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Connecting Youth through Multiple Pathways to Graduation

Connecting Youth through Multiple Pathways to Graduation. Dana Brinson, Public Impact Strengthening Connections: The Whole Child, School and Community Student Services Seminar Staunton, VA April 2010. Agenda. Goal vs. Reality Who Are Disconnected Youth?

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Connecting Youth through Multiple Pathways to Graduation

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  1. Connecting Youth through Multiple Pathways to Graduation Dana Brinson, Public Impact Strengthening Connections: The Whole Child, School and Community Student Services Seminar Staunton, VA April 2010

  2. Agenda Goal vs. Reality Who Are Disconnected Youth? A Response: Multiple Pathways to Graduation Approaches to Connecting Youth: A Continuum Additional Resources Public Impact

  3. Goal Vs. Reality Public Impact

  4. Goal: Graduate all youth college and career ready. Reality: Most students do not graduate prepared to take on college-level work; many do not graduate on time or at all. Public Impact 4

  5. Goal: College and Career Ready THE DREAM OF COLLEGE: Helping Struggling Students Succeed in College Emerging findings and recommendations from the New York City Partnership for College Access and Success, www.ydinstitute.org This framework is adapted from the 2004 report: Engagement, Capacity, and Continuity: A Trilogy for Student Success, by Eric Jolly, Patricia Campbell, and Lesley Perlman; www.smm.org/ecc/. Engagement Capacity Continuity Public Impact 5

  6. Reality: Most are Not Ready Disconnected Youth (Weak Engagement) College Aspirants (Weak Capacity) College Attendees (Weak Continuity) Public Impact 6

  7. Who Are Disconnected Youth? Public Impact

  8. Who Are Disconnected Youth? Michael Wald and Tia Martinez (2003). Connected by 25: Improving the Life Chances of the Country’s Most Vulnerable 14-24 Year Olds • 5% to 7% of today’s teens will reach age 25 without connecting to work in a meaningful way • About 20% of all youth will become at risk • Most fall into one of four populations as a teen: • school dropouts, • teens in foster care, • incarcerated youth, and • teen mothers. Public Impact 8

  9. Vulnerable & Disconnected Youth: A Heterogeneous Group Public Impact 9

  10. Who Are Disconnected Youth? Children in communities of concentrated poverty Children in poor families Youth with leading indicators for risk Youth at High Risk Disconnected Young Adults Ages: 0-3 3-5 5-10 10-14 14-18 18-24 *Brett Brown. (1996). Who are America’s Disconnected Youth? Public Impact 10

  11. Connecting Youth through Multiple Pathways to Graduation A “no wrong door” approach to education Public Impact

  12. What is “Multiple Pathways to Graduation”? • MPG is a district-led process to: • Gather outcome data about students and schools, • Identify the reasons for youth leaving school without a diploma, and • Act on that data to develop necessary reforms and alternative program options to meet the needs of all youth. Public Impact 12

  13. Traditional Pathway 9th grade cohort Enter comprehensive high school, earn credits for four years… Leave School Diploma GED Public Impact 13

  14. Complicating Factors Literacy or language challenges Poor attendance because of job 9th grade cohort Over age and under credited Enter comprehensive high school, earn credits for four years… Feeling “lost” in a large high school Poor attendance because of personal challenge Needing a challenge Diploma or GED Detention in juvenile justice system Becoming a parent Public Impact 14

  15. Potential Pathways Career Academies CBO-run Youth Center Early –College H.S. Twilight Academy Gateway to College CBO-run GED prep program Dropout Recovery Program Arts-Focused Charter School Virtual Courses (aligned with home district) 9th grade cohort Enter comprehensive high school, earn credits for four years… Diploma or GED Public Impact 15

  16. Partners, Polices and Programs Career Academies Arts-Focused Charter School CBO-run Youth Center Dropout Recovery Program Early –College H.S. Twilight Academy Gateway to College CBO-run GED prep program Virtual Courses (aligned with home district) 9th grade cohort Cross-system coordination Public Awareness Community Partners Transition Services Public Policy Outreach and Recovery Youth Engagement Programs High School Reform Enter comprehensive high school, earn credits for four years… Diploma or GED Public Impact 16

  17. MPG Example Career Academies Dropout Recovery Program Twilight Academy Early –College H.S. CBO-run GED prep program CBO-run Youth Center Gateway to College Arts-Focused Charter School Virtual Courses (aligned with home district) 9th grade cohort Enter comprehensive high school, earn credits for four years… Leave School Diploma or GED Youth has poor attendance because of personal challenges Public Impact 17

  18. Four Necessary Components of a successful MPG system Deep data analysis, A policy environment conducive to these changes, A single, rigorous standard for graduation, A purposeful matching of student needs/demand to available programs to determine gaps in services. Public Impact

  19. MPG is a Balancing Act Public Impact

  20. Activity: Your Community’s Youth and Programs Public Impact

  21. Approaches to Connecting Youth: A Continuum Public Impact

  22. Approaches to Connecting Youth Identify the youth in the community at risk for disconnection, Prevent initial disconnection through broad-based efforts, Intervene with youth most at risk for falling off track, and Recover youth who become disconnected and provide transition back into appropriate systems of support. Public Impact 22

  23. A Tiered Approach to Prevention, Intervention and Recovery Public Impact 23

  24. Public Impact 24

  25. MPG: Identifying Youth at Risk Public Impact 25

  26. Common Indicators of Risk Achieve, Inc. “Identifying Potential Dropouts: Key Lessons for Building an Early Warning Data System.” P. 5. • Academic performance: • Accumulating few course credits • More than one semester F in core subject • Literacy challenges • Grade retention • Student Behavior: • High absenteeism • Poor behavior/disciplinary problems • Disengagement from school and extracurricular activities Public Impact 26

  27. Public Impact 27

  28. Prevention for Youth at Risk Public Impact 28

  29. Prevention: Early Efforts Long before high school, early prevention efforts can help keep kids on track to graduation: • Early childhood supports • Attendance focus • Development of literacy skills • Youth engagement programs • Integration of social and health services into schools Public Impact 29

  30. Prevention: Literacy Development Progress in K-3 skills when “learning to read” Adolescent literacy has not kept up when youth need to “read to learn” Everyone is responsible for developing adolescent literacy: content-area teachers, school leaders, district leaders. Public Impact

  31. Prevention: Literacy Development Data from presentation given by Dr. Catherine Snow (on the Adolescent Literacy Council at Carnegie) during 10-19-09 webinar (recording available here: http://www.futureofeducation.com/forum/topics/angela-maiers-panel-discussion) Indicators of the problem: More than 8 million students in grades 4-12 read below grade level 2 in 3 high school students read below grade level Among low-income eighth graders, just fifteen percent read at a proficient level In a typical high-poverty urban school, approximately half of incoming ninth-grade students read at sixth or seventh-grade level High school students’ ability to read complex texts is strongly predictive of their performance in college math, science, history, and other core courses Public Impact 31

  32. Prevention: Literacy Development Source: Ruth Curran Neild. Literacy Levels and Student Outcomes: Data from Philadelphia. Presentation given November 19, 2008. Public Impact

  33. Prevention: Literacy Development Source: Ruth Curran Neild. Literacy Levels and Student Outcomes: Data from Philadelphia. Presentation given November 19, 2008. Public Impact

  34. Prevention: Continuity through MPG MPG efforts support youth during periods of transition when you are most at risk of falling off track. Transition programs can focus on • Easing transition into high school, • Supporting completion of high school, and • Easing transition from high school to postsecondary education or employment. Public Impact 34

  35. Prevention: Easing Transition into High SchoolPortland Example Sources: Ninth Grade Counts: 12 weeks of summer, a future of success. Available at: http://cms9.pps.k12.or.us/.docs/pg/12510. See also: connectedby25.org. Transition support between 8th and 9th grades: • Summer school, • Tutoring, • Mentoring, • Internships, and • Community connection activities. Public Impact 35

  36. Public Impact 36

  37. Intervention with Youth Disconnecting Public Impact 37

  38. Intervention through MPG Transfer Schools in New York City Enable over-aged and under-credited youth to get back on track to a diploma in small programs that serve about 200 youth each Demonstrated efficacy: Transfer schools graduate three times as many off-track students (70%) as comprehensive high schools (under 20%). Based on data, NYC DoE scaled up Transfer Schools (opened 20 new schools over three years). Public Impact 39

  39. Public Impact 40

  40. Recovery of Disconnected Youth Public Impact 41

  41. Recovery through MPG Gateway to College program: Available to older dropouts with at least 8th-grade skills, Located on a college campus, Provides high school credit recovery Prepares youth to transition into community college Public Impact

  42. Activity: What Do You Have? What Do You Need? Public Impact

  43. Engage Others to Support MPG Public Impact 44

  44. In a Strong MPG System: Public Impact

  45. Summary Public Impact

  46. Additional Resources Public Impact

  47. Additional Resources Two Reports: • Connecting Youth Through Multiple Pathways • Youth at High Risk of Disconnection • Both available on the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s website, www.aecf.org, in the Knowledge Center Public Impact 48

  48. Additional Resources: Early Warning System • Early Warning System Tool (free desktop database application) • http://txcc.sedl.org/resources/ewst/ • National High School Center. Developing Early Warning Systems to Identify Potential High School Dropouts. • http://www.betterhighschools.org/docs/IssueBrief_EarlyWarningSystemsGuide_081408.pdf • Consortium on Chicago School Research. What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public High Schools. • http://ccsr.uchicago.edu/publications/07%20What%20Matters%20Final.pdf • Ruth Curran Neild, Robert Balfanz, and Liza Herzog. An Early Warning System. • http://www.jhsph.edu/preventyouthviolence/Test/An%20early%20warning%20system.pdf • Achieve, Inc. Identifying Potential Dropouts: Key Lessons for Building an Early Warning Data System. • http://www.achieve.org/files/FINAL-dropouts_0.pdf Public Impact 49

  49. Additional Resources: Measuring Program Efficacy Though much research is still necessary, some have evaluated or compiled evaluations of specific approaches relevant to Multiple Pathways to Graduation: • Promising Practices Network: • www.promising practices.net • What Works Clearinghouse: Dropout Prevention • http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/ • Best Evidence Encyclopedia • www.bestevidence.org • Social Programs that Work • www.evidencebasedprograms.org • Child Trends “What Works” Database • www.childtrends.org • Washington State Institute for Public Policy • www.wsipp.wa.gov Public Impact 50

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