The Problem

W.W. Samuell High School is located in one of Dallas’ most economically barren communities.  Like many inner-city high schools, Samuell suffers from difficult classroom
settings, students arriving with inadequate skills, absentee parents, scarce community
resources and hard-to-break cycles of poverty.

At the beginning of the 2008 – 2009 school year, Samuell was rated "academically
unacceptable" for the fourth straight year - a streak that would result in the school's
closure if not corrected.

Only slightly more than one-third of
Samuell's students across all grades
passed the TAKS Math exams in 2007.

In 2007, Samuell’s graduation rate
was 55%, well below the state-acceptable
standard of 75%.

The Group Excellence Solution

Students were chosen to participate in the Group Excellence program by the school
faculty, based on their TAKS performance and need for assistance. Each day 95 – 125 students attended tutoring, which maintained a 1:6 tutor to student ratio.  Group Excellence tutors led students through lessons provided by the teachers, focusing on TAKS Math objectives and curriculum gathered by the math faculty.

The Impact

“Group Excellence was an integral partner in the success of our school this year. Their tutors really made an impact on a personal level which helped our students realize just how well they could perform.”

-Lou Smith, Assistant Principal

W.W. Samuell High School

The Results

Students tutored by Group Excellence outperformed the school as a whole. The significance is amplified when considering that 0% of the students in the Group Excellence program passed TAKS Math the previous year.

The "Bubble" Students

“Bubble” Students scored between 1900 and 2099 on the TAKS Math section the previous year. A passing score is 2100. With help from Group Excellence, these students had an 87% passing rate, highest among all those receiving tutoring.

The Low-Performing Students

Low-Performing Students scored below 1900 the
previous year. After less than 6 months in the Group
Excellence program, 44% of these students passed
the TAKS Math section. More impressively, Low-Performing Students had the highest percent increase in their average score of all the students tutored.

The Success

With Group Excellence tutoring, this 11th-grade
student went from Failing to Commended in 1 year.