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Friday, August 27, 2010

“Creativity, intervention help district graduation rates”

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“Creativity, intervention help district graduation rates”


Creativity, intervention help district graduation rates

Posted: 27 Aug 2010 06:01 PM PDT

By Cornelius Frolik, Staff Writer Updated 8:48 PM Friday, August 27, 2010

Butler High School wasn't always perfect, and Fairmont High School used to graduate only about two-thirds of its students.

But teachers and school officials at both districts focused on providing students with various forms of personalized support to help them obtain their diplomas. The initiatives paid off, and the schools are now among Ohio's success stories for graduation rates.

Of the 63 high schools in Ohio during the 2008-09 school year with 100 percent graduation rates, only 11 had graduating classes with more than 100 students, according to data released Friday, Aug. 27, by the Ohio Department of Education.

Butler is one of the rare exceptions. It graduated all 279 of its seniors in 2009.

Only one other perfect school, Clay High School in Lucas County, had more than 200 graduates (278).

There are about 860 high schools in Ohio. The graduation rate statewide dipped to 83 percent in 2009, down from 84.6 percent in 2008 and 86.9 in 2007.

It is worst among blacks and Hispanics, whose graduation rates are just more than 61 percent, and among migrants, whose graduate rate is 55.2 percent. Asians are highest, at 92 percent, with whites at 88.6 percent.

"The graduation rate is clearly a concern for the Department of Education and it is a key priority for us," state superintendent Deborah Delisle said.

A Butler milestone

Although 2009 was a milestone for Butler, the school had narrowly missed perfection four years in a row averaging 99 percent.

Laura Bemus, Vandalia-Butler City Schools' director of curriculum and instruction, said the secret to the district's success is in the breadth of programs it offers to help students earn their diplomas.

She said teachers and school officials also work very hard to intervene early when students show signs of academic trouble.

"We instituted short-cycle assessments, so instead of waiting to get the big test results, which used to come at the end of the school year, we actually started tracking students more individually through their teachers on short snippets of learning," Bemus said. "We brought the data back to teachers about which students were meeting standards and how to better meet learning needs."

Traditional learning models are not universally effective, so the district offers learning alternatives, such as the Virtual Community of Ohio, a computer-based option for students who require a more flexible schedule, Bemus said.

The district offers also a credit recovery program that allows students to re-take courses they failed so they can graduate on time.

Smaller districts usually have easier times graduating all of its students compared to larger districts because they have fewer students to monitor and assist.

"Being a small, rural school, we have a chance to work more intimately with kids than most schools," said Newton Local Schools Superintendent Pat McBride.

Newton Local Schools in Pleasant Hill graduated all 52 of its seniors in 2009.

Finding creative ways to graduate

But some larger districts, such as Kettering City Schools, have found creative ways to provide students with more individualized and supportive learning environments.

In 1996, Fairmont High School only had a 67.7 percent graduation rate. But last year, 541 seniors, or 98 percent of the class. Kettering City Schools Superintendent James Schoenlein said teachers and school officials deliberately changed the school's atmosphere to make it feel like a much smaller school.

They accomplished this by training teachers to reach out to students and provide them with "advisory" teachers, who monitor and consult with them all four years of high school.

"It's the nature of a large high school that it's very busy, people are rushing all over the place, kids come in, sit down, come in, sit down, go there, sit down, and go home," Schoenlein said. "It's very fast-paced. It's very impersonal, and it feels very uncaring to kids. Especially your lower-level kids."

Advisory periods during the school day allow teachers to connect with students and check up on them. The periods help reinforce the "friendly, welcoming" conditions pushed by school officials.

"There's at least one adult in that large high school that a kid can say, 'That person is taking care of me,' " Schoenlein said. "I think that was an important thing."

The district also dramatically expanded its career tech programs to teach students job skills, and it opened an alternative school.

In 2009, Dayton Public Schools had a graduation rate of 79.8 percent, a decline from 83.1 percent in 2008 and 82.8 in 2007. It graduated 627 seniors last year.

Superintendent Lori Wood said she is "proud" of the district's rate, considering it is the third best among Ohio's Big Eight urban school districts.

The other major urban districts are: Cleveland Metropolitan School District (54.3 percent graduation rate), Columbus City Schools (72.7), Akron Public Schools (76), Canton Public Schools (78.8), Cincinnati Public Schools (80.4) and Toledo Public Schools (83.7).

Dayton's graduation rate is also a major improvement from 2003 when it was 53.8 percent.

Wood said every district faces different challenges, depending on the demographics of their student populations and whether the schools are located in urban, suburban, or rural areas.

"We all have different challenges, but we all have the same goal" to graduate students, she said.

Staff writer Jeremy P. Kelley and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact this reporter at (937) 225-0749 or 
cfrolik@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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