High School Graduation Network Action Plan Considerations

April 7, 2014Proposed Timeline and Goals:

- Long Term: By August 1, 2018, increase high school graduation rate for Albuquerque Public Schools by 5 percentage points to 74%. [Need to have more discussion about whether to use percentage or number of graduates.]

- Short Term: By August 1, 2015, decrease habitual truancy rates by 5 percentage points in each school we are working with by August 1, 2015. [We will review data at our April 7th meeting to nail down the target.]

Potential Modifications to the Project Scope:

High schools: those identified in the charter; we need to make sure that we choose schools where we have programs in place in which we can expand their capacity.

Middle schools: the new RFK Middle School and the two new APS magnet schools that are in the planning stage

The transition from 8th to 9th grade may be a place to focus our efforts, particularly for the truancy project.

We could also target students at these schools who are in the AVID program, as AVID already collects data on individual students.

Proposed Projects to Meet Goals:

The following table lists three proposed projects and a set of associated activities that rose to the top of the High School Graduation Network’s priorities during the March 17th meeting. Below the table are the other potential projects that we need to decide whether to postpone until a later date or undertake one or more of them during the upcoming school year.

Proposed Project

Proposed Activities Notes

1. Truancy Reduction

1A. COORDINATE WITH APS TRUANCY PILOT PROJECT This is probably not a separate activity. This is primarily a reminder that APS already has a truancy pilot going on that we need to connect to.

1B. RESEARCH BEST PRACTICESGather information and identify best practices regarding:

- Attendance systems- Early warning systems

Some of the items in the bulleted list were originally part of a separate college & career readiness project.

- iParent or equivalent- College readiness systems (e.g., Naviance)- AVID- Disciplinary policies- Other factors related to high school graduation

1C. FACILITATE YOUTH ENGAGEMENTWork through the Mission: Graduate Youth Engagement Council to engage youth in in support of this action plan. Need to be able to answer three questions: (1) Why do they graduate? (2) Why do they drop out? (3) Why do they drop back in?

Need to define a clear set of activities for our Network members, as well as the youth we are working with.

1D. SUPPORT ADULT LITERACY AND GED COMPLETIONSupport literacy and GED preparation and completion for parents of habitually truant students.

This was originally a separate project that has been reframed in terms of truancy. One group proposed postponing this activity; need to decide whether we have capacity to take this on. We may also want to just let the College Completion Network and the Unidos Project take the lead and we can coordinate with them.

1E. INCREASE MENTORINGIdentify and support peer mentors, families as mentors, and other adult mentors to help students make a successful transition from 8th to 9th grade. Also, increase the supply of mentors to work with AVID students on the importance of showing up, the importance of graduating, and what that means for their college and career future.1F. IMPROVE TRANSPORTATIONProvide bus vouchers, work with the city to ensure that bus lines are convenient, and develop other policy recommendations to help kids get to school.

This could also impact mobility where families move kids could stay at the school where they have already established relationships.

2. Middle School Innovation

2A. RESEARCH BEST PRACTICESGather information and identify best practices related to middle school education, with a focus on how we can ensure a seamless transition from 8th to 9th grade and how we can ensure that students are on track to graduation before they leave middle school.2B. SUPPORT THE NEW RFK MIDDLE SCHOOLWork with RFK this fall on their new middle school. Potential activities include: (1) use the RFK as a learning lab during the next year and (2) advise teachers and parents about college and career readiness and the importance of staying in school.

These activities need to be further developed.

2C. PARTICIPATE IN PLANNING PROCESS FOR NEW APS We need to add some more

MAGNET SCHOOLSProvide design input and support for APS’s two magnet middle schools on culturally proficient practices and parent engagement.

specificity to this activity, with some well-defined goals.

3. Wraparound Support Services

3A. RESEARCH BEST PRACTICESGather information and identify best practices regarding wraparound services.3B. PRODUCE ASSET MAPConduct a needs assessment and gap analysis of key supports related to high school graduation and map assets for each school we are working with.

Other Potential First-Year Projects and Activities:(We need to have some discussion about these with the full Network.)

4. College and Career Readiness

4A. RESEARCH BEST PRACTICESGather information and identify best practices regarding counselor engagement and how parents can support their kids for college and career readiness

We need to decide if this is a separate project to be postponed, if this is a separate project that we want to begin working on next school year, or if we want to incorporate some of these activities into the truancy project.

4B. IMPROVE STUDENT ADVISEMENT PROCESSESWork with college and career counselors to set high expectations; disseminate information among counselors; and coordinate with AVID.

This is an opportunity to partner or align with the Unidos Project.

4C. HELP YOUTH SET GOALSSupport conversations between young people and teen parents regarding goals and aspirations

Some version of this activity could be folded into 1C above.

5. Credit Recovery

5A. HELP SENIORS RECOVER CREDITS SO THEY GRADUATE ON TIMECredit recovery for students who are 1-3 credits short of graduating by identifying students and connecting to resources

Need to decide whether this is a first year project. One group suggested partnering with Unidos, which has already taken the lead on this work. Another group suggested that credit recovery goes hand in hand with truancy reduction.

6. Literacy 6A. BUILD AND IMPLEMENT FREE LITTLE LIBRARIES The groups recommended postponing this activity.

7. Teacher Professional Development

7A. SUPPORT TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTPD for teachers by volunteer experts around cultural competency and from experience stories from parents / families

This project/activity may or may not be out of scope. One group suggested that it is in scope because of PTA’s involvement. We need to think about whether we can frame a set of manageable PD activities in terms of the

projects above.8. Community Engagement

8A. ENGAGE COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND GET THE WORD OUTIncorporate charter and private schools into the work and use media to get the word out about Mission: Graduate.

One group suggested that this is not a separate activity but, rather, community engagement is just what we do in every aspect of our work. We should always ensure that we create activities for each project that engage community partners in a meaningful way.