NEW YORK, Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Edison Schools (Nasdaq: EDSN),
the nation's largest private manager of public schools, announced today that
its charter school in San Francisco, Edison Charter Academy has posted
outstanding marks on the Stanford 9 Achievement Test (SAT9), which serves as
California's primary assessment of academic accountability. Overall, students
at the school gained an average of 7.6 percentile points since spring 2001 and
have gained an overall average of 10.2 percentile points since Edison began
management of the school in 1998-99.
Edison second, third, fourth and fifth graders took the SAT9 exam in the
subject areas of reading, math, language, and spelling. From spring 2001 to
spring 2002, students made overall average gains across all grade levels of
8.3 percentile points in reading, 6.8 percentile points in math,
8.3 percentile points in language arts and 7 percentile points in spelling,
respectively. Across all subject areas, the second graders made an overall
gain of 19.3 percentile points, third graders made an overall gain of
4 percentile points, fourth graders an overall gain of .3 percentile points
and fifth graders made an overall again of 6.8 percentile points,
respectively.
Despite the transfer of the school's charter authority from the city to
the state and intensive media attention, overall satisfaction at Edison
Charter Academy is extremely high. In an independently administered and
anonymous survey of parent, teacher and student satisfaction, as measured by
Harris Interactive, one of the nation's leading independent pollsters,
93 percent of parents rate Edison Charter Academy an A or B (of which
60 percent of parents rate their child's Edison school an A and 33 percent
rate their child's Edison school a B). This is twenty-five points higher than
parents at public schools in general, where only 68 percent of parents rate
their child's public school an A or B, as measured by the most recent Gallup
Poll published by Phi Delta Kappa in September 2001. In addition, 82 percent
of Edison Charter Academy teachers rate the school an A or B, and 79 percent
of students rate the school an A or B.
"Our school's success reflects the gains that can be achieved when a
school's community -- the teacher, staff, students and parents -- stays
motivated and focused on a common goal: educating kids. Everyone pulled
together and worked hard to produce these results," stated Heather Mobley, PTC
Co-Chair and parent.
"We are thrilled with these results," said John Chubb, Chief Education
Officer. "Edison Charter Academy has been through so much over the past few
years, and the school's most recent gains, as well as accumulating gains on
the SAT9 demonstrate that despite these outside distractions, this school
under strong and focused leadership, has managed to create a dynamic culture
of achievement. The level of commitment of teachers, staff, parents and
students at this school is truly astounding."
About Edison
Edison Schools manages 150 public schools with a total enrollment of
approximately 84,000 students. Through contracts with local school districts
and public charter school boards, Edison generally assumes educational and
operational responsibility for individual schools in return for funding that
is comparable to that spent on other public schools in the area. Over the
course of three years of intensive research, Edison's team of leading
educators and scholars developed an innovative, research-based curriculum and
school design. Edison opened its first four schools in August 1995, and has
grown rapidly in every subsequent year. For more information, please visit
http://www.edisonschools.com.
Any statements in this press release and any other press release issued by
Edison on or about the date hereof about future expectations, plans and
prospects for Edison, including statements containing the words "believes,"
"anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will," and similar expressions, constitute
forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from
those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various
important factors, including the risk factors discussed in our most recent
quarterly report filed with the SEC, and other factors such as, among other
things, the possibility that: (1) Edison, its independent auditors and/or the
SEC may identify additional items that materially and adversely affect
Edison's financial results; (2) the financing discussed separately by Edison
today may not be consummated; and (3) the events relating to the informal SEC
inquiry or its settlement may result in defaults under Edison's material
agreements or give rise to costly and protracted litigation against Edison.
The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent
Edison's estimates as of September 3, 2002. Edison anticipates that
subsequent events and developments will cause its estimates to change. While
Edison may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in
the future, Edison specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These
forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Edison's
estimates or views as of any date subsequent to September 3, 2002.
SOURCE Edison Schools
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Related links:
http://www.edisonschools.com
CONTACT:
John Chubb, +1-212-419-1641, or Adam Tucker,
+1-212-419-1602, both of Edison Schools
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