Graduation Rates, State Policies, and State Resources for Taking action

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Graduation Rates, State Policies, and State
Resources for Taking action

• Deborah L. Jonas, Ph.D.
• Virginia Department of Education
• Thomas M. Brewster, Ed.D.
• Virginia Board of Education
• Assistant Superintendent for Administration
  Pulaski County Public Schools
• Presentation at the Virginia Dropout Prevention
  Summit
• October 28, 2008

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Overview

• Graduation rate data
• Background information on graduation rates in VA
• Legislative and regulatory context for new
  graduation rate and future reporting
• Results
• Calculating Virginias On-Time Graduation Rate
• Proposed Policies
• Graduation and completion index
• Personal learning plans for middle school
  students
• Consequences and solutions for communities
• Virginia Department of Education resources

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Background Graduation rates

• Historically, Virginias state-published
  graduation rates were estimates.
• Estimates have flaws that impact reliability.
  Some questions
• Are they based on a cohort of students?
• Do they account for student transfers?
• Do 9th grade retention practices bias the rate?
• Does the rate accurately reflect all five of
  Virginias Board of Education approved diplomas?
• Reliability drops with smaller groups of students.

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Legislative and regulatory context for change

• General Assembly 2006
• House Bill 19 required the Board of Education to
  prescribe a uniform formula to assess high school
  graduation rates.
• November 2006
• BOE defined a cohort graduation rate for
  Virginia.
• Report to the General Assembly stated that the
  cohort graduation rate would be reported for the
  first time in the fall of 2008.
• October 2008 DOE reported the Virginia On-Time
  Graduation Rate

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Virginias On-Time Graduation Rate

• BOE-approved formula
• Graduates are students who earn one of five
  BOE-approved diplomas.
• Special education students and English language
  learners who have plans in place are assigned to
  cohorts based on when they exit school.
• Deceased students are counted as transfers-out in
  the denominator.
• Incarcerated students are counted as transfers as
  they leave and re-enter the system.

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Virginia On-Time Graduation RatesResults!
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Other legislative and regulatory activities

• General Assembly 2007
• SJR 329 required further study of graduation and
  dropout rates, with focus on dropout rates.
• Board of Education recommended that DOE report
• Annual dropout rates for grades 7-12 and grades
  9-12.
• A cohort dropout rate based on the on-time
  graduation rate formula.
• All in the context of graduation and completion
  rates.
• General Assembly 2008
• Commission on Youth requested to study truancy
  and school dropout prevention.
• Commission on Youth also is continuing its work
  on alternative education programs.

The Virginia Commission on Youth provides a
bipartisan forum for complex issues related to
youth and family. The Commission on Youth is
composed of nine members of the General Assembly
and three citizens appointed by the Governor.
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Proposed Policy to Address Graduation Rates

• In January 2008, the Virginia Board of Education
  proposed the inclusion of a Graduation and
  Completion Index in the State Standards of
  Accreditation
• Standards of Accreditation (8 VAC 20-131-10)
• Provide an essential foundation of educational
  programs of high quality in all schools for all
  students.
• Encourage continuous appraisal and improvement of
  the school program for the purpose of raising
  student achievement.
• Foster public confidence.
• Assure recognition of Virginia's public schools
  by other institutions of learning.
• Establish a means of determining the
  effectiveness of schools.

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Proposed policy

• Requires schools with a 12th grade to meet the
  current pass-rate standards and a prescribed
  threshold on a weighted graduation and completion
  index (GCI).
• The GCI is a weighted percent of the students
  within a given cohort who graduate, complete, or
  stay in school each year.
• The proposed index awards points according to
  student status
• Graduate with a diploma 100 points (however long
  it takes)
• Earn a GED certificate 75 points
• Remain in school beyond expected cohort
  graduation year 70 points
• Earn a certificate of completion 60 points
• Public comment period ends November 5, 2008.

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Some considerations

• Incorporates incentives for schools to continue
  to support students who require more than four
  years to graduate.
• Incorporates alternative credentials (e.g., the
  GED) at a lower weightings than a full
  BOE-approved diploma.
• Adds a minimum bar for schools with a graduating
  class.
• Schools that do not meet or exceed the minimum
  GCI standard will be subject to state
  intervention until such time as the school meets
  or exceeds the standard.
• Accounts for the status of all high school
  students.

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Proposed policy for academic career plan
I believe such a plan can help students who may
be at risk of not graduating by reinforcing the
expectations well ahead of their senior year.
The planning process might also encourage
students who are satisfied with minimum effort to
reach for higher levels of achievement knowing
the economic benefits of postsecondary career
pathways. Additionally, it will give students
opportunities to identify areas of interest and
explore new things about which they may not
otherwise be aware. Governor Timothy M. Kaine.
Letter to the Virginia Board of Education,
December 2007.
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Proposed academic career plan

• Requires schools to develop and maintain personal
  academic and career plans for 7th and 8th grade
  students.
• Plans must include
• Students educational goals and program of study
  for high school graduation.
• Postsecondary career pathway based on students
  academic and career interests.
• Plans must be signed by
• The student
• Students parent or guardian
• School official.
• Plans are to be included in the students record
  and updated before the student enters 9th and
  11th grades.

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Consequences of Dropping Out

• Alliance for Excellent Education in their report
  The High Cost of High School Dropouts stated that
  if the 1.9 million high school dropouts from the
  Class of 2006 had earned their diploma instead of
  dropping out, the United States economy would
  have seen an additional 309 billion in wages
  over these students lifetimes.

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• Two problems have consistently plagued the
  graduation-rate figures that are reported to the
  public
• (1) a lack of common, accurate definitions among
  states and (2) poor-quality data collected at the
  local level.
• The governors commitment to the Graduation Counts
  Compact, followed by the new federal regulations,
  and the Virginia On-Time Graduation Rate
  addresses the problem of inaccurate
  graduation-rate calculations.

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• To meet the challenge of graduating more students
  from high school, state leaders should focus on
  the following
• Supporting high-quality data collection at the
  local level.
• Setting more rigorous goals and improvement
  targets.
• Establishing as a high statewide priority the
  goal of improving high school graduation rates.
• Habash, Anna. (2008) Counting on Graduation An
  Agenda for State Leadership. A Report by
  Education Trust.

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Solutions

• Improved Instruction and Support for Struggling
  Students
• Build a School Climate that Fosters Academics and
  is Safe
• Ensure Strong Adult-Student Relationships Within
  the School
• Better School Parent Communication
• Offer different schools/class experiences for
  different students
• Create Early Warning Systems (Dropping out of
  school isnt a sudden act, but a slow process of
  disengagement -- academic and social.)
• Engage parents in school with individualized
  graduation plans
• Mobilize adult advocates to get the kids the
  support they need literacy programs, mentoring,
  tutoring, after-school help, school and peer
  counseling
• Bridgeland, John M., DiIulio, Jr., John J.,
  Burke-Morison, Karen. (2006) The Silent
  Epidemic Perspectives of High School Dropouts, A
  Report by Civic Enterprises, LLC. for the Bill
  and Melinda Gates Foundation.

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DOEs Graduation Rate Pilot

• Gives Pulaski County an opportunity to
  participate in the development of an instrument
  to predict students who will get off track for
  graduating on time.
• Goal is to develop an instrument that can be
  used to predict students who are in danger of
  dropping out. If we are able to identify these
  students in 9th grade, 6th grade or before, we
  can target them for earlier academic, attendance
  and/or behavioral interventions.
• The following data will be collected by all
  participating counties
• language arts and math grades and SOL scores
• age and attendance
• 9th grade retention
• discipline
• Divisions may choose to track data of local
  interest (pregnancy, ESL, disadvantaged, etc).

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The Whole Child Compact

• Healthy
• Safe
• Engaged
• Supported
• Challenged

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• Programs dont change kids relationships do. A
  good program creates an environment in which
  healthy relationships can occur.
• - Bill Milliken, Founder of Communities in
  School

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• Many of life's failures are men who did not
  realize how close they were to success when they
  gave up. - Thomas Edison

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Resources from VDOE
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Content-specific resources

• Algebra Readiness Initiative
• http//www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Instruction/Math/
  ARI/index.shtml
• Project Graduation
• http//www.doe.virginia.gov/2plus4in2004/resources
  .shtml
• Middle School Mathematics Online Strategies for
  Teachers
• http//www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/middle-math-strat
  egies/
• SOL Resources for Virginia Students, Parents and
  Teachers
• http//www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Instruction/sol.h
  tml

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Other Resources

• EIMS Data tools available from the state
• www.virginiaeims.com
• Improving School Attendance A Resource Guide for
  Virginia Schools
• http//www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/studentsrvcs/Impr
  vngSchAttend.pdf
• Student Assistance Programming
• http//www.safeanddrugfreeva.org/assistance.htm

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Questions?

• Thomas M Brewster, Ed.D.
• Assistant Superintendent for Administration
• Pulaski County Public Schools
• Member, Virginia Board of Education
• tbrewster_at_pcva.us
• 540-994-2530
• Deborah Jonas,Ph.D.
• Executive Director for Research and Strategic
  Planning
• Deborah.Jonas_at_doe.virginia.gov
• 804-225-2067