Advancing Shared Goals

During a time when so many schools and districts across the state and country saw nearly universal learning loss, it is encouraging to see bright spots within the RISE Network. After all, we know that for the 13,000 students across the RISE Network, this is their one shot at an excellent high school experience. We owe it to all of our RISE high school students -- pandemic or not -- to ensure we are delivering on the promise of an excellent and enriching education that unlocks opportunities for postsecondary success.

As a network, RISE educators and partners have:

Increased College and Career Readiness:

College and career readiness in Grades 9 through 12 is up 10 percentage points from 25 percent to 35 percent over a seven year period. High school GPA (Bs or better or > 3.0) is one of the strongest predictors of college enrollment and completion.

Improved Systems for Cross-School Collaboration:

100% of RISE educators surveyed report that their participation in the RISE Network has enabled them to dive deeper into relevant pressing issues, create new peer-topeer connections, and share information, best practices, resources and new tools.

Achieved Recognition for Grade 9 On-Track Achievement:

In 2021, the RISE Network was one of two organizations nationally to receive the Carnegie Foundation’s annual Spotlight on Quality in Continuous Improvement as recognition for RISE’s “work in generating demonstrable improvement of 9th grade on-track achievement and four-year graduation rates for students of color and students from low-income families.”

[The RISE Network’s] improvement efforts have demonstrated significant improvement in grade 9 ontrack achievement and four-year graduation rates for marginalized students in their state. The first year of high school is a critical transition point for students and a valuable predictor of students’ success in high school, so by focusing their improvement work on 9th grade, the CT RISE Network is disrupting long time multigenerational opportunity gaps.