1. Dropping Out in Duval

2. Why is Dropping Out a Problem? Nationally, one-third of students do not graduate Annual toll of lost wages, taxes, productivity is $200 billion Two-thirds of inmates are dropouts Increasing graduation rate by 10% would reduce murder/assault by 20% and increase individual income by 27%

3. Why Students Drop Out Lack of connection to school History of failure in school No one pushing them to stay in school Problems at home Dropping out is a process that begins before high school.

4. Drop out Warning Signs Low attendance – Poor Behavior -

5. Drop out Warning Signs Academic Failure -

6. Where are students dropping out? GraduationDropoutSchool Grade A. Philip Randolph51.1%7.8%C Andrew Jackson51.8%4.7%D Douglas Anderson82.3%0.6%A Ed White50.9%9%C Englewood43.8%7.9%D First Coast61.9%6.8%D Fletcher71.6%4.2%B Frank H. Peterson55.9%6%C Jean Ribault40%9%F Mandarin61.9%6.8%D Nathan Forest37.6%10.8%D Paxon76.5%1.2%A Robert E. Lee40.3%7.3%D Sandalwood52.2%7.3%C Stanton78.1%0.9%A William Raines42.8%10.1%D Wolfson61.3%5.9%C Terry Parker47.8%8.6%D

7. United Way Partnership Nancy Snyder, Chair Martha BarrettDoris Leach Jeff BlountBea Lewis Nancy Dreicer Edgar Mathis Nancy BronerJay Plotkin Darby BrowerChief David Stevens Bill DavisJane Vance John GieseNina Waters Dr. Kareem JordanChuck Wodehouse

8. United Way Achievers For Life Family Advocate works with families to address obstacles to excelling in school: mental health/behavioral problems, financial instability, employment, housing. Achievement Advocate Paid and volunteer Achievement Advocates will work with the students for more than one year They will be provided information regarding their assigned student’s grades, classroom behavior and attendance, and with professional assistance will help the child achieve mutually established goals. Mental and Behavioral Health Counseling will be provided through Arlington Full Service Schools. Parent Engagement: Principals provided financial resources to implement research-based, measurable, school-wide strategies to keep students and their families engaged in learning. Potential initiatives include: family orientation to middle school, teacher training and development, homeroom teachers serving as family liaisons throughout middle school, parent leadership development, welcoming front offices, and any other research-based parent engagement models.

9. United Way Achievers For Life Performance Measurement Objectives: Students served will: increase their GPA above a minimum of 1.5 decrease behavioral referrals decrease absences be promoted to the seventh grade Measures will be calculated for a comparable group of middle school students attending a comparable middle school. Families of the at-risk students will be better prepared to support their students. Measured through a survey of parents participating in the program. Terry Parker High School dropout and graduation rates will improve.

10. Mission: Removing the health and psycho-social barriers to academic success Full Service Schools of Jacksonville Lucy Gooding Charitable Foundation Trust J. Wayne and Delores Barr Weaver

11. The Community Foundation in Jacksonville QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ALL INITIATIVE 10 Year - $2 Million Commitment COMMUNITY LEARNING Forum on Quality Education Learning to Finish Leadership Council DIRECT INVESTMENT Making The Move Transition Grants Learning To Finish Transition Grants and DCPS Capacity Building Steps 2 Success: Communities in Schools & Jacksonville Housing Authority RALLY Jacksonville Fund BUILDING PUBLIC WILL Forum on Quality Education -Polling -Funding -Advocacy Learning to Finish Leadership Council Community Partnerships -Youth Education Investment Partnership -United Way Champion Zones -Early Literacy Partnership

12. 5 Year Dropout Prevention Campaign Lead Organizations: The Community Foundation in Jacksonville and Pew Partnership for Civic Change Partners: Duval County Public Schools, Jacksonville Children’s Commission, United Way of Northeast Florida

13. LTF Leadership Council Vicki Abrams, Department of Children and Families Alvin Brennan, Englewood High School Jonathan Brice, Duval County Public Schools Brian Davis, Circuit Court Judge, Fourth Judicial Circuit Vicki Drake, Duval County School Board Helen DuBow, Duval County Public Schools Parent Cindy Edelman, The Community Foundation Scott Flowers, Terry Parker High School Susan Golden, Parkwood Heights Elementary and United Way of Northeast Florida Cheryl Grymes, Alliance for World Class Education Jeff Hess, FCCJ Jon Heymann, Communities in Schools Bill Hodges, State Attorney's Office, Fourth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida Connie Hodges, United Way of Northeast Florida Helene Kirkpatrick, Forrest High School Linda Lanier, Jacksonville Children’s Commission Gloriden Norris, Jacksonville Children’s Commission Board Roslyn Philips,, City of Jacksonville Rudolph Porter, City of Jacksonville Ed Pratt-Dannals, Duval County Public Schools Dianne Robinson, Nanas and Papas Raising Grands Bryan Stone, WorkSource Debbie Smith, Arlington Middle School Nina Waters, The Community Foundation Jim Williams, Duval County Public Schools Pat Willis, Duval County Public Schools Partner Staff Pam Paul Dopf, The Community Foundation Melanie Patz, United Way of Northeast Florida Laura Lane, JCCI/United Way of Northeast Florida Shannon Perry, Jacksonville Children’s Commission Karen Hanson, Duval County Public Schools

14. Year One Work Mobilized 27-member Leadership Council Completed Target School Assessment Connected with national funding and learning network: Youth Transitions Funders Group and National Multiple Pathways to Graduation Cities Commitment to conduct system-wide analysis and actionable recommendations in 2008

15. Losing High School Students

16. Who Drops Out? 40% are ninth graders Slightly more are male than female Males dropout in earlier grades; females in later grades Equal proportions of white and black students dropout –at Forrest, whites dropout at disproportionately higher rates

17. How Students Drop Out 1.If students turned 16 and had excessive absences, they were dropped from schools’ rolls 2.Students signed termination forms indicating they would go to FCCJ 3.Students expected to enter schools at beginning of school year did not show up

18. Dropouts vs. Withdrawals Over half of students at the target high schools withdraw Hopefully, most of these are going to FCCJ and continuing there education This information is currently unavailable

19. Focus Group Insights Teachers Even “good kids’ are dropping out Crisis is deeper than data shows and getting worse Guidance counselors have to do FCAT testing instead of helping kids Excessive school transfers mean kids aren’t accountable and miss weeks of school Schools lack spirit, students have limited academic options, I don’t blame them for not coming Students are stressed Students deserve, but do not get, teacher respect and support Teachers are so busy teaching FCAT there is no time for support On scale of 1:10 teachers rate their chances to better serve at-risk students 5.1

20. Learning to Finish 2008 Workplan Data Analysis: Causes of 9 th grade retentions and withdrawals; verify early indicators and economic impact; Options Analysis: effectiveness of current options for off track and out of school youth; recommend systems change/best practices; Policy and Funding Analysis: recommend changes to align policies and maximize/identify new funding Stakeholder and Policymaker Mobilization: build public will to implement changes

21. What Works? Three-tiered school early intervention system for 6th-9th grades 1. Whole-school prevention (i.e. school-wide attendance program keeps 70-80% of students on track) 2. Targeted interventions (additional focused supports for 10-20% of students) 3. Intensive interventions (small group or 1:1 support for 5-10% of students) PLUS Additional community-based supports for lowest income schools (after school, mentoring, etc.)

22. What Works cont. Creating alternative pathways to graduation –Learning to Work programs –Credit recovery –Transfer schools –Aligning the work of community-based organizations to improve student’s academic and life skills

23. Policy Opportunities Improve attendance policy and data collection procedures Align grade promotion policies among primary and secondary schools and with the state Increase mandatory attendance to 18 Increase graduation window to 5 years