A challenge has been issued to schools across America. Early in 2010, President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan set a national goal for 90 percent of U.S. students to graduate from high school and complete at least one year of post-secondary education or training by 2020. Faced with tighter budgets, fewer resources, and an educational system in need of reform, schools across the country are challenged to keep students in school. Progress has been made.
A new report issued by America's Promise Alliance, Civic Enterprises and the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University, Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic shows that the national high school graduation rate has increased — but not enough. At the current rate of progress, reaching the 90 percent goal cannot be achieved.
In light of the goal set before them, busy teachers struggle to address the needs of all students, delivering engaging lessons, grading numerous assignments, and preparing students to pass required state achievement tests. In the traditional school model these teachers, no matter how dedicated, are often unable to identify, intervene, and react to prevent students at risk from dropping out of school.
According to The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Students, a 2006 report detailing the dropout epidemic in America, nearly one third of all public high school students fail to graduate from public high school with their class. The majority of these students had passing grades, but circumstances in their lives, and the inadequate response of their schools to these circumstances, led them to drop out of the system.
- 47% said a major reason for dropping out was that classes were not interesting.
- 43% missed too many days and could not catch up.
- 35% said that "failing in school" was a major factor for dropping out.
- 32% said they had to get a job and make money.
- 26% said they became a parent.
No matter what the circumstance, dropping out was not a sudden act, but a gradual process of disengagement for most young people. Seventy percent were confident they could have graduated if they had tried.
Like many administrators across the country, Diane Causey faced these issues everyday as the principal at Canterbury High School in Montgomery, Alabama. According to Diane, ODYSSEYWARE gave her the solutions she had been looking for.
ODYSSEYWARE not only provides a good educational base, but it also has games and little mini tutors which provide them [students] with experts in various fields. It pronounces vocabulary words for them. It challenges them to learn at their own pace. It enables what would be called the slower students to learn at the same level as the advanced students.
ODYSSEYWARE offers alternative solutions for schools trying to keep their students in the classroom by addressing the learning challenges that face the digital generation.
- Innovative, interactive lessons featuring dynamic audio and video files engage students and support retention of key concepts.
- Relevant Internet links encourage self-directed and real-world learning to alleviate boredom.
- 24-hour Internet access allows students to work from anywhere they have web access, whenever it fits into their schedule – an ideal solution for students whose personal circumstances hinder attendance.
- Placement testing allows teachers to position students at their proficiency level to support academic success.
- Ongoing assessment allows early intervention so students don't fall far behind their peers.
- Teachers can set course delivery speed to accommodate the learning pace of individual students.
- Math and Language Arts credit-recovery, diagnostic skills testing pinpoints key concepts for student remediation, allowing students that previously failed a course to recover the credits they need to graduate without repeating the entire course. These students can spend their time learning what they need to know to demonstrate understanding, meet assessment standards, and get their high school diploma.
Want proven credit recovery solutions to increase graduation rates? Call (877) 795-8904 or contact us.
