1. EMPLoY Educational Mission to Prepare Louisiana’s Youth January 23, 2009

2. Overview Need for Plan In 2005-2006, students in the 7 th through 12 th grade dropped out at a rate of 6.9%, or more than 18,000 per year. Almost 10,000 enter the GED/Options program each year with less than 600 exiting with a GED and fewer with a Nationally Recognized Skill Certificate Many of these students end up in the Juvenile Justice System or on the streets

3. Plan of Action Department of Education crafted a plan in conjunction with: Workforce Commission Office of Juvenile Justice Department of Corrections LCTCS Department of Social Services Department of Health and Hospitals The Governor’s Office

4. Charge Craft a plan to address: Immediate action to help potential dropouts in the short-term to be successful and to exit school with a meaningful credential Intermediate plan to focus on students in grades 6-9 to provide interventions to make them successful Long-term plan to fix the system

5. Immediate Action Looked at data to determine where to focus immediate actions Decided to target the districts with high number of students in Options Program and over age students in grade level 14 districts targeted for immediate action beginning in January Focus -- Options students

6. Selection Process Capacity at the local level Adequate numbers of students Adequate numbers of teachers IBC offerings for Options Students Close proximity to an LTC campus Areas with high job demand

7. Participating Districts Ascension Assumption Avoyelles Bossier Caddo Calcasieu Iberia Jefferson Ouachita Rapides St. Tammany Terrebonne Vermilion Winn

8. Piloting 3 Tiers of Options Tier 1 – Students functioning at 7 th grade and above Tier 2 – Students functioning between 4 th and 6 th grade levels Tier 3 – Students functioning below 4 th grade level

9. Tiers 2 and 3 January 2009 – Approximately 1,200 Intensive reading instruction to get student’s functioning level up to 7 th grade level so that they can enter Tier 1 pathway (limited number at no cost) Voyager Journeys and Voyager Ticket to Read Jamestown Reading Navigator System 44 (Must have Read 180) Fast ForWord Achieve 3000

10. Tier 1 – Approximately 540 Five components – JAG Model Basic Skills Training toward GED – intensive use of scripted curriculum and Pilot software literacy programs (Achieve 3000 and Fast ForWord) Enroll students in IBC or dual enrollment in high wage/high demand occupation training Provide paid work experience/internship for students Provide adult mentor for each student Provide soft skill competency training

11. Commitment Needed LEAs Teachers participated in curriculum and software training on December 15 th Signed fidelity of use agreement for software program Pre/Post test students (TABE) and submit results to DOE Work with LCTCS to enroll students in IBC training Work with WIBs on providing students with work experience Assign each student an adult mentor

12. Commitment Needed RESCs and CCTCs working as a team (Regional Education Service Centers and College and Career Transition Coordinators) Help LEAs determine target students for Tier 1 Help LEAs with parent notification to complete Dual Enrollment Applications (due back to LEAs by 1/6/09) Work with targeted students’ 5year plans to determine interest and aptitude and Career Pathway Work with LCTCS to enroll students in IBC training based on student’s identified Career Pathway Work with WIBs on providing students with work experience aligned with identified Career Pathway Assign each student an adult mentor

13. Funding DOE to pay for Dual Enrollment using CTE state funds. Software vendors providing programs and training free of charge. Hope to receive funds for JAG Job Specialists in each district.

14. QUESTIONS?