Free Press Highlights the Dropout Challenge

State program reaches out to keep kids in school

 
Brandon Marcilis is just the kind of kid state Superintendent Mike Flanagan had in mind when he urged school leaders in 2009 to take a more active role in keeping kids in school.

Brandon is on track to graduate today, but two years ago it was a far different story.

He frequently got into trouble, and by the beginning of his junior year he was so far behind in credits that dropping out of school was the only path he envisioned.

"I see how some (dropouts) turn out. It's a lot of bums and crackheads," said Brandon, a senior at Center Line High School.

Since Flanagan issued a dropout challenge to school districts in June 2009, about 1,300 schools and 190 districts have signed up, agreeing to identify 10-15
students at risk of dropping out and intervening in their lives.

State officials are encouraged because data suggest schools that place an emphasis on dropout prevention are seeing declines and
that 13,000 to 20,000 students have been helped.

But it's not enough. Michigan has nearly 4,000 public schools and last month Flanagan reissued his challenge, asking the remaining schools to step up. Statewide, 11% of students drop out and about 25% fail to graduate on time.

"Every school in the state has students exhibiting early warning signs of dropping out," Flanagan said. "Identifying and supporting these students would not only ensure they have a future, but will increase student and school performance."
 
School officials, teachers, peers team up to keep at-risk students on track to graduate

One is the principal's assistant. Two are teachers. Two direct a work force skills program. All are women. And all have played a key hand in keeping Brandon Marcilis in school and out of trouble.

"Honestly, I don't know where I'd be without all five of them," said Brandon, 17, a student at Center Line High School.

They keep track of his grades, often reminding him if he has an assignment due or is missing class work. They check on him if he's tardy or absent. They lend an ear to
talk through problems. Or they're there fora hug.

It's just one of many ways the Macomb County school -- and many others across the state -- are reaching out to students at risk of dropping out.

About 1,300 schools -- including Center Line High -- are part of the Michigan Department of Education's Dropout Challenge, a program launched in 2009 to encourage schools and educators -- from elementary through high school -- to identify at-risk students and intervene to get them on track.

The MDE estimates that between 13,000 and 20,000 students so far have been helped by the challenge. The agency also estimates the number could triple if all schools in the state participated --something state Superintendent Mike Flanagan is now urging.In 2009, schools that signed on saw a decline in their average dropout rate --from 12% to 9%, while rates for schools that did not sign on to the challenge remained flat. The numbers can't be directly attributed to the challenge, but state officials are encouraged by what they could portend for the future.
 
Now, the MDE has tapped the National Dropout Prevention Center to evaluate the challenge program.

Jan Ellis, spokeswoman for the MDE, said anecdotal evidence indicates that the challenge is making a difference for many struggling students. She relayed a story about a principal who helped a homeless student find a home, then picked that kid up every day to make sure he got to school.

"What we've heard is they commit -- they do anything they can to help kids get to school and stay in school. It's really changed the whole dynamic in their school."

Students get in the act

At Romeo High School, all freshmen are assigned two upperclassmen who mentor them throughout the difficult first year of high school.

The older students take a class in which they learn, in part, how to be effective mentors. Principal Michael Kaufman said one of the benefits of the peer mentorship
is that often "kids learn best from other kids, who understand the problems they experience."

He said data from the program, which began during the 2010-11 school year, show that during the first year the number of freshmen suspended was cut by a third
compared with the previous school year. Discipline referrals also were down and attendance was up.

"When you find programs that help engage kids in school so that they want to be here... they become more successful," Kaufman said.

Center Line principal John Summerhill said being part of the Dropout Challenge has helped focus more efforts on dropout prevention. Among the steps they've taken
is creating a Save One Student program in which at-risk students are identified and teachers and other staff sign up to mentor them.

"We don't make it known. We don't pull them out and say, 'Here is your adult mentor.' We try to make it inconspicuous,"
Summerhill said.

That means an adult might pull a student aside in the hallway and ask about a class or something going on in their life. Or they might make a point of praising them for a
good grade in a class.

Having connections with adults at school iscrucial for all students, but particularly for struggling kids, experts say.
 
Change of attitude

Brandon, the Center Line High student, said it helps knowing there are a handful of staff members willing to help him with anything.He credits them with his success, but they
throw the credit back to Brandon.

"He's doing the work. We're just making sure he's doing it," said Barbara Scott, one of the directors of the school's Workforce   Investment Act program, which teaches job
skills to students. READ MORE