Early Warning Systems – Dropout Prevention
State of the Nation:
 Every 9 seconds a student dropouts out of school (7,000 dropout each day)
 The death rate of high school dropouts is 2.5 times higher that graduates
 Each class of dropouts cost $55 million in healthcare
 Dropouts make up close to half of the households on welfare
 Every year a class of dropouts will cost $200 billion during their lifetime in lost earnings
and unrealized tax revenue.
 12 million students who will drop out over the next decade will cost the nation $3
trillion dollars
 8 out of 10 dropouts end up in prison
(We spend $40 billion every year on prisoners incarcerated)
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 US graduation rate is 18 in the nation.
(Forty years ago, we were number one)
 Students with emotional, behavioral or learning difficulties are much more likely to
dropout of school.
 74% of dropouts report they would have stayed in school if they could do it over.
West Virginia:
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1630 inmates in prison in 1991 and 6,870 inmates in prison in 2011
Highest rate of prescription drug use in the US
The second highest in drug overdose death rate
Only state to increase the teen pregnancy rate 17 percent from 2007 to 2009
Dropouts from the class of 2008 will cost WV almost $1.7 billion in lost wages over their
lifetimes.
 9-12% of jobs are available to high school dropouts.
 1 in 4 ninth grade students do not graduate from high school
Other Indicators for Student Alerts:
 Low socioeconomic status
 Reading at grade level
 Individual Background Characteristics
 Has a learning disability or emotional disturbance
 Early Adult Responsibilities
 High number of work hours
 Parenthood
 No extracurricular participation
 High family mobility
 Low education level of parents
 Not living with both natural parents
 Family disruption
 Low educational expectations
 Sibling has dropped out
Implementation of an Early Warning
Intervention and Monitoring System
Establish roles
and
responsibilities
Evaluate and
refine the EWS
process
Monitor
Student
progress
Review and
Interpret the
EWS data
Assign and
provide
interventions
Implementation of an Early Warning Intervention and Monitoring System
Step 1: Establish Roles and Responsibilities
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Determine stakeholders
Determine protocols for handling the data
Determine data entry regulations
Determine professional development needs
Step 2: Review & Interpret the EWS Data
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Teams members need to understand the use of the indicators.
Reports should be accessible and used to make decisions about students’ needs.
Team members need to be willing to gather more/outside data when available.
Team members need to verify data when appropriate to do so.
Look for school level patterns and student level patterns
Step 3: Assign and provide interventions
 Dig deeper into the “Reason Why?”, before assigning interventions.
 Individualize the interventions to address specific issues. (Avoid delivering same for
everyone).
 Recommend a tier approached to assigning interventions based on individual needs
Step 4: Monitor Student Progress
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Determine who will be monitoring student progress
Determine how often student progress will be monitored
Add new interventions as needed
Sometimes multiple interventions are necessary
Step 5: Evaluate & Adjust EWS Process
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Create a process to continually evaluate the student outcomes
Evaluation should occur during and at the end of the school year
Evaluate student needs and school needs
Seek student and parent feedback
Early Warning System on WOW Screen Shot
Comprehensive Plan for Student Supports
Type of
Intervention
School-wide
Preventative
Targeted
Interventions
Intensive
Interventions
Currently in Place
Data shows
student needs
Plan to Put in
Place
Roles &
Responsibilities