Title I Elementary School in Austin Celebrates Outsized Success Ahead of STAAR

AUSTIN, Texas, March 23, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ahead of the annual STAAR testing dates, Pflugerville ISD's Parmer Lane Elementary School is celebrating two consecutive years of high performance, having earned every distinction designation awarded by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). Parmer Lane's staff will install plaques commemorating the school's success at a special event on March 23 at 3 p.m., sponsored by Mentoring Minds, the national publisher of critical thinking-focused educational resources for K–12.

Parmer Lane Elementary School consistently outperforms state benchmarks, despite its status as a Title I school with a 62 percent economically disadvantaged population. Notably, 33 percent of all students scored at an advanced level in reading in 2015, nearly double that of the state average at 17 percent.

Principal Barry Miller credits his excellent staff of teachers who implement high expectations and instructional rigor as a significant factor in the school's success, in addition to the supplemental curriculum from Mentoring Minds, Total Motivation, which the school has used in English and Spanish since 2012.

"I annually purchase Mentoring Minds materials for my staff because the content is rich in rigor and problem solving practice," said Parmer Lane Principal Barry Miller. "The materials align with my high expectations of our students' performances in their daily work as well as on standardized assessments. Regardless of our students' home lives, we have confidence that students can and will 'rise to the occasion.' Mentoring Minds provides us with the support we need to do just that."

"We are honored to celebrate the hard work and dedication of the students and staff of Parmer Lane Elementary," said Robert Bush, CEO of Mentoring Minds. "We are proud that Mentoring Minds' critical thinking resources continue to meet a fundamental need for rigor in the classroom, equipping teachers and students to aim for—and exceed—high expectations."

About Mentoring Minds, the Critical Thinking for Life company

Mentoring Minds is a national K-12 publisher with a mission to put critical thinking at the center of the classroom in order to support student achievement and empower educators to teach to higher standards. Mentoring Minds' award-winning, research-based resources are designed to be flexible for classroom needs, supporting technology integration and standards mastery for Math, ELA, and Science. Our commitment to education extends beyond the classroom, as well; we proudly sponsor groundbreaking administrators across the nation and support community-based education initiatives through MindShare, an employee-driven grant program. For more information, call 800-585-5258 or visit mentoringminds.com.