K-12 Curriculum Development

K-12 curriculum development and instruction focuses on preparing students for life and work beyond the twelfth grade.  National reports indicate that a large number of students are not enrolled in school through the twelfth grade.  According to a report by the Alliance for Excellent Education, "Over a million of the students who enter ninth grade each fall fail to graduate with their peers four years later.  In fact, about seven thousand students drop out every school day."  This is unacceptable in today's workforce.

The following link shows a disturbing political cartoon:
http://www.all4ed.org/files/DF_01_1.jpg

High School Dropouts

One of the documents which has brought needed attention to this national crisis is "The Silent Epidemic" published in 2006.  While this document was published four years ago, educators can still begin a conversation about the dropout crisis by using quotes and statistics in this document as a starting point.

K-12 Curriculum Development provides an opportunity for educators to share strategies for increasing high school graduation rates and decreasing dropout rates. 

Questions For Discussion:
1.  What strategies does your school use to monitor student attendance?

2.  Does your school call the parent/guardian if a student is absent?

3.  Does your high school offer credit recovery programs?

4.  Does your high school set SMART goals for addressing the graduation
     rate/dropout rate?

5.  Does your school offer additional support for students who have been
     identified for being at-risk of dropping out?

6.  If we know that students drop out of school, should we develop strategies for
     supporting students and identifying at-risk students?

7.  Do you have a link to a PowerPoint presentation or your school website which
     offers information to parents and students regarding the negative
     consequences of dropping out of high school?

8.  Do you have programs which support high school graduation rates (i.e., AVID,
     Early College, Virtual Courses, Credit Recovery, Pyramid of Interventions,
     Lunch Tutorials, Alternative School, Weekly Advisory, Yearlong Classes on the
     Block Schedule, Reading and Math support for identified students, Ninth Grade
     Academy, or other school-designed programs and opportunities for
     students)?  Please describe.

Educators do not need to answer each question.  If one question is specific to the work being conducted in your school or school district, please answer that question.  If you have a URL link to your school site wiith resources related to dropout prevention, please share the link with the K-12 Curriculum Development community.  This is a conversation that will improve the lives of millions of students.  While the high school dropout rate is a crisis in each school, it is a national crisis with international implications.  "Nationally, about 71 percent of all students graduate from high school on time....but barely half of African Americans and Hispanic students earn diplomas with their peers.  In many states the difference between white and minority graduation rates is stunning; in several cases there is a gap of as many as 40 or 50 percentage points" (Alliance For Excellent Education, Feb. 2009).

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