Identifying and Preventing Dropouts in Morgan County Schools

1. Identifying and Preventing Dropouts in Morgan County Schools Credit Alternatives and Recovery Education (CARE) Morgan County Schools

2. Facts Over one million who enter 9th grade each year fail to graduate 4 years later – 5% - 10% are gifted; 63% are passing About 7,000 students drop out of high school each school day

3. 9th grade is the bottleneck – Up to 40% of students in the highest dropout schools repeat 9th grade and only 10% - 15% of those who fail graduate • The students in the lowest 25% quartile of achievement are seven times less likely to graduate than those in the top 25% quartile

4. Dropouts from the class of 2008 will cost the nation $319 billion in lost wages over their lifetime • If the dropouts from the class of 2006 had finished high school, the United States would save $17 billion in Medicaid and uninsured health care in their lifetime. • Increasing the graduation rate by only 5% for males would save $8 billion each year by reducing crime related expenses

5. On-Track Students A student is consider on-track for graduation if by the end of 9th grade he/she has 5 or more credits and has no more than one F in an academic subject

6. Off-Track Students A student is consider off-track for graduation if by the end of 9th grade he/she has less than 5 credits and has at least one F in an academic subject.

7. Before grade 9 PREVENTION After Grade 9 RESCUE

8. Prevention • At the end of Kindergarten be able to read the following: The cat sleeps on the mat. • At the end of 3rd grade be able to write, read and comprehend (decoding, fluency, vocabulary) • Prior to 9th grade, students should at least read on a 6th grade level Brain research says that 5% of the population have an inability to read – Currently, only about 52% are literate on a 6th grade level.

9. RescueGrade Point Average (GPA) • 40% of Freshmen finish 9th grade with less than a 2.0 GPA • 26% of Freshmen finish 9th grade with a 3.0 or greater GPA

10. School Absence • 40% of 9th graders in a major study missed two weeks (10% of instruction time) or more in a semester • Serious absenteeism indicates Disengagement and those students have less than a 10% chance to graduate • 63% of 9th graders who miss 5-9 days a semester graduate on time • 87% of 9th graders who have less than 5 days graduate on time

11. Predictive Ability of Indicators of Freshmen-Year Performance Indicator Accuracy in Predicting Graduates ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ GPA 85% On-Track vs. Off-Track 85% Semester Course 89% Failures Absences 90%

12. 25% of Dropouts give up in 5th grade 49% of Dropouts give up in 9th grade

13. What do we do?

14. Schools Do not accept failure Identify At-Risk Students Establish Effective Mentor Programs Maintain Academic Rigor Connect learning to future success Academies/Advisory Groups Parental Contact Diversified Instruction Tiered Instruction Someone MAKES a connection with student

15. District Alternative Learning Environments Creative and Flexible Schedules Credit Recovery Intense Counseling Explorations of Career Opportunities

16. Who? Repeating 9th graders with • 2 or less academic credits • More than 6 absences last semester • GPA < 2.0 Repeating 10th graders with • 6 or less academic credits • More than 6 absences last semester • GPA < 2.0

17. How? Option #1 – Full time students • Daily attend 4 one-hour classes for credit recovery at the Learning Center (periods 4-7) • AHSGE Remediation/Preparation at Learning Center (elective for 1 credit) • Attend home school for PE or other elective classes; attend Brewer for Career Tech; complete ACCESS or STAR classes for electives • Optional Saturday classes

18. Option #2 • Daily Attend 4 classes of credit recovery at Learning Center from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. • ACCESS or STAR classes on Saturday morning 8:00 – 12:00

19. Option #3 • Attend home school for electives • Attend credit recovery classes at Learning Center from 3:00 – 7:00 each day • Optional Saturday classes

20. Repeating 9th graders with • Less than 2 academic credits • More than 6 absences last semester • Suspension(s) • GPA < 2.0 Repeating 10th graders with • Less than 6 academic credits • More than 6 absences last semester • Suspension(s) • GPA < 2.0 Option #1 – Full time students 1.Daily attend 4 one-hour classes for credit recovery at the Learning Center (periods 4-7) • . AHSGE Remediation/Preparation at Learning Center (elective for 1 credit) • . Attend home school for PE or other elective classes; attend Brewer for Career Tech; complete ACCESS or STAR classes for electives • . Optional Saturday classes Option #2 – Students wanting to work during the day 1. Daily Attend 4 classes of credit recovery at Learning Center from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. • ACCESS or STAR classes on Saturday morning 8:00 – 12:00 Option #3 – Part-time for school day 1.Attend home school for electives • . Attend credit recovery classes at Learning Center from 3:00 – 7:00 each day • . Optional Saturday classes

21. Process • Identify Off-Track Students • Encourage parents and student to consider a flexible alternative to dropping out • Complete the application – signed by student and parent • Counselor prepares recommendation form – signed by the counselor and the principal • Interview by intervention team • Develop Individual Recovery Plan (IRP) and sign as contract

22. GOALS • 30 students will recover to grade level in the first year • If those 30 students in 9th and 10th grade recover and graduate on time in 2 years, there would be a 6% increase in the graduation rate for 2014

23. Conclusion In a SREB survey of 300,000 high school and middle school students… • 91% say they will graduate from high school • 87% say they will attend post-secondary schools • 81% say they will get a Bachelor’s degree • 45% say they will get an advanced degree • Only 1.5% say they will drop out of school