“Texas is losing many billions of dollars in wealth capital and extensive social capital every year because we don’t take full advantage of our human capital. We live in an innovation economy, yet our education system is not scaled, aligned and focused on delivering citizens and workers who can drive a strong economy in a time of innovation… Overall performance is improving, but large disparities between groups remain… [And] too few Central Texans graduate high school, go to college, and get a post-secondary degree to meet our regional economic needs and create a globally competitive future for Central Texas.” E3Alliance
Specific challenges and opportunities include:
50, 000 of Austin’s students (62%) are at risk of dropping out
50-75% of students fail Algebra TAKS at low income schools
24% of Texas students are English Language Learners
30-50% of Texas 8th graders do not graduate
“Each annual class of dropouts cost Central Texas more than $ 425 million over their lifetime.” (APIE)
Several studies have shown that mentoring and tutoring makes a significant difference in the life of a student, e.g., increased classroom participation, better attendance and behavior and improved scores and grades. Research by Big Bother Big Sisters indicates that children who have a relationship with an adult are 52% less likely to skip school, 46% less likely to begin using illegal drugs and more likely to get along with their families and peers. That is why ABBA has committed to recruit 5,000 new mentors and tutors for our public schools and we have challenged the Church to help us achieve that goal.
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO VOLUNTEER YOUR TIME, TREASURE AND TALENT PLEASE VISIT THE FOLLOWING SITES:
http://www.e3alliance.org/aboutus.html
www.austinpartners.org
http://www.bbbs.org/site/c.deIELMOrGpF/b.4947957/k.C96F/About_Us.htm
http://www.unitedwaycapitalarea.org/1hourforkids/
http://pipstart.org/
http://www.breakthroughaustin.org/
http://aambharvestfoundation.com/aamb/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=54
http://www.texasappleseed.net/content/