1. Cultivating a Climate of Success: Raising Your Graduation Rate
Virginia Association of secondary principals CONFERENCE roundtable 2016
Cultivating a Climate of Success: Raising Your Graduation Rate

2. Cultivating a Climate of Success: Raising Your Graduation Rate
Presented by:
Mr. Rick Lollis, M.S. and
Dr. Angela R. Wilder, Ed. D.
Rockbridge County Public Schools

3. We increased our Graduation rate using a variety of strategies

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6. Building relationships that matter
My name is BJ, my mom said you don’t care if I graduate or not, since I missed so many days. She asked me at breakfast today, “Why do you bother going to that school? It’s not like you are ever going to finish or graduate or anything.!” We found this young man by calling him, his extended family, his neighbors and family in another state. We finally found him in West Virginia, convinced him to return to our face to face campus. He finished his classes online and GRADUATED with a standard diploma!

7. TESTING 123-tESTING Testing for hidden treasures
Do you have students that transferred in late from another school or even another state?
Are they missing an SOL score because they moved or because they were never re-tested-even after scoring high enough for an expedited retake?
Test those students-recover their credits

8. Strategies must be developed and disseminated
School Improvement Plan
A) Write a goal that requires your school to actively identify
students that meet the criteria of an at risk student.
B) Criteria-Repeating a class or failing a class by the first 9 weeks and during each interim session
C) Criteria-more than 5 absences within the first 30 days of school
D) School counselors and Administration meet with their “watch” list students every 9 weeks

9. repeaters
If you have a student that is repeating a class: identify them at the beginning of the school year and have them repeat only 50% of the course.
If they are successful at the semester or ½ point, award the credit and allow them to move into another class, chances are they will need to recover more than one class if they are High Risk. If they only needed to repeat one course, then enroll in a new class and allow them to move ahead whenever possible, acquiring an extra ½ credit for an elective for example.

10. Online formats
Use online formats to “catch” students up with their peers.
Offer during the day or after school
Students can accelerate their own learning and once they experience success, they rapidly move forward
The key to online “catch up” strategies is to have a nurturing teacher that is willing to help all students

11. Working for a number
February 2016 Superintendent declared that the WORK KEYS Reading for information can be used as a substitute test for the ENGLISH EOC SOL for a Standard Diploma track or even an Advanced Studies Diploma track

12. Is Work keys working for your graduation rate?
Work keys- Business Writing
A score of 3 passes
A score of 4 Advanced studies diploma

13. SOL substitute tests Work keys-Reading for Information
4 passes Advanced studies diploma
NCRC Assessment: Reading for Information
Employees need to be able to understand written text to do a job. The Reading for Information assessment measures the skill people use when they read and use written text such as memos, letters, directions, signs, notices, bulletins, policies, and regulations on the job.
Number of Items: 33
Test Length          
55 minutes (WorkKeys Internet Version)
45 minutes (Paper-and-pencil)
55 minutes (Spanish)

14. Students with disabilities
SWD need Specific and small group extra support
Use your Project Graduation monies to pay for tutoring and for SUBS to have the SWD extra time and instruction

15. Lastly, it’s a team effort
Have your School counselors help you sift through the classes to find those lost students needing 1 more SOL to graduate
Hold parent conferences with Seniors and have parents “buy in” to success
Revoking a driving privilege, school parking pass or seizing the cell phones work wonders!

16. A community of Caring
Once the students realize your high level of commitment they strive to meet your expectations
Have MULTIPLE conversations with your “AT RISK” students
Help them set GOALS, knowing that graduation is the first step in achieving their future speaks volumes to them

17. Use your local resources
Washington and Lee students provided FREE tutoring
We created the CATAGIOUS After School Program to increase our tutoring as a result of the Governor’s Youth Development Academy Grant
We created MATH LABS and ENGLISH LABS for students to receive help during the regular school day
Use your Seniors that are high functioning in MATH to peer tutor your struggling students

18. Raising your graduation rate
“Where there is difficulty … there is change” Albert Einstein
Nobody said it would be easy
Help your students to realize their dream of “Walking the stage!”