School districts statewide to implement dropout program
Several area school districts will soon revitalize their focus on the ABCs.
Attendance, behavior and course performance, that is.
Burgettstown Area School District in Washington County and Carmichaels Area School District and Jefferson-Morgan School District, both in Greene County, are preparing to launch a dropout-prevention program aimed at identifying middle school students who are at risk of dropping out of high school.
The program is part of Pennsylvania first lady Susan Corbett’s 2011 Opening Doors initiative to increase the graduation rate and educational opportunities across the state. As part of the initiative, the Department of Education created an early warning system and interventions catalog to help districts identify middle school students who are at risk of dropping out, according to a news release from the Office of the First Lady. Those identified as at risk are then matched with school, government and community resources to address the issues. Students at risk of dropping out exhibit poor performance in attendance, behavior and course performance, the release said. Without some type of intervention, students who demonstrate one of the ABCs have only a 20 percent chance of graduating on time, the release said.
At Burgettstown, Superintendent David Palmer said three percent of each graduating class drops out. He looks forward to utilizing the program.
“I would love for our dropout rate to be zero,” Palmer said. “I’m concerned because in this day and age, if a student drops out, what future will they have?”
Burgettstown educators were trained on the early warning system and interventions catalog Sept. 23. The district will officially launch the program in January. Palmer’s assistant, Mandi Figlioli, said the program utilizes software that flags at-risk students. The software also shows school officials which programs students are receptive to, and those that haven’t worked with a particular student in the past.
“It’s very user friendly,” she said. “(The user) can choose the parameters. I think it is one of the greatest things to come out of the Department of Education.”
Carmichaels Area High School Principal Lisa Zdraveeky said the district underwent some training over the summer but has yet to set a firm date with the state for the remainder of its training. She hopes to implement the program as soon as possible.
“This will allow us to raise our graduation rate,” she said.
Carmichaels currently has a graduation rate of 94 percent, which means six percent of the total graduating class drops out, Vice Principal Ron Gallagher said.
Superintendent John Menhart said the district is always to trying to improve and make things better for the students.
“We all feel we could have a 99 percent graduation rate and that still wouldn’t be good enough,” he said.
Bart Donley, the principal at Jefferson-Morgan High School, said the district already has “some safety nets in place,” but he believes the software will make a difference. Donley said the district had a 12.8 percent dropout rate for the 2012-13 school year.
“This will allow us to see what is and isn’t working,” he said.
Charleroi Area School District, McGuffey School District and Washington School District, all in Washington County, are set to launch the dropout prevention program in the spring. The program’s cost is covered by federal and private grants and donations. There are no costs to the districts or the state. The prevention program was implemented during the 2012-13 school year at three school district across the western and middle portion of the state. Those schools, Albert Gallatin Area School District in Fayette County, Erie School District in Erie County and Harrisburg School District in Dauphin County already have provided feedback that continues to shape the program.