As readers of this website know, dropout prevention and dropout recovery are hot button issues. My friends at RAPSA are presenting a webinar on Friday, December 10 entitled Dropout Recovery Solutions – What Will It Take to Re-engage Out of School Youth? Information about how to register for this webinar can be found at: https://siatech.ilinc.com/perl/ilinc/lms/register.pl?activity_id=ccrxkfc&user_id=#none
Facilitated by Ryan Reyna & Mark White
Friday, December 10, 2010
11:00 ““ 12:00 (Pacific)
12:00 ““ 1:00 (Mountain)
1:00 ““ 2:00 (Central)
2:00 ““ 3:00 (Eastern)
REGISTER TODAY!
Dropout Recovery ““ What Will It Take to Re-engage Out of School Youth?
You’ve all heard the statistics ““ 30 to 50% of students in America leave before graduating high school. While schools have begun to focus on preventing dropouts, few have begun the even harder work of reengaging those who have left school.
The reasons for this lack of focus on dropout recovery are many. One of the unintended consequences of AYP and state accountability measures is that there is a major disincentive to bringing students back into schools ““ students who dropout are often far below grade level; more likely to drop out again; and more likely to have family and criminal issues and other needs that schools find difficult to meet. However, the Alliance for Excellent Education has projected billions of dollars in enhanced economic activity from re-engaging just a portion of the nation’s dropouts on a diploma track.
Join RAPSA on December 10th for a discussion of cutting edge proposals to recover dropouts. Ryan Reyna, a senior policy analyst the National Governors Association and co-author of Achieving Graduation for All: A Governor’s Guide to Dropout Prevention and Recovery will discuss his ongoing research and recommendations.
Mark White, Associate Superintendent, Houston Independent School District, will discuss recent reforms and grants that the State of Texas has sponsored to reengage dropout students and improve retention efforts.
Among the emerging successful practices to be discussed:
o Use data to identify out-of-school youth and target their individual needs
o Employ outreach strategies to reengage out-of-school youth
o Create financial and accountability incentives for dropout recovery
o Provide rigorous relevant options for earning a high school diploma
o Connect to postsecondary and workforce interests including dual enrollment, internships and apprenticeships
o Offer state sanctioned online initiatives including virtual schools
o Award credit for performance, not seat time