AT&T Education Action

AT&T Education Action

Group 4
Cesar Garcia
Kasem Jabary
Noe Munguia
Alex Luna

AT&T Education Action

Introduction
At AT&T we believe people matter and this has long been one of our core values for over 137
years. We have contributed over $130 million to help solve different range of issues facing our
communities today. What has AT&T done? When we look at what has been accomplished in our
communities and cities, it is necessary to always build and improve on it. So far we have developed three
different programs to focus on improving communities through volunteering and education.
The first program is the Disaster Recovery Relief Program, which was developed to help
communities who were affected by natural disasters and help provide resources in their times of need. In
this relief program, we alone have invested over $600 million to help maximize control of different
problems.
The second program is Do One Thing, which encourages our employees to volunteer and take
action in helping out in the communities. Through the experiences they have when being exposed in this
program has also helped our employees learn more about sustainability and the importance of always
putting money aside into their savings.
Lastly, we have The Aspire Mentoring Academy. This organization was designed to target
multiple problems facing education. To be exact it focuses on increasing gradation rate, on track
graduation rate, credit accumulation, attendance rates and disciplinary behaviors. All these various factors
play a key role in determining the outcome of the students and schools productivity.
At AT&T we want to continue the tradition of giving back In particular the AMA program has
inspired us to develop our new Education Action Plan Program. All programs in consideration, we will be
conducting our researcher on two particular issues, and that is the discussion of, students level of college
readiness and the high school graduation rate. We ask ourselves, how can we improve education for high
school students to help prepare them to attend college? Specifically, we will address the issues in Dallas
Independent School District. We will focus our attention on Franklin D Roosevelt High School and the
problems in its educational system. We will argue why implementing a class elective will benefit students
and improve education. We will answer the question of why we should invest in education and in
particular our contribution to the city of Dallas and ultimately the economy as well. We will also discuss
what necessary steps we must take to ensure results have been met in order to make Dallas ISD a
prospering education district.

The Problem with DISD

Dallas Independent School District is the 14th largest district in the nation. With it being a
district this size, we at AT&T believe that it should be doing a lot better than what it has been in
the past few years. The Texas Education Agency reported that in the last year 43 out of 224
schools within Dallas ISD require improvement in their schools. These scores are based off the
State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness, otherwise known as STAAR, which all
students have to take in order to advance to the next grade level. According to School Digger, the

AT&T Education Action

district ranked 680 out of the whole state of Texas, which consists of 966 districts in the 2013-14
school year. Superintendent Mike Miles is aware that the district has many problems and has
tried to resolve many of them by implementing several changes. For example, in the past couple
of years, the superintendent has replaced a majority of the school principals throughout the
district. Although his efforts have helped improve for the most part, there still needs a lot of work
to be done in order for Dallas ISD to reach a satisfactory level, especially since the report
showed that the district rankings went down in the past school year. It was also shown that the
college readiness level of the district is very bad for nine of the high schools within the district.
At AT&T, we want to start helping the school district by first starting with focusing on Franklin
D. Roosevelt High School. We will specifically target on trying to improve the college readiness
level at this school as well as increase the high school graduation rate.
Franklin D. Roosevelt High school is
one of the schools that is doing the worse, of the
high schools, in Dallas ISD. The table on the left
shows that 100% of the students that attend this
school are considered a minority, mostly
consisting of African Americans and Hispanics. It
is also shown that the attendance rate at this school is lower than the 95% mark the district aims
for at every school. Of the 620 students that attend FDR high school, 80% are considered
economically disadvantaged, which means that they receive either free or reduced lunch. The
rates for this high school are alarming whenever it comes to the graduation rates. The school
district has a target rate of 90% whenever it comes to students graduating in four years however
only 84.3% of them are. They also have the same target rate for freshman students who are on
track to graduate within those four years like normal but only 53% of them are now scheduled to
graduate in the spring of 2018. For the STAAR test at this school, which focuses on Reading and
Geometry scores more heavily than the other subjects, scores were also bad. More than threequarters of the school are struggling in these areas of the standardized test, 78% being
unsatisfactory for the Geometry portion and 84% unsatisfactory for Reading. These scores are
alarming because students need to be able to understand these basic concepts in order to get them
ready for college. Unfortunately, many of the students who attend this high school, as mentioned
before, are underprivileged and are most likely not thinking about even attending college. This is
why we are going to be focusing, in connection without Aspire Mentoring Academy, to help
these students on learning the importance of obtaining a degree and how we will prepare them
for college level courses.
The Texas Education Agency determines how prepared students are for a secondary
education by looking at either the ACT or SAT scores. The district offers a great opportunity to
their students by allowing them to come in and take both tests free which is a huge advantage to
them since they are already coming from low-income families. Colleges also look at these scores
along with other qualifications in order to make a decision on whether a student will be accepted

AT&T Education Action

into their university. This exam is a huge deal and can make or break somebody not only on
being accepted, but also on receiving scholarships, which may pay for their full tuition. As seen
in the chart on the right, the college ACT/SAT scores
at
Franklin D. Roosevelt High schools are horrible.
Only 4 percent of the juniors who took the exam last
year
showed through their results that they were ready
to
attend college. Dallas ISD has a target of 40% of
their students should be scoring high enough on the
scores, however FDR is showing that only 10 percent
of
them are.

Whenever the parents of the students were surveyed at this high school, many of
them seemed to be unsatisfied with the way the school is managing things. The four worse things
that parents are upset with are that they do not believe their child learns, the school does not
promote college, and there is neither a respectful nor a safe learning environment. How can we
expect kids to want to pursue a higher education if all they are exposed to is a school they do not
feel safe in and does not talk to kids about the importance of college after they graduate high
school? People need to be motivated to do better things with their life, and if none of us had
someone to look up to then we would probably not even make it through high school. Poverty
may want to make people quit school and start working so they can help with the finances in
their family, but they are unaware how much education affects their poverty level in the future.
According to DoSomething.org, Children living in poverty have a higher number of
absenteeism or leave school altogether because they are more likely to have to work or care for
family members.(11 Facts, 2014) They also are seven times more likely to drop out if they are
from the age 16-24 and come from a low-income family. If we show these students that
obtaining a higher education will help them break out of poverty, they will be more likely to get
a college degree. Michelle Asha Cooper stated that, Obtaining a college degree or other
advanced credential has proven to be a critical factor in producing both individual and societal
benefits. It is often education that breaks generational cycles of poverty.(Cooper, 2010) Raising
students college-readiness level at Franklin D. Roosevelt high school as well as make them
aware of how beneficial it is to obtain a college degree is what our mission at AT&T will be.

AT&T Education Action

Proposal
To combat the low college readiness at FDR High School, we threw around a few ideas.
We thought we could possibly provide an afterschool program, but we were worried that we
would have to put too many resources for kids that possibly could not or would not be able to go
to class after school, as well as relying on teachers who might not be able to teach consistently
after school. After further deliberation, we settled on offering an elective.
So what would make this class different than other classes? What would make the kids
want to go to this class as opposed to the other classes they arent going to or skipping? We know
there are reasons that we cant control, such as family issues or economic reasons that force them
to skip class to make money for their family. However, if we can get to the students that do not
fall under that category, we feel we can make a difference.
Going back to the original question, how would we make the classes worth it? First off,
we would teach the class in a different, more engaging way. We dont want to have the normal
classroom setting where students come in, open their textbooks and sit to take notes. As written
by project2061, an online teaching publication, Concepts are learned best when they are
encountered in a variety of contexts and expressed in a variety of ways, for that ensures that there
are more opportunities for them to become imbedded in a student's knowledge system (Chapter
2013, 1990). This means that educators have to come up with multiple ways to help the student
learn what is being taught, because not every person learns the same way.
Furthermore, we have to get these students excited about what they are learning and they
need to see why it is important. Many students fail to see how learning about how certain classes,
such as statistics, matters to them. However, if we teach them subjects that are not usually taught
in everyday high school classrooms, then we feel like they may succeed. The subjects we want to
teach revolve around the basis of involving the students, where they can actually have a handson experience. We also will put an emphasis on how whatever they are being taught will help
them in real life. The students need to realize how they will apply what they learn and when they
will have to use these skills, such as financing a car, applying for a credit card, or even buying a
house.
One of our employees at AT&T, Noe Munguia, admitted the first time he was offered a
credit card he remembered being confused on how it worked. Terms such as APR, minimum
payment, and annual fee were all foreign to him. At that moment Noe realized how easy it is for
teens to get taken advantage of and will therefore result in putting themselves in debt. Many
young adults, including him at the time, did not know how important a credit score really was
and how it affects many of the important purchases you will eventually make in your life.
Whenever we ran the idea by Noe of implementing such a program he said, If I had a class that

AT&T Education Action

taught me these things and made me aware of the possible pitfalls owning a credit card can
present, I would have known what I was getting myself into.(Munguia, 2015)
In the end, we hope to get these students engaged, and that it will have a bleeding effect
into their other classes where they want to learn and go to class. The more they are in class and
engaged, the better prepared they will be once they graduate. We want this elective to be a
supplement to their learning and keep them interested. The more they know about how college
works, the less scared and intimidated we hope they will be as well as be more interested in
applying and getting into college.
Early on, we had a basic idea of what subjects would be taught. Money management was
necessary, as we felt like it was an important topic that many teenagers and even adults never
learn. We could expand upon that and dive into the difference between a debit and credit card,
how a savings account works, and overall how to manage their own finances (20 Life Skills,
2014). This accompanied with their core math classes should help the students draw a connection
and, in turn, improve their grades, get them more engaged, and reinforce what they are learning
in their other classes.
Furthermore, we would teach life skills as well that, once in college, could help them
save the already limited amount of money most of us college students have. These subjects
include cooking, car repair, and home repair (20 Life Skills, 2014). Not only would these
subjects be a perfect way to get the students to learn hands on, we would be teaching valuable
life lessons that would stretch beyond the classroom and they would appreciate for the rest of
their lives. In addition, these subjects are varied enough that we believe the students would find
at least one that they truly enjoy and could find a possible future with.
In order to properly prepare the students, we would change the subjects taught to
correlate with their grade level. During their freshman year, we would focus on building a strong
base, such as teaching effective study strategies, time-management techniques, etc. Sophomore
year would consist of some of the subjects mentioned above, as they are going to begin to
prepare for college. Junior year would incorporate the lessons taught the previous years and
begin to build towards preparing the students for the tests they will have to take, including the
yearly STAAR and more importantly, the SAT and ACT. However, sticking with the idea of
making learning more engaging, we would encourage the use of popular apps such as Instagram
and Twitter to help.
With Instagram, the idea would be to have a vocabulary list for the students, and pick 15
to 20 words a day and the goal would be to take a picture that relates to the word. Then they
would insert a hash tag that makes it easy for the students to find later (Rocci, 2013). Twitter
could be used to keep track of math formulas, and again enter a unique hash tag to make it easy

AT&T Education Action

to find later (Rocci, 2013). We want to embrace technology and show the students that as long as
its used responsibly, it can be an extremely helpful and fun tool to use.
Finally, senior year would be focused on preparing the students for college life and
making sure they are ready for the process of applying to colleges and have all their academics
where they need to be. We would also help them with volunteer opportunities, their college
resumes, and possible face-to-face interviews they may have with potential college alumni,
which could be the difference between an acceptance and rejection letter for students.
Another way to help them boost their resumes would be our Summer Job Shadow
program that we would offer. We would have the ones interested apply and we would select a
group of students to follow an AT&T corporate employee around for a few weeks during the
summer. This would be a great opportunity for students to see how the corporate world works as
well as provide them with immeasurable experience and great networking opportunities.
Rewards/Incentives
Now with teenagers, we know that there may need to be an extra push to get them fully
invested and buy in. With our reward program, the idea is to show kids that hard work pays off,
and if you stay committed and meet your goals, then rewards will follow. Plus, these rewards
could be the difference between keeping or losing a student on the edge of quitting or giving up.
Also, this could get students interested and push them to do better to get in the elective and do
their very best. The rewards would be given out as follows:

Freshman Year: iPad Mini

Sophomore Year: $500 Scholarship received upon graduation
Junior Year: MacBook Air Laptop
Senior Year: First two full years of tuition paid for any college in the U.S.

To obtain these rewards, the students would have to hold a B or better average with all of
their classes by the end of the year. If they fail to meet that goal, they wouldnt receive the
reward for that year. Our requirements for a student to be allowed to take the class would be
based upon factors such as their curriculum, but more importantly, their grades. To get in, they
would have to have at least a 2.5 GPA, however, to continue to take the class for the following
years, they would have to obtain and hold a B in the class itself. That way we have students who
do well in the class stay in the program as well as have students who want to be in there stay in
there.
Staff
So who would teach these students? First, we would use the teachers already employed at
the high school. We would make sure these teachers are qualified as well as take into

AT&T Education Action

consideration how the students respond to the teacher. We believe the right teacher or teachers
can be the difference between success and failure with our students and our program. In addition,
the teachers would receive a stipend for the class and any other extra time they may have to
spend with the students or class.
In addition, we would use some resources already used in AT&Ts Aspire Mentor
Program. The biggest inclusion would be the mentors in the program, as we would ask them to
come and help with the students. Since these members already have experience with helping
students succeed, we would use their expertise to make sure we give the students the best chance
to do well. This would also allow the students to have opportunities to network and build
relationships that could help them with possible job opportunities in the future.
Budget and Costs
With any project, there is a bottom line with costs. Our proposed education action plan
begins with the classroom numbers. For the pilot year of the program, the class will be capped at
twenty students. With one teacher, this ratio stays consistent with the best schools in the state.
For example, U.S. News & World Reports Education section places most of the states aboveaverage school with a student: teacher ratio between 13 and 25 students for every teacher (Dallas
Independent School District, 2015). If we can appropriately mirror what successful schools are
doing from a logistics standpoint, we can start on the right foot of providing students with the
proper environment.
The first cost involved with the plan is the salary of the teacher. This is a class that would
be integrated into the schools curriculum as an elective, and thus the salary would be
supplementary to a teacher that already works there. This would allow us to get around
legislative issues regarding required curriculum for students and payment for teachers. The class
would be an hour or an hour and a half and would be a semester long (which is three six-week
periods). This time frame lays the foundation for the salary, which would total $21,600.
Teacher Salary: $21,600
Next comes the first year incentive: the iPad mini with Microsoft Office. So, provided
that twenty students enter the course on the first year, navigate the coursework and come out
with a B or better, the cost after the first year comes to:
iPad Mini + Microsoft Office: $5,600
Year two. The $500 scholarship will go to any qualified student and may be applied to
any college of their choice. the scholarship comes from AT&T and is given in an effort to
encourage students go to college with some financial help from our company. Hopefully with
this taste of financial aid, students will see that with hard work comes opportunity. The

AT&T Education Action

scholarship will be awarded pending the acceptance to an institution of higher education. If

twenty students from the first year remain and once again navigate the coursework, and come out
with a B or better, the second year cost becomes:
Scholarship: $10,000
Year three. By staggering educational material incentives with financial aid for higher
education, we hope to keep the students involved and active in the program. With a Macbook
Air, the students will hopefully continue their commitment to graduating and going to college. To
reiterate, if twenty students still remain in the course and navigate the coursework with a B or
better:
Macbook Air: $16,000
Year four. Our goal for the students will hopefully be achieved if after four years of this
elective, they have not only learned some real and applicable skills, but they are on their way to
college. To demonstrate our commitment to this goal, the fourth year incentive is two years of
community college paid for. This does not limit the student to attending a community college, the
cost per semester was simply obtained from community college costs. This is the capstone of the
program and as such, if after four years of those twenty students passing the class with a B or
better, every qualified student will receive:
Tuition: $49,800
What is important to keep in mind from a budgeting perspective is that, this budget:
Total: $103,000
represents the total contribution if twenty students enter the class in the first year and pass with a
B or better for four consecutive years. This is absolutely our intention, however it may not be a
certainty.

AT&T Education Action

10

As you can see from the above pie chart, the dark red and bright yellow sections are the
largest on the breakdown. This is an accurate visual representation of where AT&T wants its
money going - the students and the teachers. We want the money to go to the students higher
education, and the teachers that are helping them get there. This demonstrates how our company
is putting our money where our mouth is and pushing our funds in the right directions.

AT&T Education Action

11

As is denoted from the above picture, AT&T has invested more than $94.6 million toward
the AT&T Aspire program which is the previously mentioned mentoring program. This was part
of a $250 million commitment. Furthermore, our cost: $103,000, represents less than 7/1000th of
the $130 million that AT&T is already contributing toward social investment and foundation
programs. Therefore, while our budget may have initially seemed high for one school, in the
scope of our companies budget for these kinds of programs, it is a very feasible goal.
Why is this important?
Costs aside, why is this worth doing? Well, we are investing in Dallas students and
teachers in the truest sense of the word. But why are we doing this? Let us begin by
understanding the context. Realtor.com experts note that the Dallas-Ft. Worth housing market is
expected to be the second hottest in the entire country (Rienstra, 2015). Next, Forbes and
ManpowerGroup have recently placed the Dallas job outlook and growth first across the nation
(Jean, 2014, Dill, 2014). Finally, on March 24, a headline in Dallas Business Journal read:
AT&T to hire 500 workers in Dallas-Fort Worth as part of the expansion of services. AT&T is
a big part of Dallas, and if we can observe this booming economy, hot real estate market, and
lively job outlook, our question to the community and ourselves is: Why should our students not
be doing well too?
AT&T has proven that we continue to invest in this Dallas economy and workforce.
When we look to the future of not only our company but of the city of Dallas, it will be the
students of today who will populate the economy of tomorrow. It is our responsibility to continue
this investment to the city and provide an environment that facilitates success in the classroom
and leads children in need to institutions of higher education.

AT&T Education Action

12

Sources
Haag, M. (n.d.). More Dallas ISD schools fail to meet state accountability standards. Retrieved
April 27, 2015, from http://educationblog.dallasnews.com/2014/08/more-dallas-isdschools-fail-to-meet-state-accountability-ratings.html/
Franklin D Roosevelt High School Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2015, from
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/texas/districts/dallas-independentschool-district/franklin-d-roosevelt-high-school-18925
2014-15 School Profile FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT HIGH SCHOOL (TEA # 13). (2014, October
29). Retrieved April 27, 2015, from
http://www.dallasisd.org/cms/lib/TX01001475/Centricity/Shared//SchoolProfiles/SCHOO
L_PROFILE_13.pdf
Dallas Independent School District - Dallas, Texas - SchoolDigger.com. (n.d.). Retrieved April
27, 2015, from http://www.schooldigger.com/go/TX/district/16230/search.aspx
Haag, M. (n.d.). Dallas ISD revises college ready standards for ACT, SAT. Retrieved April 27,
2015, from http://educationblog.dallasnews.com/2013/08/dallas-isd-revises-collegeready-standards-for-act-sat.html/
11 Facts About Education and Poverty in America. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2015, from
https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-education-and-poverty-america
Cooper, M. (2010, August 23). Reducing Poverty through Higher Education. Retrieved April 27,
2015, from http://www.spotlightonpoverty.org/exclusivecommentary.aspx?id=b550d3c542e3-4bde-a08c-21d14f26f493
Serving Our Communities - AT&T People | Planet | Possibilities. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2015,
from http://about.att.com/content/csr/home/people/serving-our-communities.html
AT&T 2013 Annual Sustainability Update. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2015, from
http://about.att.com/content/dam/csr/PDFs/att-2013-annual-update.pdf

Dallas Independent School District. (2015, January 1). Retrieved April 27, 2015, from
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/texas/districts/dallas-independentschool-district

AT&T Education Action

13

Rienstra, J. (2015, March 6). Real estate authority asserts Dallas is second hottest U.S. market
right now - 2015-Mar-06. Retrieved April 27, 2015, from
http://dallas.culturemap.com/news/real-estate/03-06-15-realtor-com-listings-report-hotmarkets/

Jean, S. (2014, September 9). Where is the best job outlook? Manpower says Dallas-Fort Worth.
Retrieved April 27, 2015, from http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2014/09/where-is-thebest-job-outlook-manpower-says-dallas-fort-worth.html/

Dill, K. (2014, September 9). The Best And Worst Cities For Jobs This Fall. Retrieved April 27,
2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathryndill/2014/09/09/the-best-and-worstcities-for-jobs-this-fall/

Chapter 13: Effective Learning and Teaching. (1990, January 1). Retrieved April 27, 2015, from
http://www.project2061.org/publications/sfaa/online/Chap13.htm

Rocci, K. (2013, September 3). 5 Ways to Make Studying for the SAT Suck Less. Retrieved
April 27, 2015, from http://magoosh.com/sat/2013/5-ways-to-make-studying-for-the-satsuck-less/

20 Life Skills Not Taught In School. (2014, June 16). Retrieved April 27, 2015, from
http://successfulstudent.org/20-life-skills-not-taught-in-school/