IDENTIFYING AND PREVENTING DROPOUTS IN
MORGAN COUNTY SCHOOLS
Credit Alternatives and Recovery Education (CARE)
Morgan County Schools
FACTSOver 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
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
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
ON-TRACK STUDENTSA 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
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.
Before grade 9 PREVENTION
After Grade 9 RESCUE
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.
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
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
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%
25% of Dropouts give up in 5th grade
49% of Dropouts give up in 9th grade
What do we do?
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
DISTRICT•Alternative Learning Environments •Creative and Flexible Schedules•Credit Recovery•Intense Counseling•Explorations of Career Opportunities
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
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
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
Option #3 Attend home school for electives Attend credit recovery classes at Learning
Center from 3:00 – 7:00 each day Optional Saturday classes
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)
2. AHSGE Remediation/Preparation at Learning Center (elective for 1 credit)
3. Attend home school for PE or other elective classes; attend Brewer for Career Tech; complete ACCESS or STAR classes for electives
4. 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.
2 ACCESS or STAR classes on Saturday morning 8:00 – 12:00
Option #3 – Part-time for school day
1. Attend home school for electives
2. Attend credit recovery classes at Learning Center from 3:00 – 7:00 each day
3. Optional Saturday classes
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
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
Conclusion
In a SREB survey of 300,000 high school and middleschool 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