Preventing Dropouts
Three States Have Successful Programs to Keep Kids in School
Massachusetts, Iowa and Hawaii have programs tying in real-world experiences with education. The plans are working.
School dropouts often state that school is boring and has no relevance to the real world. Some programs are changing that.
Des Moines, Iowa
Project Connect is a mentoring program for students in grades 4-8 and connects community volunteers with teachers and students. It takes one person in a child’s life to make a difference. Presently, Des Moines has 14 schools participating in Project Connect with 170 mentors. This program is a collaborative effort of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Iowa, Des Moines Public Schools, and the Des Moines Area Religious Council.
A mentor is someone that is
- Positive role model
- Caring
- Dependable
- Understanding
- A good listener
- Patient
- Trustworthy
The commitment for a mentor in Project Connect is on two levels. The school-based mentor would meet with a student one hour per week during school hours. What would they do? Homework, eat lunch, talk, read or share a hobby. A community/school-based mentor would meet with the student four hours a week at school and in the community.
Mentoring may continue in high school with Intensive Career Exploration, which allows students to actually get high school credit in business, agriscience, or technology while being paid in their field of interest.
Mentors are asked to make a one-year commitment. A high school plan is also in place sending students into the work place to learn skills. Barbara Anderson is the program director for Des Moines Public Schools.
Oxford, Massachusetts
Project Coffee, (Co-Operative Federation for Educational Experience), has been in operation for thirty years. Hundreds of students have graduated with a diploma from this alternative middle and high school program. The program is a combination of academic and occupational education and serves as a national model in dropout prevention.
Who attends Project Coffee? Students are often victims of child abuse, poverty and homelessness. The student body consists of at-risk students:
- 50% have serious drug problems
- 65% have faced a judge
- 35% take medication for ADD and/or ODD
- 25% have missed school because they were in jail
Academic classes are taught in the morning with no more than eight students per teacher. The afternoons are spent in occupational instruction. Students are not sitting -- they are learning hands-on skills. This is the real world of work. It has relevance to them. The students purchase materials, build things, repair equipment and can be proud of their accomplishments. Project COFFEE Counselor Nancy James says, "For a lot of these kids, it’s the first time in their education where they can stand back and say, ‘Look at what I did,’ and be legitimately proud." [Mary Ellen Flannery, Cynthia Kopkowski, and John Rosales, NEA Today, January 2008]
Honolulu, Hawaii
The booming tourist industry has positives and negatives. While it is great for the Hawaiian economy, it is also a temptation for high school students to quit school and get a steady job right now. President William McKinley High School has adopted a new strategy: teach students what they will need in the working world. OCP, Occupational Skills Program places students in temporary jobs for six weeks, working 15 hours per week. Where are they placed?
- Honolulu Zoo
- Manufacturing plants
- Beauty salons
- Hotels
- Restaurants
- Video production firms
Students are often hired by their former OCP employer after graduation. McKinley High School has eight other dropout prevention programs.
There is a consistent thread in these three dropout prevention programs—community involvement and making school more relevant.
Source: NEA Today
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Copyright article 2008 Barbara Pytel. All Rights Reserved.
