TEACHERS TRAINED

The Freedom Writers Institute For Teachers provides teachers of at-risk and disadvantaged students with Freedom Writers Method-based tools and resources that promote success in the classroom.

Age & Demographics: To date, the Institute has trained a total of 233 teachers of all ages and ethnicities. The Institute has accepted teachers of all ages, ranging from seasoned teachers with more than 25 years experience to new teachers in their first five years of teaching. Freedom Writer Teachers are broken down into six ethnic categories: American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, Black or African American, Latino, White, and Other. The Freedom Writers Institute’s objective is to reach the teachers who have a direct impact on at-risk students, whether they work in public, private, or adjudicated sectors of education. The Freedom Writers Foundation believes that strength comes from diversity of ideas. To that end, the Foundation is committed to diversity and actively recruits and trains educators from all backgrounds. 

Geography: Currently, the primary scope of the Freedom Writers Institute For Teachers is North America. The Foundation has trained teachers from every state in the U.S., as well as several providences in Canada, and the U.S. territories of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The first educator from Asia was trained in the summer of 2009, when Patrick Ko joined the Institute from Taipei City, Taiwan.

CASE STUDIES AND TESTIMONIALS

Fort Worth, Texas

In Fort Worth, Texas, the Freedom Writers Method is being used at Dunbar Middle School in the seventh grade reading classes of a teacher who attended The Freedom Writers Institute For Teachers (FWI).The students are known as Junior Freedom Writers.

The students in this Freedom Writer Teacher’s class had either failed or were at risk of failing the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test. By incorporating the Freedom Writers Method, the teacher has made a difference in improving her students’ reading and writing skills. Students in her class are succeeding in school despite family issues that tend to impact students heavily. She provided the FWF with data on her students’ academic performance for school year 2006-2007:

Passing Rate

• Dunbar Middle School 56%
• Junior Freedom Writers 74%

The most noticeable improvement was among African American boys and girls, who passed at rates of 74% and 78%, respectively. An article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (February 11, 2007) quoted our Freedom Writer Teacher: “The Freedom Writers is about starting over,” she said. It’s also about “somebody saying, ‘I believe in you, and I want you to believe in you the way I believe in you.’“ The article continues: “Just a few weeks into their Junior Freedom Writers experience, students said they already see it helping them to develop confidence, relate better to their families and improve their writing. They expect the experience to help them prepare for college and learn to reach out to others.”

Chico, California

This Freedom Writer Teacher first met Erin Gruwell in 2000 and created the Students Of Unlimited Leadership (SOUL) Program, patterned after the Freedom Writers’ journey a few years later. SOUL is a four-year Smaller Learning Community designed to provide at-risk students access to the curricular and extracurricular opportunities available in the larger, traditional school setting.

SOUL cultivates community and promotes stability by looping students within a small team of teachers as the core element of their daily schedule. SOUL targets, recruits, and engages traditionally disenfranchised students in a student-centered, problem-based classroom culture that fosters student/teacher relationships and opportunities for students to develop an empowering self-image on their way to achieving a high school diploma. The students testing results reflect improvement in both student retention and academic performance.

The teacher provided data comparing Chico High School student dropout rates and California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) testing scores with those of SOUL students. After SOUL started, the number of dropouts decreased by 18% while enrollment grew by 2.5%. In addition, SOUL students passed the CAHSEE on the first attempt at rates that matched or exceeded state and district averages. This Freedom Writer Teacher first met Erin Gruwell in 2000 and created the Students Of Unlimited Leadership (SOUL) Program, patterned after the Freedom Writers’ journey a few years later. SOUL is a four-year Smaller Learning Community designed to provide at-risk students access to the curricular and extracurricular opportunities available in the larger, traditional school setting. 

California High School Exit Examination - First Time Pass Rates 2004 - 2005

SOUL Program Students: 85%

State Average - Butte CUSD: 78% (all students) and 65% (economically disadvantaged)

California High School Exit Examination - First Time Pass Rates 2005 - 2006

SOUL Program 80%

Chico USD: 77%

Chico High School 80%