“It's not the teaching, it's the learning.” — Sly Stone

Dropout Prevention in the News

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin To High School Students – “Just Call Me” – Juneau Empire, 11/12/07

When informed that seven Alaska high schools had been identified as "dropout factories," Gov. Sarah Palin put out a clear and simple message to students considering dropping out. She is encouraging students to just pick up the phone and talk to her. Palin said that she would speak to them about the practical solutions out there. “There is so much to be gained, of course, by staying in school. But we do have to speak to the kids about the different practical choices that we have," Palin stated. "We are very blessed in Alaska to have so many options for a student who may not be fitting into the conventional, traditional school setting. We have the voc-tech schools and career centers." Ironically, two of the schools named in the study are alma maters for the governor, her husband, and their son.

Mercer County School District (NJ) Looks to Curb Dropout Rate – Trenton Times, 12/2/07

When confronted with the facts about dropout rates in Mercer County, Mercer County official Tony Mack called together citizens and school officials to look at ways to keep kids in school. Trenton High School was one of 13 New Jersey schools identified as “dropout factories” in a recent study done by Johns Hopkins. That research indicated that one in 10 high schools in the United States have only a 60 percent graduation rate for students who start as freshmen. Wayne Dennis, vice principal of P.J. Hill Elementary School, one of the only schools in Trenton that met state testing benchmarks in its latest Annual Yearly Progress Report, stated that "the reason we're succeeding at P.J. Hill is because we're meeting the students at their level. You have to establish a connection with them, let them know you care, and let them see the relevance of how education affects their lives. Make no mistake, improvements will follow." Along with getting curriculum standardized across county high schools, Mercer County Schools Superintendent Rodney Lofton plans to bring back high school vocation and special skills program that had been eliminated.

Success Highways Customer News

Denver Public Schools Ninth Grade Academy Case Study Now Available

In early 2007, Denver Public Schools began to design the curriculum for its summer Ninth Grade Academy, a two-week, pre-ninth grade program that focuses in part on the resiliency skills necessary for their students to stay in school and grow academically. DPS chose Success Highways, recognizing its flexibility and ability to make an impact through its university-researched program that includes professional development, pre-post assessment, and standards based curriculum. The results show student improvement in all areas, and teachers involved with Ninth Grade Academy have given Success Highways high marks as well. Click here for the complete case study.

Event News

2008 Effective Strategies Institute - Jan. 15-18, Daytona Beach, FL

Organized by the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network, the institute covers proven dropout programs and research in many areas, including the challenges of teenage parents, youth in foster care, truancy and teen courts, and workforce education.

2008 National At-Risk Education Network (NAREN) Conference – Feb. 18-21, Panama City, FL

Take special note of this NAREN 2008 Feb. 18 pre-conference – “The Critical Success Ingredient in the Classroom: TEACHER (or, How to light a fire under potential dropouts without scorching the educator).”

Resiliency Resources

Mamary, Albert. Creating the ideal school: where teachers want to teach and students want to learn. Rowman & Littlefield Education. 2007. ISBN: 978-1-57886-619-9.

Mamary describes a program for creating an ideal school, based on his experience in boosting the performance of students and teachers in Johnson City (TN) schools. He considers all the factors that contribute to successful learning and teaching, including perception; vision and mission; knowledge, research literature, and data; beliefs and values; curriculum planning; the roles of the student, teacher, and principal; classroom practices; assessment; and professional education. Along with the discussion, activities for readers are presented in each chapter, with some comments by teachers. The author of many mathematics textbooks, Mamary has been a high school teacher, administrator, superintendent, and university professor.

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About this Newsletter

Success Highways News is brought to you by ScholarCentric, publisher of Success Highways, a dropout prevention program for students in grades 7-9. You can reach us at info@scholarcentric.com, visit our Web site at http://www.scholarcentric.com, or call us at our toll free number 800-995-8779.

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