Credit Alternatives and Recovery Education (CARE) Morgan County Schools

 Over one million who enter 9 th grade each year fail to graduate 4 years later – 5% - 10% are gifted; 63% are passing  About 7,000 students drop out of high school each school day

 9 th grade is the bottleneck – Up to 40% of students in the highest dropout schools repeat 9 th grade and only 10% - 15% of those who fail graduate  The students in the lowest 25% quartile of achievement are seven times less likely to graduate than those in the top 25% quartile

 Dropouts from the class of 2008 will cost the nation $319 billion in lost wages over their lifetime  If the dropouts from the class of 2006 had finished high school, the United States would save $17 billion in Medicaid and uninsured health care in their lifetime.  Increasing the graduation rate by only 5% for males would save $8 billion each year by reducing crime related expenses

A student is consider on-track for graduation if by the end of 9 th grade he/she has 5 or more credits and has no more than one F in an academic subject

A student is consider off-track for graduation if by the end of 9 th grade he/she has less than 5 credits and has at least one F in an academic subject.

Before grade 9 PREVENTION After Grade 9 RESCUE

 At the end of Kindergarten be able to read the following: The cat sleeps on the mat.  At the end of 3 rd grade be able to write, read and comprehend (decoding, fluency, vocabulary)  Prior to 9 th grade, students should at least read on a 6 th grade level Brain research says that 5% of the population have an inability to read – Currently, only about 52% are literate on a 6 th grade level.

 40% of Freshmen finish 9 th grade with less than a 2.0 GPA  26% of Freshmen finish 9 th grade with a 3.0 or greater GPA

 40% of 9 th graders in a major study missed two weeks (10% of instruction time) or more in a semester  Serious absenteeism indicates Disengagement and those students have less than a 10% chance to graduate  63% of 9 th graders who miss 5-9 days a semester graduate on time  87% of 9 th graders who have less than 5 days graduate on time

IndicatorAccuracy in Predicting Graduates ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ GPA85% On-Track vs. Off-Track85% Semester Course 89% Failures Absences90%

25% of Dropouts give up in 5 th grade 49% of Dropouts give up in 9 th grade

Do not accept failure Identify At-Risk Students Establish Effective Mentor Programs Maintain Academic Rigor Connect learning to future success Academies/Advisory Groups Parental Contact Diversified Instruction Tiered Instruction Someone MAKES a connection with student

Alternative Learning Environments Creative and Flexible Schedules Credit Recovery Intense Counseling Explorations of Career Opportunities

Repeating 9 th graders with  2 or less academic credits  More than 6 absences last semester  GPA < 2.0 Repeating 10 th graders with  6 or less academic credits  More than 6 absences last semester  GPA < 2.0

Option #1 – Full time students  Daily attend 4 one-hour classes for credit recovery at the Learning Center (periods 4-7)  AHSGE Remediation/Preparation at Learning Center (elective for 1 credit)  Attend home school for PE or other elective classes; attend Brewer for Career Tech; complete ACCESS or STAR classes for electives  Optional Saturday classes

 Daily Attend 4 classes of credit recovery at Learning Center from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m.  ACCESS or STAR classes on Saturday morning 8:00 – 12:00

 Attend home school for electives  Attend credit recovery classes at Learning Center from 3:00 – 7:00 each day  Optional Saturday classes

Repeating 9 th graders with Less than 2 academic credits  More than 6 absences last semester  Suspension(s) GPA < 2.0 Repeating 10 th graders with Less than 6 academic credits  More than 6 absences last semester  Suspension(s) GPA < 2.0 Option #1 – Full time students 1. Daily attend 4 one-hour classes for credit recovery at the Learning Center (periods 4-7) 2. AHSGE Remediation/Preparation at Learning Center (elective for 1 credit) 3. Attend home school for PE or other elective classes; attend Brewer for Career Tech; complete ACCESS or STAR classes for electives 4. Optional Saturday classes Option #2 – Students wanting to work during the day 1. Daily Attend 4 classes of credit recovery at Learning Center from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. 2 ACCESS or STAR classes on Saturday morning 8:00 – 12:00 Option #3 – Part-time for school day 1. Attend home school for electives 2. Attend credit recovery classes at Learning Center from 3:00 – 7:00 each day 3. Optional Saturday classes

 Identify Off-Track Students  Encourage parents and student to consider a flexible alternative to dropping out  Complete the application – signed by student and parent  Counselor prepares recommendation form – signed by the counselor and the principal  Interview by intervention team  Develop Individual Recovery Plan (IRP) and sign as contract

 30 students will recover to grade level in the first year  If those 30 students in 9 th and 10 th grade recover and graduate on time in 2 years, there would be a 6% increase in the graduation rate for 2014

In a SREB survey of 300,000 high school and middle school students…  91% say they will graduate from high school  87% say they will attend post-secondary schools  81% say they will get a Bachelor’s degree  45% say they will get an advanced degree  Only 1.5% say they will drop out of school