Fruithurst Elementary's success is topic of study
Despite having 70 percent of its students on free or reduced lunch, Fruithurst Elementary has continued to churn out high test scores, including leading the state in fourth-grade math results.
Its accomplishments are now the topic of an education study that will examine how the Cleburne County school, along with nine other rural schools in the state, can buck the data that says low-income students score low.
In the last 10 years, schools with high poverty rates typically scored 20 to 30 percent lower than other schools, said Larry Lee, director of the Center for Rural Alabama, the organization conducting the survey.
"You have to ask yourself this question: How are we going to turn out a qualified work force?" he said.
The center, which strives to improve the quality of life of rural residents, is getting $25,000 from the Alabama Farmers Federation to conduct the study, which will examine the environment in and out of the classroom.
"The study looks for ways to improve the quality of life and living condition in rural Alabama," said Jeff Helms, ALFA communications director. "And education is center to that."
Added Lee: "I want to look at: How does this community support the school system? How active is the (Parent Teacher Organization)? Do parents volunteer? Does the local business support the school financially when there's a need?"
Organizers examined 200 schools in which 65 percent or more of its students are on subsidized lunches, narrowing the list to 10.
Fruithurst has more than 70 percent of students on free or reduced-price lunches, Lee said, yet scores on its reading and math tests continue to soar. (The subsidized lunch program is a commonly-used indicator of poverty, because a family's income determines eligibility.)
For example: In 2007, roughly 78 percent of Fruithurst kids scored level 4 – exceeding standards – on the math portion of the Alabama Reading and Math Test. Statewide averages show that 36 percent of students with subsidized lunches scored level 4.
"That's strong," Lee said of Fruithurst's success, adding that his group planned to look at teaching methods, teamwork and the principal's leadership. The group also will talk to residents, business owners and town leaders on the streets and on the phone, and also will attend town festivals.
"I become a fly on the wall to a certain degree," he said.
They plan to have all data collected by Christmas, and by spring to distribute a series of articles and booklets across the state, hoping that other schools can learn from Alabama's successful rural schools.
"I don't think you have an outstanding school without an engaged community," he said. "They've got to take an interest in what happens in that school."
Rural schools make up 30 percent of students, yet 36 percent of the dropouts, Lee said. Almost 11,000 students in the last decade have dropped out.
"And that's a dead-end street," he said.
Only 53 percent of Fruithurst residents have a high-school education, which he said made the test scores all the more impressive.
"It is remarkable, because I think education begets education," he said.
Cleburne County Superintendent Scott Coefield said he was pleased the group would study Fruithurst's success, but laughed and said he might already have the answer: "When (students) come through the doors up there, the teachers, there's a level of expectations of those kids. The expectation is that we're going to learn and we're going to learn at high levels."
