Our Successes

Students

The Woodcock-Johnson Academic Battery of Tests administered to rising sixth and seventh-grade students pre- and post-summer reveals the following:

• 45% of students made academic gains in all three assessed areas—reading, writing, and math.
• 80% made gains in two or more areas.
• 99% made gains in at least one area.
  • 82% increased or maintained reading skills.
  • 73% increased or maintained math skills.
  • 82% increased or maintained writing skills.

After participation in the comprehensive middle-school program, which includes two summer sessions and year-round tutoring, advocacy, and mentoring, 70% of Breakthrough graduates enter academically rigorous college-preparatory high-school programs, completing coursework worthy of the most selective colleges and universities. Throughout high school, Breakthrough provides ongoing support, ranging from tutoring to summer internships, individual college counseling to financial-aid workshops. Over the past eighteen years, Breakthrough Manchester students, more than 81% of whom are first-generation college attendees, have enrolled in a host of competitive schools, including Boston College, Columbia University, Dartmouth College, Johns Hopkins University, and Yale University. In fact, the Breakthrough experience is so powerful that over the past seventeen years, 84 Breakthrough Manchester graduates have returned to the summer and school-year sessions as teachers, demonstrating their commitment to investing in the lives of students from their same circumstances, as well as their conviction that the program makes a difference in the lives of young people.

Data about students provided by a longitudinal study conducted by Stanford University indicate:

• Over 90% reported that Breakthrough prepared them for high school classes
• Over 80% reported that Breakthrough helped them learn what it takes to get into college
• 57% were taking algebra or geometry in the 8th grade (vs. the national average of 25%)
• Over 90% of the 9th graders and over 80% of the 10th graders were enrolled in a mathematics course that put them on track for college
• 74% of the 9th graders and 92% of the 10th graders were taking either biology or an advanced science course
• Over 80% of the students believe that the Breakthrough program helped them to become better students
• 83% engage in two or more extracurricular activities; 44% are involved in community service

Families

On anonymous surveys of Breakthrough parents, 95-100% agreed or strongly agreed with the following statements:

• My child feels that Breakthrough is a safe community in which to take positive risks.
• My child is a better student in general because of his/her involvement with Breakthrough.
• My child has said that he/she has had a positive overall experience at Breakthrough.
• My child is challenged in good ways at Breakthrough.
• My family plans to use Breakthrough as a resource for college planning.

Teachers

At Breakthrough and urban public schools, teaching is very hard work. The intensity and rigor of the Breakthrough teaching experience is initially overwhelming but ultimately enticing. With one-on-one mentoring from professional educators and a formidable, focused group of peers, Breakthrough teachers, who would otherwise become doctors, lawyers, accountants, and CEO’s, begin to ask themselves if they could use their own educations to address educational inequity, if they could transform their opportunities into opportunities for others, and if they could change the world one child at a time. In a retrospective study by Stanford University and the American Institutes of Research, 83% of former Breakthrough teachers reported that their experience made them more socially conscious and more committed to working with students from limited-opportunity backgrounds. After teaching in the six-week summer sessions or the school-year tutoring and mentoring program, Breakthrough Manchester teachers continue their work in education. Former Breakthrough Manchester teachers are serving as Breakthrough Directors, Teach for America teachers, and school teachers, leaders, and principals in locations across the country. Breakthrough is clearly achieving its objectives.

• 50% of teachers are people of color (compared to the national average of 13%).
• 82% of the teachers were interested in pursuing careers as teachers at the beginning of the summer; by the end of the summer, 88% were interested in pursuing careers as teachers.
• 59% of the teachers were interested in pursuing careers in educational leadership at the beginning of the summer; by the end of the summer, 68% were interested in pursuing careers in educational leadership.
• 100% of Breakthrough Manchester teachers completed the summer session, resulting in a perfect retention rate.
• 100% of Breakthrough Manchester teachers reported that they are interested in teaching at Breakthrough again.
• 90.3% reported that their expectations of Breakthrough were met or exceeded.

Professional Educators (Mentor Teachers)

• 100% of the Breakthrough Mentor Teachers grew as educators.
• 100% of the Breakthrough Mentor Teachers strengthened their leadership skills.
• 100% of the Breakthrough Mentor Teachers reported that their teaching changed or their skills grew.