BY TRACI JENSEN, MSW,CSW CELESTE UTHE-BUROW, ED.D, LPC.LMFT USING DATA TO GUIDE PROGRAMMING

TODAY’S OBJECTIVES Sioux Falls, South Dakota Demographics of the Community School District Demographics McKinney-Vento School Data Research Background Methodology Findings Implications for Programming

DEMOGRAPHICS OF SIOUX FALLS, SD Population-160,676 7% Average increase of population each year 44,835 Sioux Falls residents under the age of 18 Median household income $52, % of residents live below the poverty line Apartment vacancy rate is less than 5% 3.3% Unemployment rate

SIOUX FALLS SCHOOL DISTRICT DEMOGRAPHICS Over 23,000 students enrolled in SF public schools Approximately 50% of students qualify for Free or Reduced lunches Students perform above state and national averages on ACT and Advanced Placement Tests Graduation rate of 82% Ethnicity* White=66.8%Black=10.8%Hispanic= 9.5% Multi-racial=4.7%Native American=4.5% *diversity continues to increase by approximately 3% each year

HOMELESS NUMBERS Number of Homeless Youth Yearly Averages by Homeless Designation Doubled Up- 48% Emergency- 4% Motel- 12% Transitional Housing- 15% Unsheltered-1% Domestic Violence- 18%

BACKGROUND OF AT RISK REPORT A three year study specific to students in the SFSD An examination of students that had dropped out of the SFSD over a three year period (2005; 2006; 2007) identified five common at-risk themes. More than 10 absences in one academic year Dismissal from an IEP between middle school and high school A failing grade in Language Arts/English A failing grade in Math Enrolled into the SF School District after fifth grade.

Approximately 63% of drop outs over the three year period of the study moved into the District after 5 th grade. Only 26% of graduates over the three year period had enrolled in the SFSD after 5 th grade. Approximately 21% of those that dropped out were dismissed from an IEP while in middle school District data over the three year period indicated a statically significant correlation between academic performance and days missed from school. District data indicated that when students missed 10 or more days of school, their academic performance began to decline in relation to the number of days missed.

AT RISK SPREADSHEET Data is pulled from student information system (Infinite Campus) At Risk Points Student Name School Attending Grade Level Race/ethnicity Language Arts risk points Math risk points Attendance Enrollments IEP risk points (if student no longer qualifies for an IEP between Middle School to high school)

To generate the report, the SFSD Assessment Department pulled data from Infinite Campus (student information system) on each student identified as homeless The report includes information including the risk factors and an at risk rating point: Student Name School Attending Grade Level Race/ethnicity Language Arts risk points Math risk points Attendance Enrollments IEP risk points (if student no longer qualifies for an IEP between Middle School to high school)

FINDINGS

COMPARISON

TARGETED INTERVENTIONS Strategies to increase the number of students earning five or more credits during their first two semesters in HS. The Freshman Academy Link Crew Programming Student Assistance Team (SAT) Mentor Programming Tutoring for Freshman (4 times per week) Credit Recovery Teacher-directed ‘check-points’ Student Responsibility Period (SRP) Targeted Academic Guidance (TAG)

Traci Jensen Celeste Uthe-Burow (605)