Saint Paul Public Schools Excel Program

Superintendent Patricia Harvey and the Board of Education have set Saint Paul Public Schools on a course to provide a world-class education for all students. A major district policy initiative to support this goal was the bold step of ending social promotion, the practice of passing students on to the next grade regardless of whether they’ve mastered their work. In fall 2001, the Saint Paul Public Schools launched the Excel program – currently a one-of-a-kind initiative in Minnesota schools – as an alternative to merely retaining students in the same classroom and program in which they did not succeed the first time. This report summarizes the current implementation status of the Excel program, the characteristics of students who participated in 2001-02, and presents findings regarding the effects of the Excel experience on student performance. The final section summarizes what has been learned based on one year of Excel program implementation.