In 2011, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS)—one of the largest school districts in the state of North Carolina—developed and implemented the Graduation Success Initiative (GSI). It began as a student-centered districtwide approach to assess each senior’s status in meeting graduation requirements. While maintaining the student-centered focus, the GSI has evolved into an integrated and systematic tool—used by many stakeholders—that promotes graduation integrity and success. The result for CMS has been a significant increase in graduation rates. This presentation will include a brief overview of CMS, the superintendent’s vision, the first year’s creation and implementation of the GSI, the current process, and outcomes.
Viewers of this Solutions program will learn about:
The challenges of a large urban school district as it pertains to graduation success
Why there was a need for a systematic approach
Lessons learned from the first year of implementation
Graduation checklist: used by counselors in concert with the GSI; the graduation checklist is an assessment of the student’s progress in meeting graduation requirements at a specific time.
Based upon Franklin Schargel’s recent book, ‘From At-Risk to Academic Excellence: What Successful Leaders Do’, this Webcast will bring together the wisdom and experience from over 50 schools that have been categorized as “high performing, high minority, high poverty.” Mr. Schargel will show us how the leaders of those schools succeeded in raising academic achievement, motivating students, boosting parent and community involvement, and applying the Three R’s — Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships.
Systemic Renewal is one of the NDPC 15 Effective Strategies. Learn how one school system has used this process of planning and continuous review of results to help keep students in school.
The Fargo Public Schools, Fargo, ND, never suffered from the severely low graduation rates experienced in some areas of the country. However, in the upper Midwest, with an exceptional work ethic and high value placed on education, an 83% graduation rate was considered unacceptable. In 2003, the Fargo Schools contracted with the National Dropout Prevention Center at Clemson University to conduct a Program Assessment and Review (PAR). PAR is a systemic assessment and planning process to assist schools and school districts to plan solutions for keeping students in school and improving graduation rates. The PAR provided the school district with ten recommendations, and the district has been building on those suggestions, bringing the graduation rate up to 90%. Deb Dillon, Fargo Public Schools Director of Alternative Programs, has been coordinating these efforts, and she will share the process the district has used.
Learn how Graduation and Collaboration Coaches have contributed to an increase in Georgia’s graduation rate.
Learn about the roles of these Graduation and Collaboration Coaches.
This radio webcast will address a framework for dropout prevention that has been effective in Georgia-the state’s Graduation Coach program provides early intervention services to students at risk for dropping out of school. The state’s graduation rate has increased from 72.3% in 2007 to 75.4% in 2008 – a record high for Georgia. This 3.1% rate increase represents 8,277 additional graduates for the 2007-2008 school year. Additionally, the state’s dropout rate decreased from 4.1% to 3.7%. Georgia also funds Collaboration Coaches to assist middle and high schools in developing supports for students with disabilities. Schools implement strategies for engaging students academically and behaviorally as well as focusing on affective needs.
Authentic relationships between students and educators are important in the process of learning. Building these relationships with disengaged or “at-risk” students can be difficult at best. This webcast presents an overview of an approach to building authentic relationships based on the experience, insights and educational background of the presenter.
Gayle McGrane is a principal at two schools in Forest Lake, MN, one being an alternative secondary school. As well as being an educational https://dropoutprevention.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/C.W.-Gardenhire-pic.jpgistrator, Ms McGrane is a clinical social worker, and approaches building relationships with students from her background in social work. Building trust as a means to building relationships is presented as the base of this approach. The theory behind it and the five essential strategies to building trust are also presented.
Dr. William Preble and some of his student leaders will share the work that they have been doing to improve school climate and learning. They will show the importance of inviting disengaged students to serve as school climate experts and school leaders in the SafeMeasures School Climate Improvement Process. They will also share examples of the kinds of data that schools are collecting to better understand and address school climate issues. The broadcast will conclude with effective programs and strategies that are being used to improve school climate in schools throughout the country.
Establishing an effective positive schoolwide climate or culture is an important element of a successful prevention effort. Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is one prevention approach that emphasizes the adoption and implementation of evidence-based behavioral interventions to establish a positive school culture and enhance academic and social success for all students. In this webcast, the practices and systems of PBIS will be described and discussed. The emphasis will be how PBIS can support all students to improve school culture, reduce problem behavior, support academic achievement, and promote school and classroom engagement.
Many communities in rural America are in major transition as leaders confront the realities of significant social, cultural, and economic shifts. Today, public schools are at a crossroads as they try to offer a modern education in the face of dwindling resources, changing school populations, and increasing accountability demands. With more than 12 million students enrolled in public schools in rural America, addressing the dropout challenge is vital to the future of students, their families, and rural communities. How do public schools and community leaders form meaningful partnerships to implement solutions to the dropout challenge — particularly when changing times raise the issue to crisis proportions?
“Public Schools at the Crossroads: Addressing the Dropout Challenge in Rural America”will focus on:
Where the rural dropout problem is most prominent in the U.S., and why there are high concentrations of dropouts in certain rural areas;
What risk factors fuel dropping out of school in rural areas; and
How partnerships can help confront challenges for implementing promising dropout practices in rural areas.
Alliance for Excellent Education. (2010). Current challenges and opportunities in preparing rural high school students for success in college and careers: What federal policymakers need to know. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://archive.all4ed.org/files/RuralHSReportChallengesOpps.pdf
Carr, P. J., & Kefalas, M. J. (2009). Hollowing out the middle: The rural brain drain and what it means for America. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Chappell, S. L., O’Connor, P., Withington, C., & Stegelin, D. A. (2015, April). A meta-analysis of dropout prevention outcomes and strategies (A Technical Report in Collaboration with The Center for Educational Partnerships at Old Dominion University). Clemson, SC: National Dropout Prevention Center/Network at Clemson University. https://dropoutprevention.org/meta-analysis-dropout-prevention-outcome-strategies/
Epstein, J. L. (2011). School, family, and community partnerships: preparing educators and improving schools (2nd ed.) Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Ferguson, C. (2008). The school-family connection: Looking at the larger picture. Austin, TX: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.
Jordan, J. L., Kostandini, G., & Mykerezi, E. (2012). Rural and urban high school dropout rates: Are they different? Journal of Research in Rural Education, 27(12), 1-21.
McGranahan, D. (2015 – July). Understanding the geography of growth in rural child poverty. Amber Waves.
http://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2015-july/understanding-the-geography-of-growth-in-rural-child-poverty.aspx – .Vb_Nv86QcmY. (2015).
McGranahan, D. A. (2004). The persistence of county high school dropout rates in the rural South, 1970-2000. Review of Regional Studies, 34(3), 288-302.
Rumberger, R. W. (2011). Dropping out: Why students drop out of high school and what can be done about it. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Smink, J., & Reimer, M. (2009). Rural school dropout issues: Implications for dropout prevention, strategies and programs. Clemson, SC: Clemson University, National Dropout Prevention Center/Network.
Stephens, E. R. (1999). Expanding the vision: New roles for educational service agencies in rural school district improvement. Charleston, WV: AEL, Inc., The Rural Center.
Tombari, M., Andrews, A., Gallinati, T, & Seeley, K. (2009, October). School dropouts in rural Colorado school districts. Pueblo, CO: National Center for Student Engagement.
Wilcox, K. C., Angelis, J. I., Baker, L., & Lawson, H. A. (2014). The value of people, place and possibilities: A multiple case study of rural high school completion. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 29(9), 1-18.
Wuthnow, R. (2013). Small-town America: Finding community, shaping the future. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Tune in for the first radio Webcast produced by Clemson Radio Productions in partnership with the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network at Clemson University. This live radio call-in program, broadcast over the Internet, is an opportunity for you to learn from and ask questions of a national expert in dropout prevention solutions.
Dr. Steven W. Edwards will discuss the Seven Key Principles that will provide principals with low-cost yet effective ways to encourage all students to stay in school. Based on his latest publication, The Role of the Principal in Dropout Prevention: Seven Key Principles, the live discussion will center on solutions that can be implemented immediately. While focused on the principal’s role, the program will hold interest for teachers, parents, and community members.
U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences (2008). What Works Clearinghouse: Dropout Prevention. http://www.ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/dropout/topic/index.asp. (2008).
