From Achievement Gap to Graduation Cap, Taking Students From High Poverty to High Achievement

Format

Poster Presentation

Presenters

Marquis Jones, Los Angeles Southwest CollegeFollow
Tawnya Perry, University of Southern California
Leilani Morales, Los Angeles unified School District

Location

Harborside Center East and West

Strand #1

Academic Achievement & School Leadership

Relevance

We have turned around the lowest performing high schools in Los Angeles Unified School District by using evidence based strategies focused on increasing graduation rates and decreasing dropout rates, linking students to credit recovery and community resources. Our focus is designed to support students at critical transitions, such as 8th - 9th grade matriculation and 9th – 10th grade promotion while improving attendance and course achievement in Math and English Language Arts. We partner with a number of school based and multicultural community programs and agencies to create positive identity development and emotional intelligence. PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS: • 33.6% decrease in the dropout rate at high poverty school • 15.5% increase in the graduation rate • Over 600 students successfully completed a Summer Bridge program that taught achievement motivation, character education, emotional intelligence, decision making, communication skills and goal setting • Over 2,500 dropouts re-enrolled in alternative education schools and programs leading to a high school diploma

Brief Program Description

Research shows that every year over 1.2 million students in the United States drops out of school, that’s 1 student every 26 seconds or 7,000 a day. Stakeholders will be provided with early identification tools, comprehensive prevention strategies, and intervention techniques that lead to students successfully obtaining high school diplomas. Together community partners, parents and educators can make a difference

Summary

Workshop participants will have acquired knowledge in the following areas: • Effective use of evidence based data to identify at-risk students at high poverty schools • Strategies to turn around low performing middle and high schools by creating a sense of cultural community knowledge • Decrease the number of dropouts • Increase number of 9th graders promoting to 10th grade by credit accrual • Increase graduation rate for whole school • Re-engage students that dropped out and enroll them into alternative schools • Utilization of evidence based intervention strategies leading to a high school diploma • Establishment of Summer Bridge programs to effectively transition students from middle to high school • Stakeholders will be able to positively contribute to students increased emotional intelligence, communication skills, decision making, and goal setting • Be an integral part of the growth and academic achievement of all students

Evidence

The workshop is based on the work of the LAUSD Diploma Project that has been funded by the United States Department of Education High School Graduation Initiative Grant. Leading researchers of dropout prevention Balfanz and Hertzburg have developed a framework that can be adapted as the driving force towards developing a comprehensive action plan to address the dropout crisis according to individual and demographic needs. In order to effectively reduce dropouts, the Diploma Project has placed a greater emphasis on transitions from middle to high school, high school graduation and re-engagement of disconnected youth via the utilization of alternative education programs. “Studies show that 9th grade is a pivotal year that provides a unique intervention point for reducing high school dropout," said Allensworth, the Lewis-Sebring Director of the Consortium of Chicago School Research (CCSR). "Schools truly can prevent course failure and high school dropout, particularly if they provide students with the right supports at the right time." Acting as a catalyst to accelerate the dropout intervention and prevention efforts, the Diploma Project has utilized a tiered Response to Instruction and Intervention (RtI) framework to coordinate all available district and community student support services. The Diploma Project has outstanding evidence that supports these powerful strategies.

Biographical Sketch

Tawnya Perry, MSW, LCSW, Pupil Personnel Services Credential, Child Welfare and Attendance Credential, Administrative Credential & Adjunct Faculty at University of Southern California is the Project Director for the Los Angeles Unified School Districts federally funded High School Graduation Initiative Grant (HSGI), The Diploma Project. She has over 10 years of experience working in the field of Dropout Prevention and Recovery. Including under represented populations including foster youth, camp returnees (juvenile offenders), and probation youth. Has presented evidence based best practices on Dropout Prevention and Re-Engagement to a wide range of audiences including the US Department of Education in Washington D.C.

Leilani Morales, MS Counseling, PPSC, CWA, MS Educational Leadership, and Administrative Credential is the Project Specialist with the High School Graduation Initiative Grant (HSGI). She oversees evidence based practices and research data analysis for multiple high poverty schools throughout LAUSD. Ms. Morales oversees the development, implementation and oversight of a Response to Intervention (RtI), multi-tiered strategy to increase student achievement. In addition to having presented to Students, teachers, and administrators at numerous secondary schools, she has firsthand experience as a teacher, counselor and administrator.

Marquis Jones, MS Counseling, PPSC, CWA, Administrative Credential and Adjunct Faculty at Southwest Community College is the Central Graduation Promotion Counselor for the High School Graduation Initiative Grant (HSGI). Mr. Jones has over 10 years of extensive Dropout Prevention, Intervention and Recovery experience In the Office of Instruction Diploma Project and Beyond the Bell Extended Learning Academy. Additional experiences include presenting at the Council of Black Administrators annual meeting.

Keyword Descriptors

Academic achievement, Dropout Prevention, Emotional Intelligence, Cultural Identity

Presentation Year

2015

Start Date

3-3-2015 4:00 PM

End Date

3-3-2015 5:30 PM

Recommended Citation

Jones, Marquis; Perry, Tawnya; and Morales, Leilani, "From Achievement Gap to Graduation Cap, Taking Students From High Poverty to High Achievement" (2015). National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference. 114.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/nyar_savannah/2015/2015/114