Allentown School District educators credit fellowship with attendance gains and fewer suspensions

Educators in the Allentown School District described the Catalytic Ambassador Fellowship as a professional-development program that helped raise student attendance and reduce disciplinary incidents.

The fellowship, presented in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania and the United Way, is grounded in equity, belonging and high expectations and aims to strengthen leadership practices that center student voice and belonging, a program presenter said.

The presenter said the program encourages schools to focus on foundational skills — noting that improving literacy begins in first grade — and to adopt classroom- and school-level practices grounded in data. The presenter also said the district is expected to host Math Kangaroo USA events to increase student confidence and interest in mathematics.

A Catalytic Ambassador who participated in the fellowship described a project focused on attendance and outlined a new support space called the Canary Success Center for ninth-graders. "It's a classroom. It's a place to get a warm up, get their work, and then come down to the Canary Success Center to work independently. It's a quiet, distraction-free place, but also a place that has a lot of support," the participant said.

The participant reported measurable changes after implementing the program: "We've gone from 22 ISS incidents to only four, from 10 OSS to two. Students that were never coming to school are coming to school every day," the participant said. Those figures were presented as participant-reported outcomes and were not independently verified during the presentation.

Program practices described by presenters and participants included structured data walks, feedback cycles and use of a change framework referenced in the presentation as "Loen's change model." Presenters also emphasized "teaching with dignity" and implementing a trauma-informed, multi-tiered system of supports to improve engagement and belonging.

Participants said they were mentored by personnel from the University of Pennsylvania and that the fellowship helped them study data and adopt evidence-based practices. "I would absolutely recommend it," a participant said, adding that the experience strengthened their ability to make data-informed decisions.

The presentation outlined program goals, participant projects and early district-level activities; no formal vote or next procedural step was recorded during the session.