A new report by LFA and Grunwald Associates, with support from AT&T, examines how parents perceive the value of mobile devices, how they see their children using mobiles, and what they think of the possibilities for mobile learning.
In Texas, a Second Chance at a Bright Future
Story posted May 8, 2008. Results updated June 18, 2009.
Results:
• In less than two years, the school has graduated 368 students ranging from 18-25 years old
• Contributed to a 75% decrease in district dropout rate over the past two years
The largest school district in Hidalgo County and the second largest in the Rio Grande Valley, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District (PSJA ISD) has faced some tough challenges, yet its motto of "Focused on Performance" is the key to ensuring all 30,000 students reach their fullest potential.
83% of our mostly Hispanic student body is economically disadvantaged, 76% are considered at-risk and over 10% have limited proficiency in English due to the district's proximity to Mexico.
Despite these challenges, we have maintained a culture of pride and excellence that puts children first. So in response to a growing dropout problem, we quickly instituted an innovative district/college partnership to put former non-graduates on the path to higher education.
In his first two months on the job, PSJA ISD's new Superintendent discovered that over 200 students from the Class of 2007 had not graduated from the three PSJA ISD High Schools-and that number had been increasing every school year. Careful analysis, revealed that most of these non-graduates were fewer than three credits short of graduation or lacked only one or two sections of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS), a test all students must pass to graduate. These small obstacles were creating a big barrier to college.
The need to help these students was clear, but no existing program focused on the unique needs of these many students. We reached out to the local college, South Texas College (STC), to consider ideas for closing the gap between High School and College for this group of students. The result of these discussions: the new College, Career & Technology Academy (CC&T Academy), a separate campus, that provides students tutoring, extra coursework, dual enrollment and college guidance.
After creating the academy, we launched a fierce recruitment effort involving about 24 Community Liaisons, key administrators and the Office of Public Relations staff. We had only a short time to bring back our 200-plus non-graduates (from three different high schools) and enroll them in both PSJA ISD and South Texas College.
We created and posted informational flyers in Spanish and English in schools and local businesses, held information sessions for hundreds of students and families, sent our Community Liaisons door to door encouraging students to attend information sessions, ran public service announcements on the school district's television channel, and sent press releases about the recruitment effort to local papers and television stations, which aired stories on the subject.
Less than a month after we formulated the idea, we welcomed 220 students at the new CC&T campus. In addition to pursuing their High School work, all students enrolled in "College Success," a college orientation course. After the first TAKS administration, 72 of these students enrolled in a mini-semester at STC to earn up to four college credits.
Again, we told our story to the local media, which ran stories and columns containing glowing reviews of the new program. Since then, other school districts in our area have visited the CC&T Academy and are planning to open similar schools.
In December 2007, the school's first 49 students received their High School Diploma. The rest continue to work on recovering credits and passing the TAKS test. On January 2008, we opened our doors to more non-graduates. Our newest group of enrollees includes students as old as 25 who have learned that a high school diploma is a ticket to a better job or higher education.
Our work has taught us that, by using every means at our disposal to reach out to students who would normally fall through the cracks, we can give every student a better chance for a brighter future.
JUNE 2009 UPDATE: Since this story was originally posted, the CC&T Academy has continued to target students who need to earn up to three credits and/or pass the state high school exit exam to meet graduation requirements. In less than two years, the school has graduated 368 students, many of whom concurrently earned community college credit
and several of whom are between the ages of 21 and 25. It has also contributed to a 75% decrease in the district dropout rate over the past two years.
The district is pleased with the impact the CC&T Academy has had on outcomes for both individual students and the district as a whole. It plans to continue the program in the future and is considering expanding its focus to include students who need up to five credits to meet graduation requirements.
For additional information about this story, please contact:
Arianna Vazquez
Public Information Officer, Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District
956-702-5606 ext. 1107
avazquez@psja.k12.tx.us
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