Thursday, November 18, 2010
Keeping Track of Students
I loved the article on the Baltimore S.D.'s attempt to keep track of high school students and help them make it through school. Basically, they focused on keeping students in school and on track, and they are reaping the benefits of higher graduation rates and lower dropout rates, especially for black male students. While I'm sure that the logistics of it may be daunting (especially with shrinking budgets), the concept seems simple enough...someone notices if the kids are in school, keeps on the students to come to school and to do their schoolwork, expects them to get through it and believes they can and helps them when needed. Seems like that is a lesson that can be applied to all of us on so many levels. We all want to be noticed, believed in and given a little help when we can't figure it out.
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Do you think the focus on keeping them in school allowed the adults to have a more helpful conversation about what they are learning in school?
ReplyDelete@ Neil...that's a good question that I don't know the answer to exactly. I think that this is hitting the bottom (so to speak) for these kids, and that makes it a place where they can have an honest conversation with the kids about the state of each one's education (and the kids can be honest with themselves about their situation). The other issue is that they are not under the usual mandates of a school. The teachers can start where the each kid actually is and continue at whatever pace necessary. The goals are those set up by the kids and encouraged/facilitated by the teachers.
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