National study cites Texas initiatives to reduce dropout rates

A new report on dropout prevention and recovery called "Achieving Graduation for All," released by the National Governors Association, noted that Texas is implementing many of the necessary steps recommended to tackle the dropout problem.

Texas has fostered numerous dropout prevention programs that provide academic and social services to help them stay in school and earn a high school diploma. Dropout prevention programs and services are targeted to the needs of students at risk of dropping out of school at every stage of their education. A few of the many dropout prevention and recovery programs, grants and initiatives provided in Texas include the Ninth Grade Transition program, the Collaborative Dropout Reduction Pilot Program, Communities In Schools, Dropout Recovery, Intensive Summer Programs, the Intensive Technology-Based Academic Intervention Pilot and the Texas GEAR UP program.

The national report calls for state policy makers and departments of education to institute four actions that will help improve graduation rates:

• Promote high school graduation for all by raising the maximum compulsory and allowable school attendance ages, counting graduation rates in accountability systems, and assigning responsibility for dropout prevention and responsibility;
• Target youth at risk of dropping out by creating early warning data systems to identify students who are likely to drop out and supporting efforts to provide students with effective intervention and support;
• Re-engage youth who have dropped out of school by creating incentives for dropout recovery, employing outreach strategies to re-engage dropouts and establishing re-entry programs; and
• Provide rigorous, relevant options for earning a high school diploma by turning around low-performing schools and awarding credit for performance, not seat time.

A complete list of dropout prevention and recovery programs and strategies is located on the Texas Education Agency's Web site at
www.tea.state.tx.us/index4.aspx?id=4721.