Most researchers and the public accept the notion that many forces outside of school--such as parental involvement, family structure, income or race--preordain student performance, but thousands of schools across the country demonstrate otherwise, says Craig D. Jerald, a senior policy analyst at Education Trust, a Washington, D.C.-based organization dedicated to raising the achievement of poor and minority students.

Speaking at the AFT's preK-12 program and policy council meeting earlier this year, Jerald outlined findings of "Dispelling the Myth Revisited," a study released in December that provides a state-by-state and national analysis of high-poverty and high-minority schools that score in the top one-third of all schools in their state.

The study found that in 2000, more than 4,500 high-poverty and/or high-minority schools nationwide scored in the top one-third of all schools in their states. The report updates the Education Trust's 1999 "Dispelling the Myth," which looked at a smaller sample of similar schools in 21 states.

The current study analyzed a much larger database of more than 80,000 public schools and specifically looked at schools in three groups: high-performing and high-poverty; high-performing and high-minority; and high-performing, high-poverty and high-minority. The 4,500 schools in these categories educate more than 2 million students, including more than 500,000 African-American and 660,000 Latino students.

These "high-flying" schools are for the most part traditional, neighborhood schools, Jerald noted, with only 5 percent of the 4,500 identifying themselves as magnet schools and just 1 percent (lower than the national average) identifying themselves as charter schools.

"It's so important to keep track of these high-performing schools," Jerald told the group. "We can learn from them."

The Education Trust still has more analysis to do on this latest survey, including an in-depth look at what these schools have in common, he said. But the 1999 study suggested that these successful schools "paid attention to tests" and had a strong focus on performance, provided remedial and additional assistance to students who were falling behind, and paid attention to professional development.

The study's findings that disadvantaged youngsters can and do achieve at high levels is welcome news that confirms what the union and its members have said for a long time, AFT president Sandra Feldman pointed out.

But she also warned that this should not let policymakers and others off the hook by assuming that resources are not important. "It's not just a matter of belief; resources do count," she noted, adding that the intense efforts to help students who fall behind require more money.

For more information online, go to www.edtrust.org and click on "Ed Trust News."