Eighth graders at the I Promise School in Akron Ohio, sponsored largely by Lebron James’s foundation, have not been able to pass a single math test in three years. The students in question have actually not passed the math part of the state proficiency exam since the 2018/2019 school year when they were third graders. This is an embarrassing statistic upon the first examination, but it is important to look deeper into the situation for a better understanding.
The I Promise School is publicly funded and sponsored by the Lebron James Family Foundation. Its original purpose was to take children from the various “I Promise” programs in various schools across the city and place them into one location. Some could actually consider the program to be “special education”, so these children were already behind academically. Part of the reason children perform poorly in school has to do with their home lives. If there are no parents to help them learn and/or they are in a toxic environment, there is not a ton that can be done to unleash tremendous proficiency. However, since the children have started the program at the specific “I Promise” location, there have been improvements in test scores.
In response to criticism over failure in math proficiency, the I Promise School says that they are “in it for the long haul.” The goal of educators at the school is to find ways to best educate these children who have very specific and challenging needs. Such a task may take years to accomplish and they may not ever achieve the perfection that they’d hope for.
SOURCES:
Akron’s I Promise School responds to low test scores | wkyc.com
Eighth Graders at LeBron James’ I Promise School Haven’t Passed a Single Math Test in Three Years | Complex
LeBron James-backed ‘I Promise School’ delivers ‘discouraging’ results: NO eighth-grade student has passed state math test in three years | Daily Mail Online
LeBron James’ I Promise School Responds To 8th Grade Math Test Reports – VIBE.com
Students At LeBron James’ School All Fail State Math Exam | Sports | hastingstribune.com
Every eighth grader failed state math tests at LeBron James-backed ‘I Promise School’ | WSYX
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