Preparing Students for
Graduation and Beyond
Jim Hull
2011 NSBA Annual Conference
April 9, 2011
Preparing students for graduation
and beyond
• Getting students to graduate high school
• Preparing students for college/career
• Determining how prepared students are for
postsecondary success
Meet our students
•
•
•
•
Pat
Crystal
Brittney
Ricky
WHAT DID OUR STUDENTS’
SCHOOLS DO
DIFFERENTLY?
Pat’s Schools
SITUATION
Middle School
RESPONSE
Middle School
• Excessive absences
• Poor grades
• Retained in 7th grade
High School
• Skipped school
• Failed coursed
High School
• Suspensions
Crystal’s Schools
SITUATION
Middle School
RESPONSE
Middle School
• Low grades
• None
High School
• Failed English and
math courses
• Failed to become of
sophomore
High School
• Notified she wasn’t
likely to graduate ontime.
Brittney’s Schools
SITUATION
Middle School
RESPONSE
Middle School
• Low grades
• None
High School
• Failed General Math
• Passed other courses
High School
• Provided extra help in math
in her sophomore year.
• Encouraged to complete her
course requirements
• Arranged class schedule to
meet her needs
Ricky’s Schools
SITUATION
Middle School
RESPONSE
Middle School
• Fell behind completing
school work
• Low grades
• Teachers provided extra
help
High School
• Completed college
prep curriculum
High School
• Assigned a guidance
counselor in the 9th grade
What happened to our students?
• Pat
– Dropped out
• Crystal
– Earned a GED
• Brittney
– Graduated late
• Ricky
– Graduated on-time
Why the different outcomes?
Why Students Dropout
• Dropouts are twice as likely to say they left
for school related reasons as for family or
personal circumstances.
• School related factors are a better predictor
of who will dropout than such
characteristics as race, poverty, gender, or
family background.
Prediction
• 85% of eventual dropouts can be identified by 9th
grade.
– 50% of eventual dropouts show signs in 5th & 6th grade.
• The strongest predictors are academic failure &
disengagement from school
What schools can do
Early warnings of dropping out
• Excessive absenteeism
• Suspension/Behavior grades
• Failed courses, especially in 9th grade
• Extreme drop in GPA
• Overage due to earlier retentions
Intervention
• Most effective intervention provide ongoing,
comprehensive counseling that is personalized.
• Occasional tutoring, counseling, or activities to
boost self-esteem do almost nothing to keep
students in school.
Prevention
• High-quality pre-kindergarten has many benefits,
including high school completions
• Small schools
• Good relationships with adults
• Strong and relevant curriculum
Recovery
• Unfortunately, researchers can’t reliably predict
100% of eventual dropouts.
• Some programs are showing considerable
promise.
• More research is needed.
WHAT DID RICKY’S
SCHOOLS DO
DIFFERENTLY?
How did Ricky’s schools do?
• Prediction: identified Ricky early
• Intervention: provided on-going personalized support
• Prevention: established good adult relationships and
provided Ricky with a rigorous and relevant curriculum
• Recovery: didn’t need to because they kept Ricky on
track to graduate.
WHAT ACTIONS SCHOOLS
TAKE MAKE A DIFFERENCE
EARNING A HIGH SCHOOL
DIPLOMA IS NOT ENOUGH
What does a high school diploma mean?
Goal of P-12 is no
longer just graduating
from high school
Goal of P-12 is preparation for
continued learning – college,
career, tech on job training
Changing Workers
Farm  Factory/Office  Knowledge
Earnings boost for college degree has
grown immensely
Change in average family income from 1973 to 2006
59%
40%
6%
-13%
HS Dropout
HS Graduate
14%
Some College
Bachelor's
Graduate or
Professional
degree
Source: Mortenson, T. (2007, November). Average family income by educational attainment of householder 1967 to 2006. Postsecondary Education Opportunity, 185. (p. 15)
Education pays off
median annual earnings of adults 25 and over
61,287
46,805
32,874
26,894
19,405
some high
school
high school
diploma
•SOURCE: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2007
some
college/assoc
degree
bachelor's
degree
advanced
degree
Job tasks are changing across the economy
•Source: Levy, F. & Murnane, R. J. (2004). The new division of labor: How computers are creating the next job market. Princeton, NJ: Russell Sage Foundation. (p. 50, Figure 3.5)
Postsecondary education means more
than ever: The ‘upskilling’ of jobs
Percent of workers
with some college
86
69
59
28
63
38
36
12
All jobs
Office work
SOURCE: Carnavale, College for All? Change, January/February 2008
Tech jobs
Factory jobs
1973
Today
Nearly two-thirds of new jobs will require
postsecondary education or training
31
Bachelor's or
higher
33
Some college
or postsec.
training
High school
or less
Projected
new jobs
2006-2016
36
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2008, February). Occupational projections and training data: 2008-9 edition. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Labor. (p. 4, Table I-3)
Three kinds of learning are becoming increasingly important if not
essential for students to succeed in work and life:
• Traditional academic knowledge and skills
• Real world application of academic
knowledge & skills, or “applied literacies”
• Broader competencies, or so-called 21st
century skills
Skills & knowledge work together
Defining a 21st Century Education
• More formal education = more advantage
• Traditional subjects still matter
• Traditional subjects alone are not enough
– for success both on the job and in their personal lives,
students must also better learn how to apply what they
learn
What does this mean for our
students?
What does it mean for our students?
• Pat
– Mechanic
• Crystal
– Electrician
• Brittney
– Nurse
• Ricky
– Teacher
GETTING INTO A GOOD
COLLEGE
Average college applicant
•
•
•
•
GPA 3.1
ACT 21
Trigonometry and chemistry
75%
Ricky’s Chances of Getting into a Good
College
• GPA 2.0
• ACT 18
• Algebra II and
biology
• 37%
• GPA 2.0
• ACT 18
• Trigonometry and
chemistry
• 50%
What would raise a student’s chances?
• More rigorous coursework
– Pre-calculus
75% to 79%
• Higher ACT
– 22 over 21
75% to 78%
• Increase GPA
– 3.1 to 3.6
75% to 79%
Mathematics impact
• The highest level of mathematics in high school is
the strongest predictor of completing a BA/BS.
• Finishing a course beyond the level of Algebra 2
(for example, trigonometry or pre-calculus) more
than doubles the odds that a student who enters
postsecondary education will complete a bachelor’s
degree.
SOURCE: Adelman (2006)TheToolbox Revisited.
What is the likelihood of each of our
students being able to solve this
problem?
The screening test for electrician
apprenticeships
•Source: National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee for the Electrical Construction and Maintenance Industry, http://www.njatc.org/training/apprenticeship/index.aspx
IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT GETTING
STUDENTS INTO COLLEGE
Trades becoming more technical,
requiring stronger math & reading
The math and reading skills
required for electricians,
construction workers,
upholsterers and plumbers are
the same as what’s necessary to
succeed in first-year college
courses.
SOURCE: ACT, Readiness for College and Readiness for Work: Same or Different, Iowa City, IA. 2006
Ready for College and Ready for Work:
Same or Different?
ACT study answered question by:
•Identifying the level of reading and mathematics skills students
need to be ready for entry-level jobs that require less than a
bachelor’s degree, pay a wage sufficient to support a family, and
offer the potential for career advancement
•Comparing student performance on ACT tests that measure
workforce readiness with those that measure college readiness
•Determining if the levels of performance needed for college and
workforce readiness are the same or different
SOURCE: ACT, Readiness for College and Readiness for Work: Same or Different, Iowa City, IA. 2006
Key Lesson
• The high school curriculum matters
• Challenges:
Providing rigorous curriculum to all students, not
just some
Providing relevance and support so all students
learn it
ARE YOUR GRADUATES
PREPARED FOR
POSTSECONDARY SUCCESS?
What data would you use?
Student outcome data
for high school and beyond
• Graduation rates
– by race, ethnicity, family income
– by special program
• Local targets
– AP, IB tests
– ACT, SAT
– Curriculum rigor completion
• Postsecondary success
What data can we gather?
•
•
•
•
•
•
College acceptance
College enrollment
College remediation
College proficiency (persistence)
College completion
Career success
College remediation
• 28% of all new freshmen required
remediation
• Students in 2-yr colleges were twice as likely
to require remediation compared to their
peers in 4-yr college (42% to 20%)
SOURCES: NSF, Science & Engineering Indicators, 2006; NCES, Condition of Education, 2004
NSC: National Student Clearinghouse
• Their database contains records for 92 percent of all
students enrolled in postsecondary institutions in
the U.S.
• Through their High School Tracker program, NSC
offers data services for $425 per year per high
school so schools can track the performance of their
graduates through postsecondary education.
NSC: National Student Clearinghouse
These services will show:
– How many graduates enroll in postsecondary
education?
– Whether they attend two- or four-year
colleges?
– How many of them persist to a credential or
degree?
– How much time it took to college graduation?
www.studentclearinghouse.org
Other Data to Collect
• Survey graduates
• Survey parents of graduates
• Survey business community
WHAT CAN SCHOOL
BOARDS DO?
Look at the data
What happens to our graduates after
they leave our schools?
– Longitudinal data
• State data systems
• National Student Clearinghouse
– Meet with your local community college
– Survey local businesses and trades
Questions to consider
• What is our default curriculum?
• Is our high school curriculum aligned with the
expectations of our local colleges?
• Are school counselors ensuring that all students
start taking the right courses as soon as they enter
high school?
• Do all of our students have access to effective
teachers?
• Do we provide sufficient supports for struggling
students, including extra time?
• Do we provide teachers sufficient professional
development and time for collaboration?
Data First for Governance
www.data-first.org
College prep for all in San Jose
Using technology to raise graduation rates in
Bedford Co, TN
Some other models
•
•
•
•
•
High Tech High Schools
Career Academies
Dual enrollments
High Schools That Work (SREB)
Internships, especially those that
connect work experience to
coursework
More information on these topics
www.centerforpubliceducation.org
• Keeping kids in school: What research says
about preventing dropouts
• Better late than never: Examining late high
school graduates
• Defining a 21st Century Education
• Chasing the college acceptance letter: Is it
harder to get into college?
• Pre-K Toolkit
Give us your feedback!
www.centerforpubliceducation.org
or send me an email:
Jim Hull, jhull@nsba.org