies.

O. Perry Walker College and Career Preparatory High School had long suffered from stagnant test results and low school performance scores. Walker educates a traditionally underserved population that is ninety-seven percent African-American. Previously, less than a third of their students were deemed proficient in English, and only forty-three percent were proficient in math.

In 2009, Walker contracted with Grade Results for its curriculum that is aligned with Louisiana state standards, and to do online instruction for students during a part of the school day designed for preparing the Graduate Exit Exam (GEE). The GEE is a statewide test administered to 10th-12th grade high school students that they must pass to graduate. The ninety-seven students received one-to-one, live online instruction in Math, Language Arts, Science and/or Social Studies for four days per week for approximately three months leading up to the GEE.

The students then took the GEE, and nearly all the students who received the Grade Results live, online instruction passed the GEE.

The Assistant Principal of O. Perry Walker, Mark Bailey, said, “Our students have benefitted from our relationship with Grade Results. The responsiveness of the organization, the effectiveness of the online tutors, and their commitment to student achievement played an integral part in our academic success. Grade Results remains a critical element of our instructional strategy as we look to build on this year’s improvement.”

“We’re delighted with the results of the statewide tests,” said Suzanne McElyea, CEO of Grade Results, Inc. “The school administration, their teachers, and their students did a remarkable job, and we’re happy to have played a role in their success.”

The results of students receiving the Grade Results’ tutoring helped drive the overall results of the school. Last year, less than a third of students were deemed proficient in English. This year, nearly half of students who took the test were. But the biggest changes came about in math, where 85 percent of students scored at proficient levels, compared with only 43 percent last year.

According an article in The Times-Picayune, “… the bounce at Walker stood out, both for its sheer size and the fact it occurred among high school students, whose test scores are usually considered harder to improve than those of students in younger grades.”

For more information, download the complete press release at http://www.graderesults.com/pdf/Louisianastatetests.pdf