Dr. Sandra Covington Smith Dr. Marilyn Johnson Sue Bement BIE Special Education Academy September, 2011 Tampa, FL

1. BIE: Dropout Prevention Initiative: “Graduation for All”A Collaboration with the National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities, an OSEP funded TA&D Center Dr. Sandra Covington Smith Dr. Marilyn Johnson Sue Bement BIE Special Education Academy September, 2011 Tampa, FL

2. National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities • A national specialty center funded by OSEP to support states in increasing school completion rates for students with disabilities • First funded by OSEP in January 2004 • Re-funded by OSEP in January 2009

3. NDPC-SD Assists States in… • Identifying evidence-based dropout prevention interventions, programs, and practices • Producing evidence-based knowledge that is useful to school practitioners • Providing targeted technical assistance to states in a variety of formats

4. Risk Factors Education, Sociology, and Economics • Demographic characteristics and family background • Past school performance • Personal/psychological characteristics • Adult responsibilities • School or neighborhood characteristics

5. Risk Factors Demographic Characteristics • African American, American Indian/Native American, Hispanic/Latino American • Approximately half of African American students do not receive diplomas with their cohort. • Less than 50% of Native American Students graduate each year (Faircloth & Tippeconnic, 2010). • Native students have the highest dropout rate in the nation (Indian Nation At Risk, 1991). • Hispanic students are the largest minority group in our Nation’s schools. • Fewer than half of all Hispanic children participate in early childhood education programs, and far too few Hispanics students graduate from high school.

6. Risk Factors • Family Background • Family income, SES, family involvement, families who receive welfare, parents’ educational attainment, single parent home, limited English proficiency, parent or sibling dropped out • Students from low SES families are four times more likely to drop out than their peers from higher a SES • Past School Performance • Low grades, poor test scores, retention & age, disciplinary problems, truancy, spending little time on homework

7. Risk Factors • Personal/psychological characteristics • Commitment to schooling and ability to follow through on this commitment, low self-esteem & locus of control, low educational expectations or plans • Adult responsibilities • Employment, caring for a child • Working >20 hr/wk positively associated with dropping out • Pregnancy positively associated with dropping out • School or neighborhood characteristics • Poor neighborhoods vs. wealthier neighborhoods • Higher in urban schools; rural; suburban

10. Program Development & Support • Promote and facilitate the implementation of evidence-based strategies that : • Promote a positive school climate • Increase school attendance • Promote prosocial behaviors • Promote academic success • Increase family engagement • Increase student engagement

12. Understanding Dropout: A Process of Disengagement

13. Elementary School Predictors Not an isolated event Elementary years, process begins Elevated dropout rates reported among children who were rated as highly aggressive by their 1st grade teachers (Ensminger & Slusarcick, 1992). Dropouts could be distinguished from graduates with 66% accuracy by the third grade using attendance data; and Identification of dropouts can be accomplished with reasonable accuracy based on review of school performance (behavior, attendance, academics) during the elementary years(Barrington & Hendricks, 1989) . Students who had repeated a grade as early as K – 4th grade were 5x more likely to drop out of school (Kaufman & Bradby, 1992).

14. Middle School Predictors of Dropout(Balfanz & Herzog, 2005; 2006) The four strongest predictors – determined by the end of sixth grade • Poor attendance (14%) 2. Failing English(16%) 3. Poor behavior (17%) 4. Failing math (21%) Sixth graders who do not attend school regularly, receive poor behavior marks, or fail math or English • 10% chance of graduating on time • 20% chance of graduating a year late

15. Middle School Predictors of Dropout (Balfanz & Herzog, 2005; 2006) Students who repeat middle school grades are 11 times more likely to drop out than students who had not repeated A student who is retained two grades increases their risk of dropping out of high school by 90% (Roderick, 1995). Transition between schools • Middle school/junior high school to high school

16. High School Predictors of Dropout(Balfanz & Herzog, 2006) • Students who enter ninth grade two or more grade levels behind their peers have only a one in two chance of being promoted to the tenth grade on time • Ninth grade retention is the biggest predictor of dropouts • The biggest fall off for students is between ninth and tenth grade

17. Graduation Rate (60 BIE high schools) Range: 19.74% to 100% • 4 – 90 to 100% • 5 – 80-90% • 7 – 70-80% • 18 – 50-70% • 20 – less than 50%

18. Preventing Dropout: The Process of Re-engaging Students

19. Student Achievement Association among achievement, engagement, and school behavior • Engaged students tend to earn higher grades, perform better on tests, report a sense of belonging, can set or respond to personal goals, persist on tasks • Engaged students perceive more support from teachers, practitioners, and peers, which leads to increased levels of engagement and adult support (Furrer et al., 2006)

20. The Effects of Engagement (Finn, 1993) School Completion = Engagement in School and Learning KEY ELEMENTS • Student Participation • Identification with School • Social Bonding • Personal Investment in Learning 20

21. Types of Engagement & Associated Factors • Academic engagement - time on task, academically engaged time, or credit accrual • Behavioral engagement - attendance, avoidance of suspension, classroom participation, and involvement in extracurricular activities • Cognitive engagement -processing academic information or becoming a self-regulated learner • Psychological engagement - identification with school or a sense of belonging • Social/Emotional engagement -feelings of safety and security and expressions of support and inclusion 21

22. Lessons Learned What Do We Know & What Have We Learned

23. LESSONS LEARNED Causes • Problem behaviors coupled with academic difficulties or prior academic failures are key risk factors that are predictive of school dropout. • Repeated use of exclusionary discipline practices, such as suspensionis one of the major factors contributing to dropout. • High absenteeism and retention are serious risk factors for dropping out that can be monitored by schools.

24. Improved School Completion Rates Factors that Impact School Completion AdequateAttendance Appropriate Social Behaviors Course Performance /Academic Engagement Effective Transition Services Decreased Dropout Rates

25. LESSONS LEARNED Consequences • Students who drop out are more likely to be unemployed or under employed. • Dropouts are more likely than high school graduates to need the support of living with parents in early adulthood, experience health problems, engage in criminal activities, and become dependent on welfare and other government programs. • Three to five years after dropping out, the cumulative arrest rate for youth with SED is 73%.

26. Desired Outcomes Increase the transfer of knowledge • Enhanced understanding • Expanded practices • Improved capacity • Increased School Completion

27. LESSONS LEARNEDPrevention/Intervention • Establish a leadership team to coordinate implementation of dropout prevention efforts • Establish systems for routine monitoring of risk indicators associated with dropout • Create action team to analyze data and address dropout prevention at the local level • Intervene early, often as early as preschool • Increase family engagement and school involvement • Create school environments that are inviting, safe, and supportive • Focus on effective instruction • Listen to students • Administrators are key and their support is essential • Use proven practices

28. SUCCESS FOR ALL STUDENTS Personalized Learning Environments (Psychological Engagement) Empowered Educators/ Accountable Leaders Academic Success (Academic Engagement) All youth ready for college, career, ind. living & active civic participation Positive Behaviors and Outcomes (Behavioral Engagement) Safety and Security (Social/ Emotional Engagement) Integrated System of High Standards, Curriculum, Instruction, Assessments, and Support (Cognitive Engagement)

29. Lessons LearnedRecovery/Re-entry • Some students will dropout as early as Middle School. • As early as grade K, differences exist between graduates and dropouts. • Dropouts appear to exhibit differential capabilities in comparison with graduates as early as kindergarten (e.g., academic deficits, absenteeism at critical stages, and academic retention). • It is never too late to recover a student who has exited school informally. Case management type services should be provided and their re-entry should be celebrated.

30. Implement practical strategies to recover students. Itis never too late!

31. LESSONS LEARNED Capacity Building • Utilize a systemic approach to address dropout prevention • Conduct causal analysis • Use data to guide program development, professional development, and other school improvement efforts • Consider multiple levels of implementation • Examine the influence of other performance indicators on school completion • Promote and implement evidence-based practices and strategies

32. LESSONS LEARNED Effective intervention practices + Effective implementation practices = Positive outcomes for youth with disabilities

33. Achieving Success: Improving Outcomes

34. Effective Leadership At the Local Level Initiate, Support, and Maintain School Completion Initiatives • Recognize Impetus for Change • Design & Development of an Effective Leadership Team • Dropout Prevention Initiative and Efforts are Vested in a Place of Authority • Analysis of Valid and Reliable Data / Analysis of Policies and Procedures • Professional Development, Training, and Technical Assistance • Endorsement of Evidence-Based Practices • Development of Early Warning Systems • Development of An Action Plan with Concrete and Reasonable Goals and Measures • Rolling Out Your Initiative • Parent Engagement Implementation of Action Plan • Community Partnerships • Implementation Efforts (Assess, Evaluate, Maintain, Celebrate) • Acquisition and Allocation of Adequate Resources (New & Existing) • Sustainability and Scaling-Up & Celebrating Successes!

35. Achieving student success requires breakthrough thinking. However, knowledge alone does not translate into action.

36. “We will never be able to turn the tide on the graduation crisis in this country if we don’t take the time to engage young people and their counsel as part of the solution.” America’s Promise Alliance 2010

38. BIE Dropout Prevention Committee: • Gloria Yepa, BIE DPA • Dr. Marilyn Johnson, BIE DPA • Sally Hollow Horn, BIE DPA • Sue Bement, BIE DPA • Dr. Jeff Hamley, BIE, DPA • Roxanne Brown, ADD East • Casey Sovo, ELO, NM South • Dr. Susan Faircloth, Pennsylvania State Univ. • Dr. Sandra Covington Smith, Clemson University, NDPC-SD

39. Resources BIE schools’ fundamental mission and purpose-- increase the graduation rate of all students. The NDPC-SD will provide training and technical assistance on development and implementation of strategies to schools (n=10) selected to participate in the 1st cohort. Training and technical assistance will support existing efforts to ensure that students realize outcome of high school graduation.

40. Training and Technical Assistance NDPC-SD will provide training and technical assistance on: • Conducting data analysis, identifying areas for improvement and root causes of dropout; • Development of evidence-based dropout prevention intervention plans; • Implementation and measurement of dropout correlates; • Identification of resources; and • Development of professional development structure.

41. Participation by BIE Schools BIE Dropout Prevention Team will select a cohort of 10 participant schools in Fall 2011. Factors for consideration in selection of schools:

42. Data Collection-Event Codes Data on events (behaviors) is collected through the NASIS database. Some schools have established event codes for their use. In order to standardize identification of events, a glossary is being developed for use by the schools.

43. Event Category: Attendance Events in the category related to Attendance: • Attendance, Attendance policy violation, Attendance violation, AWOL, AWOL (run away), AWOL over 3 hours, AWOL under 3 hours, Cutting class, skip class, truancy, walking out of class, leaving class without permission, etc. • Total Attendance events SY10-11 = 13,936

44. Schedule of Activity

45. Increase Graduation Rate

46. CONTACT INFORMATION:Dr. Sandra Covington SmithCoordinator of Technical Assistance and Trainingsandras@clemson.eduClemson University209 Martin StreetClemson, SC 29640864-656-1817 www.ndpc-sd.org © 2011 Clemson University – All rights reserved