Strategic Plan

1. Strategic Plan • Goal 1.4 In comparison with other similar school district, District 11 will have the lowest dropout rate and the highest graduation rate in the state by 2008

2. What is the Dropout Rate? • The dropout rate is an annual rate reflecting the percentage of students who leave school during a single school year. • It is calculated by dividing the number of dropouts by the number of students in the membership base. • By a 1993 legislative mandate, expelled students are not included in the dropout rate.

3. What is the Graduation Rate? • The graduation rate is a cumulative or longitudinal rate which calculates the number of students who actually graduate as a percent of those who were in membership and could have graduated over a four year period. • The membership base is adjusted to accommodate transfers in or out of the base.

4. 2003 Dropout Rate • District 11 Dropout Rate –4.1% • State Dropout Rate—2.4%

5. 2003 Graduation Rate • District 11 Graduation Rate—67% • State Graduation Rate—83.6%

6. Why Do Students Drop Out? • It is common for a student to have multiple reasons for dropping out. • According to the U.S. Department of Education • Percentage of dropouts who reported the following various reasons for dropping out of school applied to them.

7. School Related • 51% Did not like school • 35% Could not get along with teachers • 20% Could not get along with students • 15% Suspended too often • 12% Did not feel safe • 13% Expelled • 23% Felt I didn’t belong

8. School Related • 31% Could not keep up • 39% Failing • 13% Changed school, did not like new school

9. Job Related • 14% Could not work and go to school at the same time • 15% Had to get a job • 15% Found a job

10. Family Related • 9% Had to support family • 13% Was Pregnant • 14% Became a parent • 13% Got married • 8% Had to care for family member

11. Other • 2% Wanted to travel • 14% Had friends who dropped out

12. This is a National Problem • We are part of it • It is complex • Research suggests--There is no “one size fits all” • Research suggests a multifaceted approach

13. Effective Strategies • National Dropout Prevention Center • Clemson University • Clemson, South Carolina

14. NDPC • Identified 15 effective strategies that have the most positive impact on the dropout rate • Four Categories • School and Community Perspective • Making the Most of Instruction • Early Interventions • Basic Core Strategies

15. School and Community • School-Community Collaboration • Project Redirect • Youth Assessment Center • Boys and Girls Clubs • McMaster Center • Adventures in Learning

16. School and Community • Safe Learning Environments • Crimestoppers (CSPD) • Bullyproofing Curriculum • School Resource Officers (CSPD) • Boystown

17. School and Community • Systemic Renewal • Continuing process of evaluating goals and objectives related to school policies, practices, and organizational structures • Continuous Quality Improvement

18. Making the Most of Instruction • Professional Development • Ruby Payne Training • Dr. Jose Barerra/Multicultural Study with a focus on Hispanic youth • Professional Learning Communities/Pyramid of Interventions

19. Making the Most of Instruction • Individualized instruction • Individual Learning Plans (ILP) • Differentiated Instruction

20. Making the Most of Instruction • Active Learning • Teaching and learning strategies • Multiple Intelligences Theory • Learning Styles • Cooperative Learning • Project-Based Learning

21. Making the Most of Instruction • Educational Technology • Bridge the “Digital Divide” • Provide individualized instruction • Proving effective for at-risk youth • Prepare students for the workforce

22. Making the Most of Instruction • Career and Technical Education • Business Education Courses • Consumer and Family Studies Courses • Industrial Technology Courses • ACE and Business Internships

23. Early Interventions • Family Engagement • Literacy nights • Parent Connect (now includes phone) • Youth Assessment Center

24. Early Interventions • Early Childhood Education • Headstart Program • Preschool Programs • Full-day Kindergarten

25. Early Interventions • Early Literacy Development • Tutoring before school, after, and summer • Corrective Reading • Guided Reading • Battle of the Books • Read 180

26. Basic Core Strategies • Mentoring/Tutoring • Grandfriends • Link Crew • AFA Partnership w/ Cadets • Each One Reach One • Peer Counseling

27. Basic Core Strategies • Service Learning • EPYCS • School Clubs and Teams • Project Redirect • Research suggests this is particularly effective with middle school students

28. Basic Core Strategies • Alternative Schooling • Tesla, Bijou, Palmer Night, Doherty Night, Digital School, Adult Ed., Spring Creek • Lifeskills, Community Prep, Globe, CIVA, Roosevelt and Emerson-Edison • New Directions

29. Basic Core Strategies • After-School Opportunities • After school daycare/Adventure Club • Boys and Girls Clubs • After school intramural programs • Athletics • Homework Club • School Clubs

30. Showing Promise • Student Support Services Coordinator • Dropout prevention/Dropout recovery • The Digital School • Professional Learning Communities • Pyramid of Interventions • 9th Grade Summer Institute

31. Next Steps • Use the work of the National Dropout Prevention Center as a framework to develop a comprehensive K-12 dropout prevention/dropout recovery system. • Continually research the work that is being accomplished on a local and national basis.

32. Next Steps • Build a system that enables us to identify, individually, students who are in danger of dropping out and design interventions that fit the needs of each.