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For many students living in the inner-city areas of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the high school graduation rate was just 58% last year, attending college is only a dream.

But HOPE Christian Schools exist to help make college a reality for its 500+ students—98% of which qualify for free or reduced-lunch—providing a rigorous, but loving education that will enable
students to overcome their academic struggles, graduate, and get admitted to college.

And, in the short few years that the schools have been in existence, HOPE, which is an acronym for Hold Onto the Promises Everywhere,” has already delivered on its promise. Last year, HOPE graduated 27 seniors in its first high school class—with 24 already accepted to college. That’s quite an accomplishment—considering the average new student entering HOPE tests at lower than the 20th percentile in reading and math.

HOPE Schools use several Renaissance Learning practice and progress-monitoring tools to help students catch up to their peers, including Accelerated Math. According to Principal Jamie
Luehring, HOPE teachers spend twice as much time on math as they would at a typical school—between 90 and 120 minutes per day. Half of the time is spent teaching students at their age-grade level using the Saxon Math curriculum. The other half is spent practicing and learning at the students’ own individual level using Accelerated Math.

“Accelerated Math has helped our students make tremendous progress,” Luehring said. “The computer-based progress-monitoring tools provide our teachers with timely, accurate and
objective information they can use to personalize instruction and accelerate learning for students.”

Accelerated Math helps play an important role in changing student attitudes about succeeding in school. “Many students arrive at HOPE feeling frustrated, overwhelmed and  uninterested because they have not experienced success in school before,” Luehring said. “Accelerated Math helps get students excited about math because they can see progress immediately as they work their way through objectives. This program helps students realize that they have the power to learn.”