See the Rewarding Achievement Scholarship Challenge (REACH) program in action

If you'd like to see the Rewarding Achievement Scholarship Challenge (REACH) program in action, please join me this coming Saturday, February 27^th from 12-2pm at Baruch College (55 Lexington Ave., x24th St) – just RSVP to Cori Okabayashi at cokabayashi@nycup.org.  The invite is at the end of this email.

Entering its third year of operation in New York City, REACH has supported the work of over 10,000 students and their teachers at 28 participating NYC inner-city high schools.  It's the largest scholarship program of its kind and is really working: last year, the number of AP exams passed at our schools rose 19%, driven by a 26% gain by black and Latino students.

REACH Scholar Awards are the core of the program: for each AP exam they pass, students at participating high schools receive $300, $400 or $500 in cash for each passing score of 3, 4 or 5, respectively.  But REACH is more than just financial incentives for students: we provide professional development for over 100 AP teachers and make cash grants to classrooms based on student performance.  We also help students pass AP exams via a program called Learn, Earn, Win!, which is three full days of intensive workshops (all Saturdays in the spring; 21 hours of total instruction), taught by AP experts from around the country, for each of 15 AP exams.  Last year, 70% of eligible students participated and they passed at a 39% rate vs. only 17% among those who didn't.

I've posted a slide presentation about REACH at: www.tilsonfunds.com/Personal/REACHslides.pdf