You probably haven’t heard much if anything about it, but Allison Cuttler, an AP Computer Science teacher at Uncommon Schools’ North Star Academy won the prestigious Milken Educator Award.
In a surprise assembly at North Star Academy, Cuttler was awarded $25,000 for her incredible work teaching AP Computer Science. The Milken Educator Awards program has been described as “the Oscars of teaching” by Teacher magazine.
Cuttler was honored for inspiring her students and helping them see themselves as the future scientists they are to become. In only her second year teaching the challenging AP Computer Science course at North Star, 100 percent of her students passed the AP Computer Science exam. That stands in bold contrast to a national pass rate for that subject of 64 percent.
The trailblazing teacher also founded an afterschool “Girls Who Code” club, which has become one of the school’s most popular organizations. The impact of the club and the new computer science curriculum has been invaluable at the high school.
The percentage of North Star graduates who have declared majors in the STEM fields has more than quadrupled in the past two years, and most of these students credit Cuttler as their inspiration.
“Allison made a positive difference to their own ideas of themselves,” said Michael Mann, Head of School at North Star’s high school. “I believe that she has changed their life trajectories.”
Across the country, nine states – not schools, not districts….states – didn’t have ANY African-Americans take the AP Computer Science exam this year. In New Jersey, there were just 39 African- Americans who passed the AP Computer Science exam – 10 of whom were from North Star Academy.
What’s more, black female students of Cuttler’s made up two-thirds of all black female students who passed the AP Computer Science exam in the state of New Jersey.
About 72 percent of the 2,468 students who took the AP Computer Science exam in New Jersey passed it. According to the College Board, 59 African American students took the test in New Jersey and 39 of them passed.
“Allison Cuttler reminds us what is possible with great teaching. She has taken on one of the biggest gaps in education: the participation and performance of African-American and Latino students in the STEM field. By combining her excellent teaching practices with her belief in what her students can achieve—regardless of their socioeconomic status—she sets the bar for all of us to follow,” said Paul Bambrick-Santoyo, Chief Schools Officer for HS & K-12 Content Development, of Uncommon Schools. Even more notably, Cuttler’s students represent one-quarter of all African-American students in New Jersey who passed the AP Computer Science exam.
When Allison’s name was read in the high school gym, hundreds of students erupted into a standing ovation for their teacher. Ms. Cuttler said she felt “humbled… I don’t feel deserving” because she teaches among so many great educators at North Star.
More importantly, she said teaching students STEM subjects is so valuable because “that’s where so many opportunities will be available in the future—in careers like engineering, biotechnology, computer science. But the reality is that if you go to college and you don’t already know that you might be interested in something like that, then by the time you decide it might be too late,” she said. “It’s increasingly important that as our students are matriculating into these highly selective institutions that they have some idea of what they want to study so that they are not losing out on opportunities that their peers might have.”
“I congratulate Allison on this recognition and for her commitment to STEM education,” said New Jersey Education Commissioner David C. Hespe. “Allison has demonstrated the innovation and creativity that inspires great teaching and learning in the Garden State. New Jersey students are fortunate to have educators like Allison who help to build a culture of learning and serve as an inspiration to those around her.”
North Star is part of Uncommon Schools, a network of 44 high-performing charter schools operating in three states: New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts. According to a 2013 study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University, attending an Uncommon School “completely cancels out the negative effect associated with being a student in poverty.”
photo credit: North Star Academy
