Comments on: How Far Should We Go to Lower the High School Dropout Rate? http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/08/21/how-far-should-we-go-to-lower-the-high-school-dropout-rate/ A personal finance blog dedicated to discussing such topics as budgeting, asset allocation, 401K, IRA, cash flow, insurance, financial planning, portfolio management, and other areas in personal finance. Fri, 25 May 2012 15:06:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Bill Betzen http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/08/21/how-far-should-we-go-to-lower-the-high-school-dropout-rate/comment-page-1/#comment-351160 Bill Betzen Sun, 24 Aug 2008 20:42:59 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/?p=2771#comment-351160 Dallas ISD certainly has a dropout crisis! The Dallas ISD class of 2008 involved the handing out of diplomas to only 6,102 students who remained from a 9th grade class enrollment from 2004-2005 of 14,890 students. That means that 59% of their 9th grade classmates were missing at graduation. For the class of 2007 it was 59.5% of the 9th grade class who were missing. In every sense of the term Dallas ISD is failing. I'm now a Dallas ISD Computer Applications teacher working in the 4th year of a dropout prevention and student motivation project that costs only $2/student and has secured a 25% reduction in dropout rates for our 8th graders at Quintanilla Middle School. It is a 10-year time-capsule and class reunion program that helps students focus onto their own futures. They write letters to themselves in the last weeks of 8th grade in Language Arts classes. They are sealed by the students into self-addressed envelopes which the students hold as they pose with their Language Arts class standing in front of the 350-pound vault bolted to the floor in our middle school lobby. After the photo they each place their letter onto the shelf for their class, one of 10 shelves inside the vault. They know it will stay there until their 10-year class reunion when they return to celebrate and reclaim the letter. They know they will also be asked to speak with the then current 8th grade class about their recommendations for success. They are warned to prepare for questions such as 'Would you do anything differently if you were 13 again?' With such a focus on the future our students are staying in school in much greater numbers. They are motivated by their own personal goals, not by a project needing hundreds of thousands of tax dollars every year! This is real life! We must no longer mis-lead ourselves as to the severity of the crisis our Dallas ISD students face. See www.studentmotivation.org for more details as to the School Archive Project as one solution. If donors can be located for the 350-pound vaults that are bolted to the floors in the school lobbys to function as the time-capsules, and for the $2/student expenses for running the project, it will help these School Archive Projects get started. School Archive Projects are a low-budget solution to a monumental crisis Dallas ISD has been facing for years. It is also a project that is very popular with students and their parents. Dallas ISD certainly has a dropout crisis! The Dallas ISD class of 2008 involved the handing out of diplomas to only 6,102 students who remained from a 9th grade class enrollment from 2004-2005 of 14,890 students. That means that 59% of their 9th grade classmates were missing at graduation. For the class of 2007 it was 59.5% of the 9th grade class who were missing.

In every sense of the term Dallas ISD is failing.

I’m now a Dallas ISD Computer Applications teacher working in the 4th year of a dropout prevention and student motivation project that costs only $2/student and has secured a 25% reduction in dropout rates for our 8th graders at Quintanilla Middle School.

It is a 10-year time-capsule and class reunion program that helps students focus onto their own futures. They write letters to themselves in the last weeks of 8th grade in Language Arts classes. They are sealed by the students into self-addressed envelopes which the students hold as they pose with their Language Arts class standing in front of the 350-pound vault bolted to the floor in our middle school lobby. After the photo they each place their letter onto the shelf for their class, one of 10 shelves inside the vault.

They know it will stay there until their 10-year class reunion when they return to celebrate and reclaim the letter. They know they will also be asked to speak with the then current 8th grade class about their recommendations for success. They are warned to prepare for questions such as ‘Would you do anything differently if you were 13 again?’

With such a focus on the future our students are staying in school in much greater numbers. They are motivated by their own personal goals, not by a project needing hundreds of thousands of tax dollars every year! This is real life!

We must no longer mis-lead ourselves as to the severity of the crisis our Dallas ISD students face. See http://www.studentmotivation.org for more details as to the School Archive Project as one solution. If donors can be located for the 350-pound vaults that are bolted to the floors in the school lobbys to function as the time-capsules, and for the $2/student expenses for running the project, it will help these School Archive Projects get started.

School Archive Projects are a low-budget solution to a monumental crisis Dallas ISD has been facing for years.

It is also a project that is very popular with students and their parents.

]]> By: Mike http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/08/21/how-far-should-we-go-to-lower-the-high-school-dropout-rate/comment-page-1/#comment-350348 Mike Sat, 23 Aug 2008 02:44:53 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/?p=2771#comment-350348 Student 1 takes the test and gets a D. Student 2 takes the test, gets an F, retakes it, and gets a C, which is the grade that is ultimately recorded. Yep, that's fair. Student 1 takes the test and gets a D.
Student 2 takes the test, gets an F, retakes it, and gets a C, which is the grade that is ultimately recorded.

Yep, that’s fair.

]]> By: Jon http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/08/21/how-far-should-we-go-to-lower-the-high-school-dropout-rate/comment-page-1/#comment-350101 Jon Fri, 22 Aug 2008 18:48:10 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/?p=2771#comment-350101 It's pretty clear that one-size-fits-all education isn't working for us. Maybe it's time to try what's worked in the past -- tiers. Smart kids go on one tier, average kids on another, dumb kids on a third. It's important that kids can jump from one tier to another if they show promise. With that addition to the system, I really don't see anything wrong with it. It’s pretty clear that one-size-fits-all education isn’t working for us. Maybe it’s time to try what’s worked in the past — tiers. Smart kids go on one tier, average kids on another, dumb kids on a third.

It’s important that kids can jump from one tier to another if they show promise. With that addition to the system, I really don’t see anything wrong with it.

]]> By: Loni http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/08/21/how-far-should-we-go-to-lower-the-high-school-dropout-rate/comment-page-1/#comment-349729 Loni Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:01:16 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/?p=2771#comment-349729 I don't live in TX but I'd bet this has everything to do with No Child Left Behind. The schools need every child to pass these tests by 2014(I think)to keep their funding. You can also be a hands-on parent & still have problems. My daughter is dyslexic and the school she was attending was clueless on how to help her. We are now homeschooling her. It would be interesting to know how many of these Dallas dropouts had learning disabilities & weren't properly helped. I don’t live in TX but I’d bet this has everything to do with No Child Left Behind. The schools need every child to pass these tests by 2014(I think)to keep their funding.
You can also be a hands-on parent & still have problems. My daughter is dyslexic and the school she was attending was clueless on how to help her. We are now homeschooling her. It would be interesting to know how many of these Dallas dropouts had learning disabilities & weren’t properly helped.

]]> By: Steve http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/08/21/how-far-should-we-go-to-lower-the-high-school-dropout-rate/comment-page-1/#comment-349718 Steve Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:39:01 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/?p=2771#comment-349718 To take a page from the wise Jonathan Swift, I think there is a very easy solution that will solve both the high school dropout program. Set a certain date whereby a dropout is officially "dropped"... perhaps two weeks after the test result comes back as a failure, or two weeks after they have been absent for two consecutive weeks. Before that date is reached, have someone from Blackwater (they are on government retainer, aren't they?) simply eliminate the kid. That way, the school boards may have a higher death rate, but they will have a dropout rate nearing zero. (I'm not guaranteeing zero because sometimes the little buggers get quite good at hiding and it can take longer than that two week window to find them). I mean, c'mon... is this any dumber than what Dallis is doing? To take a page from the wise Jonathan Swift, I think there is a very easy solution that will solve both the high school dropout program. Set a certain date whereby a dropout is officially “dropped”… perhaps two weeks after the test result comes back as a failure, or two weeks after they have been absent for two consecutive weeks.

Before that date is reached, have someone from Blackwater (they are on government retainer, aren’t they?) simply eliminate the kid. That way, the school boards may have a higher death rate, but they will have a dropout rate nearing zero. (I’m not guaranteeing zero because sometimes the little buggers get quite good at hiding and it can take longer than that two week window to find them).

I mean, c’mon… is this any dumber than what Dallis is doing?

]]> By: Shari C. http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/08/21/how-far-should-we-go-to-lower-the-high-school-dropout-rate/comment-page-1/#comment-349693 Shari C. Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:10:23 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/?p=2771#comment-349693 We have always homeschooled our two kids. When our oldest applied to college for this fall, I was shocked to talk to the college president at the open house. We made our kids work hard academically. They did a lot of college prep work and even some college level classes during their high school years at home. My son had a cumulative GPA of 3.81. (I did not go easy on him because I was his teacher!--he worked hard and earned it) We had been concerned that the colleges might not accept our homeschool transcripts or diploma. Turns out it didn't matter The college president said that most high schools have lowered their academic standards so much since the "No Child Left Behind Act", that virtually everyone gets a 4.0 and it means nothing anymore. They look at your ACT or SAT score only. He said even that may not be an accurate unbiased standard much longer as they have withstood extreme pressure the past few years to rewrite the tests to make them easier so more kids could do better and get into college. We were fortunate that our son's hard work paid off. He did get a 31 on his ACT and a full ride to the college he wanted to go to! We have always homeschooled our two kids. When our oldest applied to college for this fall, I was shocked to talk to the college president at the open house. We made our kids work hard academically. They did a lot of college prep work and even some college level classes during their high school years at home. My son had a cumulative GPA of 3.81. (I did not go easy on him because I was his teacher!–he worked hard and earned it)
We had been concerned that the colleges might not accept our homeschool transcripts or diploma. Turns out it didn’t matter The college president said that most high schools have lowered their academic standards so much since the “No Child Left Behind Act”, that virtually everyone gets a 4.0 and it means nothing anymore. They look at your ACT or SAT score only. He said even that may not be an accurate unbiased standard much longer as they have withstood extreme pressure the past few years to rewrite the tests to make them easier so more kids could do better and get into college.
We were fortunate that our son’s hard work paid off. He did get a 31 on his ACT and a full ride to the college he wanted to go to!

]]> By: JLP http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/08/21/how-far-should-we-go-to-lower-the-high-school-dropout-rate/comment-page-1/#comment-349666 JLP Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:47:13 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/?p=2771#comment-349666 Cleric said: <em>"JLP: Are musicians and rap artists the *only* ones who are responsible for the images of gangsters, drugs and sex?"</em> I was hoping you could detect the silliness of my statement. I wasn't being totally serious. Sure, it can't help kids to fill their heads full of filth but the problem lies in parenting. Too many parents have taken a hands-off approach when it comes to raising their kids and they expect the schools to fill the void. Cleric said:

“JLP: Are musicians and rap artists the *only* ones who are responsible for the images of gangsters, drugs and sex?”

I was hoping you could detect the silliness of my statement. I wasn’t being totally serious. Sure, it can’t help kids to fill their heads full of filth but the problem lies in parenting. Too many parents have taken a hands-off approach when it comes to raising their kids and they expect the schools to fill the void.

]]> By: Cleric http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/08/21/how-far-should-we-go-to-lower-the-high-school-dropout-rate/comment-page-1/#comment-349662 Cleric Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:32:07 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/?p=2771#comment-349662 JLP: Are musicians and rap artists the *only* ones who are responsible for the images of gangsters, drugs and sex? Cleric JLP: Are musicians and rap artists the *only* ones who are responsible for the images of gangsters, drugs and sex?

Cleric

]]> By: JLP http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/08/21/how-far-should-we-go-to-lower-the-high-school-dropout-rate/comment-page-1/#comment-349646 JLP Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:16:58 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/?p=2771#comment-349646 Maybe we should force all musicians and rap artists to only sing about the importance of education! We'll fill the kids' heads full of knowledge and important things instead of images of gangsters, drugs, and sex. Maybe we should force all musicians and rap artists to only sing about the importance of education! We’ll fill the kids’ heads full of knowledge and important things instead of images of gangsters, drugs, and sex.

]]> By: Ken http://allfinancialmatters.com/2008/08/21/how-far-should-we-go-to-lower-the-high-school-dropout-rate/comment-page-1/#comment-349643 Ken Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:12:50 +0000 http://allfinancialmatters.com/?p=2771#comment-349643 I think the best way to improve student scores is to force the teachers to take the tests on behalf of the students. Scores will improve and students will be happier. Just play Bobby McFerrin music in the class rooms all day long... Don't worry be happy. Unfortunately the quality of education is determined by funding and not by higher standards. I think the best way to improve student scores is to force the teachers to take the tests on behalf of the students. Scores will improve and students will be happier. Just play Bobby McFerrin music in the class rooms all day long… Don’t worry be happy.

Unfortunately the quality of education is determined by funding and not by higher standards.

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