Recruitment & Retention Plans

Recruitment & Retention Plans The Office of Charter Schools and School Redesign

Objectives of webinar • Explain requirements of the recruitment and retention plans • Discuss the data to use in creating the plans • Answer your questions Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Just the facts. • The charter school statute includes a requirement that all charter schools have an R & R plan in place and that it is updated annually. • Charter schools submit their plan with the annual report. • The school’s annual report should also contain a report on the school’s implementation of its R & R plan and also include an updated R & R plan for the upcoming school year. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

The Law • The 2010 statute states that an application to become a charter school will include: • The statute also requires a R&R plan for all existing schools. (G.L. c. 12 §9) a student recruitment and retention plan, including deliberate, specific strategies the school will use to ensure the provision of equal educational opportunity as stated in clause (xiv) and to attract, enroll and retain a student population that, when compared to students in similar grades in schools from which the charter school is expected to enroll students, contains a comparable academic and demographic profile (G.L. c. 71, §89 e) Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Intent of the Statute • To have charter schools attract, enroll, and retain a student population that, when compared to students in similar grades in schools located in the sending district(s), contains a comparable academic and demographic profile. • The plans are expected to list deliberate, specific strategies to maximize the number of students who complete all school requirements and prevent students from dropping out. • The statute made the R and R plan a renewal factor. • The “board (of elementary and secondary education) may impose conditions on the charter school upon renewal if it fails to adhere to and enhance its recruitment and retention plan as required.” (G.L. c.71 §89 (dd)) Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Intent of the Statute • The plan shall be: • Updated annually • Include annual goals for: • Recruitment activities • Student retention activities • Student retention (See: G.L., c. 71 §89 f) Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Self-Reflect: Report on Recruitment Plan Implementation in 2012-13 • Directions: • Using a brief narrative and any necessary data, please report on the implementation of your school’s 2012-2013 (current) recruitment plan. Describe any proposed changes, as necessary, that will be used to enhance the plan for the upcoming school year. • page 10 Annual Report Guidelines Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Template for R & R plan: Recruitment From Annual Report Guidelines (p. 11) Describe the school’s general recruitment activities, i.e. those intended to reach all students. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Template for R & R plan: Recruitment From Annual Report Guidelines (p. 11) • List the goals and strategies the school will implement during the upcoming school year to attract and enroll specific groups of students in order to promote a student population that reflects the demographics of the school’s sending district(s). • Create specific goals and strategies for each of the following categories. • Do not repeat strategies. • Each group should have its own specific and deliberate strategy. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Template for R & R plan: Recruitment • Create goals and strategies for the groups below (unless indicated): • Special education students • Limited English-proficient students • Students eligible for free lunch • Students eligible for reduced price lunch • Students who are sub-proficient (as determined by a previous score of “Needs Improvement” or “Warning/Failing” on the mathematics or English language arts examinations of the MCAS for the previous two years) • Students at risk of dropping out of school (This includes elementary schools.) • Students who have dropped out of school (not elementary schools) • Other subgroups of students who should be targeted to eliminate the achievement gap Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

General Tips and Assistance • Data: • Think of it as a diagnostic tool. • It is up to the school to look at the data and determine areas in which the school needs to increase recruitment and retention of certain populations to reach comparable levels as schools in its districts. • Use only ESE data (available in “School/District profiles” or Edwin Analytics). • You will receive specific instructions on how to access the data later this month. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

General Tips and Assistance • Goals should be set for recruitment activities, but schools are not expected to set specific numeric goals for numbers of students in each category. • Remember: • Schools are recruiting numbers for their entering cohort. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Data Terms • Comparison Minimum refers to lowest percentage of students in a given category among the 11 comparison schools with the (the low end of the range of percentages) • Comparison First Quartile: of the 11 comparison schools, 75% have a greater percentage and 25% have a similar or smaller percentage of students than the stated first quartile percentage in the given category. • Comparison Median refers to the middle percentage value of students in a given category among the 11 comparison schools. • Comparison Maximum refers to the highest percentage of students in a given category among the 11 comparison schools • The Percentage of Total represents the percentage of the total number of students in a given category in all 11 comparison schools combined. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Some examples of recruitment ideas • Special education students: • Parent Advisory Council • Use of approved mail house • SPED-PACS at feeder schools • Non-profit contacts • LEP students: • Flyers in other languages • Immigrant advocacy groups • Language newspapers Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Some examples of recruitment ideas • Students eligible for free/reduce lunch • Distribute flyers at food banks • Distribute flyers at homeless shelters • Collaborate with social service agencies • Students who are sub-proficient • Contact tutoring agencies • Distribute flyers that highlight remedial strategies • Recruit students at each entry level Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Some examples of recruitment ideas • Students at risk for dropping out of school • Distribute flyers at GED programs • Distribute flyers alternative schools • Distribute flyers drop out youth centers • Students who have dropped out of school • Collaborate with job corps programs Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Report on Retention Plan Implementation in 2012-13 • From Annual Report Guidelines (p. 10) • Using a brief narrative and any necessary data, please report on the implementation of your school’s 2012-2013 (current) retention plan. Describe any proposed changes, as necessary, that will be used to enhance the plan for the upcoming school year. • Consider: Did our numbers change? What worked? What didn’t? Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Retention Plan Template: • Your goal should be: • based on your attrition data. • Qualitative—what percentage of the students will the school retain (keep from leaving or dropping out) • Attrition data is located here: http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/state_report/attrition.aspx Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Retention Plan Template: From Annual Report Guidelines (p. 12) • Identify the retention goals and strategies the school will implement during the upcoming school year to maximize the number of students who successfully complete all school requirements and to prevent students from dropping out. • The retention plan may include activities that address the needs of all students in the school, but must be designed to impact the target groups identified above. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Retention Plan Template Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Some examples of retention activities Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Questions and Next Steps • Any questions? • Next steps: • Annual reports are due August 1st • Federal Programs team members will be reviewing the R & R plans. • If your school’s plan needs revising, you will be contacted by a member of the FP team outlining next steps. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Recruitment & Retention Plans