PRESS RELEASE:

FEB 9, 2007

CHARTER SCHOOL MEETS WITH 501 (C) (3) GROUPS TO ADDRESS NCLB

Paradigm Accelerated Charter School (PAS) superintendent Ronald Johnson hosted a conference with five local pastors and directors of Diamond J. Youth Ranch to discuss ways to reduce student truancy and dropout percentages.  PAS enrolls about 82 teenage students, many of whom are considered by the NCLB Act to be at-risk of dropping out of school. 

Texas charter schools are required by The Texas Education Agency (TEA) to disclose efforts to prevent students from dropping out of school.   PAS operates a unique tough-love, individualized educational program specifically designed to help students who transfer from regular public schools in an effort not to drop out of school because of difficulties experienced at home and/or in regular school programs. 

PAS offers self-instructional textbooks laced with traditional virtues and principles normally taught by parents, offers a flexible attendance schedule, conducts weekly career-enhancement assemblies, and provides after-school tutorials for under-performing students.  PAS staff also visit homes, operate an in-school detention program and issue tickets for truancy.  However, some students still drop out of school.  Research by
Dr. Johnson revealed that most of the students who drop out of PAS have a history of physical abuse and/or neglect associated with disruptive homes and absentee biological fathers.  PAS realized that some domestic issues were too complex for a school alone to address, thus Dr. Johnson asked for help from the community.

Local pastors from Cottonwood Baptist, First Baptist of Dublin, North Side Baptist in De Leon, Gateway Baptist in Comanche and Church for the Lost and Found in Dublin, plus directors of Diamond J. Youth Ranch in Gustine met with Dr. Johnson to discuss how the charter school and other tax-free organizations could work together to help keep students in school.  The conference identified ten projects which local churches and Diamond J. Youth Ranch will implement with PAS: 

1. Establish rapport with students to create open lines of communication in the event students want counseling or other forms of assistance,
2. Provide personalized cards/letters for birthdays, Christmas and graduation,
3. Provide scholarship funds for camps, trips, and college,
4. Provide mentoring and counseling as requested,
5. Provide weekend activities with stable families,
6. Provide part time employment to earn money in company with role models,
7. Provide counseling, training and financial support for single-parent mothers,
8. Provide prayer for daily virtue, academic performance, emotions and health,
9. Adjust youth departments to address needs originating from broken homes, peer pressure, sexual activity, chemical abuse, lack of confidence, poor choices, physical abuse and neglect, lack of life purpose, etc,
10. Provide short and/or long term residential care as needed.

Persons interested in participating may call 254-445-4272 or E-Mail:Learn@pacworks.com.

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DUBLIN EDUCATOR LISTED AMONG NATION’S EDUCATIONAL “ACTION HEROES”

The Center for Educational Reform (CER) in Washington, DC recently listed Dr. Ronald E. Johnson of Dublin among the nation’s educational “Action Heroes.”  Dr. Johnson is superintendent of Paradigm Accelerated Charter School and President of Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum & System, a textbook publishing company. The CER identified educators whose services have contributed to educational reform locally and nationally.   Dr. Johnson was one of two Texans listed by CER which identified “those folks beyond the Beltway who have written laws on the back of a napkin, worked tirelessly to persuade lawmakers to pass those laws, created schools, written standards, and generally challenged the conventional wisdom in the interest of making schools work better for all children.”  Dr. Johnson was selected because, “He designed individualized, accelerated, virtue-based textbooks with a staff training system for recovering at-risk teenagers, especially those from homes without resident dads.  He has testified before the Texas State Board of Education and legislature to promote educational choice, especially the concept of none-punitive alternative schools.  He conducts seminars for juvenile probation and correctional personnel who work with delinquent fatherless boys.  He has published books and articles to enhance educational choice, especially among minorities.  His textbooks and individualized learning concepts are being used in more than 50 schools in eight states.  He served on the state textbook selection panel and on the state academic assessment transition team.” 

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EDUCATION REFORM ACTION HEROES: RESULTS

Chalk Talk by Jeanne Allen

We believe that real movers and shakers, changing things one law, one school, one textbook at a time, are YOU. So in early January 2007, the Center for Education Reform (CER) invited parents, educators, community members and education reform advocates to let us know who has been a significant influence in helping achieve education improvements at the local level, where the real battles rage. Rather than conducting a popularity contest wrapped in a commissioned study, we wanted an opportunity to learn - and share - the stories of people who are truly making a difference for schools and students.

The response was tremendous, CER thanks all those who sent us their stories. We salute all those folks beyond the Beltway who have written laws on the back of a napkin, worked tirelessly to persuade lawmakers to pass those laws, created schools, written standards, and generally challenged the conventional wisdom in the interest of making schools work better for all children.

Action Hero: Ronald E. Johnson, Ph.D.

He designed individualized, accelerated, virtue-based textbooks with a staff training system for recovering at-risk teenagers, especially those from homes without resident dads. He testified before the Texas State Board of Education and legislature to promote educational choice, especially the concept of none-punitive alternative schools. He conducts seminars for juvenile probation and correctional personnel who work with delinquent, fatherless boys. He has published books and articles to ehance educational choice, especially among minorities. His textbooks and individualized learning concepts are being used in more than 50 schools in eight states. He served on the state textbook selection panel and on the state academic assessment transition team.

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LEGAL & FINANCIAL REASONS TO INDIVIDUALIZE STUDENT LEARNING

LEGISLATURES and EDUCATION AGENCIES are recognizing that schools must be encouraged to offer individualize learning in order to recover students who are under-performing or under-challenged.

Here are six reasons why schools should offer individualized learning options for students:

1. NCLB now exempts teachers from certain Highly Qualified criteria when students earn academic credits in core subjects in individualized curriculum (October, 2006 Texas Guidelines for NCLB, pages 7 & 8).

2. Texas and Arizona schools which offer individualized courses are now allowed to count students present for state funding when students attend at least 20 hours per week (HB 1, Section 5.03).

3. Texas schools may be authorized in 2007 to use state curriculum funds to purchase alternative textbooks when addressing the needs of under-performing, at-risk students (HB 1, Sec 3.04).

4. Individualized curriculum in core subjects is available in print and CD format, enabling schools to offer individualized learning options to students (www.pacworks.com or www.pacworks.biz).

5. Staff training is available and essential to equip classroom teachers to make an easy transition to individualized learning (www.pacworks.com/ “Training”).

6. Over-age/under-performing students require access to individualized learning programs in order to make up course failures while completing graduation requirements.

For more information on individualized learning and teacher training, contact Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum & System at:
PH: 254-445-4272 or E-Mail: Learn@pacworks.com.

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ARCHIVE

March 02, 2006

National Trend for Under-performing Teens Not Getting Better:
Lone Publisher Tackles and Scores with Core Subjects

Parents, educators and business owners have good reason to be concerned about low student performance on math and science competency assessments. The national trend for several decades has been negative for students above eighth grade. In fact, the longer under-performing teenagers remain in low-performing schools, the more likely the students will score below academic standards comparable with other industrialized nations.

Suggestions for remedy range from requiring longer school days and years to establishing single-gender schools to employing more highly qualified teachers to mandating tutorial programs on weekends and/or during summer months. For some students, some or all of the above may be appropriate.

For many students, the solution may be as simple as placement in an individualized learning program in which students are allowed to direct their attention on basic math and science skills for several months while being exempt from requirements to complete some elective courses. Once students demonstrate ability to perform at peer or grade level in math and science, the students should be allowed to continue in the individualized learning program or merge back into regular lock-step courses. Over-age students should even be exempt from certain elective credits (for a diploma) if the students are at least two years below peers; they would be better off to graduate with fewer-than-required elective credits than to age-out of school without a diploma or math/science competency after reaching age 20.

Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum & System (PAC) offers math and science courses in an individualized learning format for under-performing students in seventh, eighth and ninth grades. Application of PAC courses in public schools in seven states and in home schools from Maine to California demonstrate that PAC is excellent for recovering students who under-perform in math and science. For more information visit www.pacworks.com or request a catalog at E-Mail:Learn@pacworks.com.

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Paradigm Shift in Curriculum

At last, schools have access to textbooks that teenagers, parents and teachers have begged publishers to print: “Less clutter” “More engaging” “Relevance to daily life” “More inspirational and optimistic” “Easier to use” “With virtues“ “Better organized”.

A team of educational researchers went to the streets to inquire about public concerns and to discover why under-performing students “tune out” in public schools. What they discovered forced a textbook publishing company to make a paradigm shift in curriculum design. The company now believes it is providing textbooks that engage students and prepare them for academic assessments…even in schools where teachers are assigned to teacher outside their academic majors.

Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum field tested a prototype of its textbooks in six states (53 schools). Look what teachers, students, parents and public officials said:

• GANG MEMBER: “I used to hate school; I like it now. What are you doing to me inside?”

• SINGLE PARENT TEEN: “You gave me hope.”

• SUPERINTENDENT: “I love it. I will take anything you print.”

• MEMBER OF TEXAS STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION: “This series hits all the parental concerns that are being voiced today.”

• PARENT: “I never have to make him do his lessons.”

• LATINO IMMIGRANT: “I can graduate now!”

• TEACHER: “So easy to use in the classroom.”

• PARENT: “He scored high on the college entrance exam.”

• BUSINESS MAN: “You folks are pulling off a miracle.”

• EX-GOVERNOR: “Marvelous.”

• AUTHOR, JOHN ERICKSON (HANK THE COW DOG): “This is the history every American child should learn.”

• SCIENTIST/AUTHOR, JOHN H. TINER: “The books are first rate.”

These observations reflect the changes that are emerging in public expectations for schools. For more information about Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum & System refer to: www.pacworks.com or E-Mail: Learn@pacworks.com or call 254-445-4272.

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Thursday, August 26, 2004

Every day more than sixty well groomed teenagers enter Paradigm Accelerated Charter School to pursue high school diplomas. Often, the big white Paradigm bus is seen transporting students around Dublin. Last spring, 500 people crowded into the Dublin School District Camden Street Auditorium to honor 33 Paradigm graduates. During the past ten years, graduates have entered college, served in the military, published books and gained employment in such businesses as the Abilene Reporter, Norton and Walmart. Some students have started their own businesses.

The general public assumes that Paradigm School is the only mission emitting from the three story building across the street from City Hall. The Dublin Citizen discovered a lot more than learning is taking place under the Paradigm name at 112 South Grafton: students go in and out the front door, but boxes of textbooks and training materials go out the back door to locations from Maine to California and to such distant places as China, Australia and Caribbean Islands.

Newspaper files revealed numerous articles dating back to 1994, when Mr. Roy Neff, Dublin I.S.D. Superintendent, invited Dr. Ronald Johnson to contract with Dublin to address an unacceptable student dropout problem. Paradigm Alternative Center (PAC) opened with eight students, but expanded rapidly to 24 teenagers. Two years later, U.S.A Today Newspaper listed Paradigm among the top fifty effective programs for recovering at-risk youth. That article brought the Paradigm name to the attention to other educators who wanted to learn the strategies and system implemented by Dr. Johnson.

The Citizen discovered that Dr. Johnson is not an ordinary educator. He was listed in Who's Who In Education In The West, was selcted as one of 66 outstanding educators in America, and published his first book when at 26 years of age while serving as the youngest certified principal in Arizona. He twice participated in White House conferences with President Ronald Reagan to discuss the impact of private schools on educations. Before coming to Dublin, Dr. Johnson was recognized worldwide for his training seminars and manuals on individualized learning. He set up and directed pilot educational projects in public and privates schools in Honduras, Nicaragua and Paraguay. Since opening his contract school in Dublin, Dr. Johnson has served on the Texas Textbook Selection Panel and the transition team for upgrading TAAS to TAKS (tests designed to measure student performance in public schools), and he has recently conducted educational training seminars in Indiana, California, Colorado, Arizona and Texas.

"The PAC School" discontinued its contract with Dublin I.S.D. in 1999 and converted from a contract school to a charter school: Paradigm Accelerated School (PAS).

Dr. Johnson's dream has always been to help students beyond the city limits of Dublin. Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum, Inc. was incorporated in 1999 when a long-time Indiana friend and businessman, Dr. Gene Hood, obtained funds for Dr. Johnson to design and publish textbooks that build positive moral character while equipping students with solid academics in core subjects: math, science, English and history.

Other people who share the Johnson-Hood dream have joined the Paradigm team to write and publish curriculum for grades seven through twelve. Even though Dublin is a small, rural community, the Cross Timbers area has supplied writers, editors, artists, press operators, and computer technicians to produce Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum.

The textbooks shipped out the back door of the Paradigm building are distinct in that the books address emotional, academic, social and family issues while preparing students to pass academic assessment exams and graduate. PAC textbooks are designed to engage students through vignettes of real people in such fields as science, politics, business, religion, education and military service. Basic Science Mysteries for grades seven and eight include Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys-type characters who apply the scientific method and moral character to solve crimes. The People, Places and Principles of America apply the vignette approach to present American history around the 15 major components of culture. English Language and Communication Skills employ high-interest vignettes to engage students in classical grammer, writing skills and research procedures. Basic Math Skills starts with simple addition and ends by introducing students to Algebra.

Every PAC lesson includes a positive life principle selected to encourage students to practice optimistic life styles and to aspire to noble ideals. Graphics and theme art are carefully incorporated to address left and right brain strengths. A "talking textbook" version utilizing six language options addresses the needs of students challenged by sight or hearing impediments, attention deficit disorder, English language deficiencies and/or dyslexia.

Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum has been endorsed and praised by such noted persons as past-Governor Edgar Whitcomb (Indiana), John Erickson, author of Hank the Cowdog and Richard Watson, past-member of the Texas Board of Education. Numerous teachers, superintendents and students have praised Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum. One student said, "I used to hate school. Now I like it! What are you doing to me inside?" Another said, "Wy can't we learn other subjects from books like these?" A public school superintendent said, "I'll take every course you publish; I love it."

Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum is being used by students in public and private school classrooms, recovery initiatives, disciplinary programs, intervention efforts for under-performing students and home school settings. Demand for Paradigm books and system led Dr. Johnson and his staff to develop a self-directed training program that allows educators in other communities to implement the Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum and System without having to "find Dublin on the map."

When asked about future plans, Dr. Johnson smiled and said, "...to help teenagers world-wide, especially those whose fathers or teachers have not taught solid academics, positive life principles, noble ideals or how to dream beyond Dublin's city limits."

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Tuesday, June 29, 2004

A free seminar is available to educators interested in learning how to implement accelerated, individualized learning with under-performing students in grades 7 – 12. Internationally known educator Ronald E. Johnson, Ph.D. will present a two hour free seminar at 23710 El Toro – Suite E, Lake Forest, California on July 24th between 10:00 AM and noon. This seminar is recommended for school administrators, board members and teachers in regular and charter schools concerned with meeting expectations of No Child Left Behind. Seminar coordinator: Mrs. Martha Cardon, PH: 949-589-6234.

Ronald Johnson, Ph.D.
Paradigm Accelerated Curriculum and Systems
112 S. Grafton, PO Box 200
Dublin, Tx 76446
254-445-4272
254-445-3947 (fax)

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