Go Get 'Em!

It happens at the beginning of every new school year.  Some young person who has dropped out or stopped attending school decides that this will be the year to make a change and returns to school.  But old patterns and habits die hard. Perhaps it's reconnecting with friends who are also barely on track for graduation. Maybe it's challenging school work that reminds the student of how much they've missed academically over the years.  Maybe it's overcrowed classrooms, or a staff member who rolled their eyes when they saw them, or the students who snickered when they entered the classroom a few days after the start of school. Maybe it's the lack of motivation or discipline to attend school on sunny Friday afternoons or rainy Monday mornings.  Before they know it, old attendance and behavior issues resurface. The resolve to make a fresh start begins to dissipate. It's school count day and our student is MIA.  They're not a dropout yet, but they are on the way...

But, there is hope for intervention. These are the very students who are perfect candidates for the 2011 MDE Superintendent's Dropout Challenge. The Challenge simply asks for schools and school districts to identify 10-15 students at all levels who diplay the early warning signs of low attendance, behavioral issues, and low course completion,  and focus their attention and resources on these students to get them back on track.  Over 1,100 schools and 140 school districts took part in the 2009-2010 Superintendent's Dropout Challenge. Over 46 students and 25 schools received special recognition for their participation in the Challenge.

The Superintendent will be reissuing the formal Dropout Challenge shortly, but schools have fresh data to get a jumpstart on the Challenge. Take a few moments to identify your returning students who dropped out or stopped attending regularly last year.  Identify your struggling students who enrolled after the first day of school. Then look at your school count day data.  Are these students on the non-attendance list?  Have they returned to school as of today?  You still have time to go get them. Enroll your students in the 2011 Dropout Challenge. Let these students and their parents know that the school staff is ready to do everything within their power to keep these students from becoming a dropout statistic. Go get 'em!