Paulding School District Graduation Coach Program 20082009

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Paulding School District Graduation Coach
Program2008-2009

• Imagine Success for Each Student and
• Make it Happen!

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For some, without specific, targeted
interventions
Graduation may be more of a dream than a reality!
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Our Graduation Coaches

• Middle Schools
• Ros Ferrell SPMS
• Erica Echko SPMS (08-09)
• Gloria Gelin - DMS
• Jane Holbrooks AMS
• Patricia Jackson - McCMS
• Kathryn Waldrop - MMS
• Marilyn Willcox JMS
• Shamelia Scott HJMS (08-09)
• Sandy Wilson EPMS
• Stacie Hayes EPMS (08-09)

• High Schools
• Nancy Childers HHS
• Sandy Colvard - EPHS
• Raquel Dortch PCHS
• Tammy McSwain PCHS (08-09)
• Latisha Saunders - SPHS

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A Process, Not an Event

• Dropping out is rarely the result of a single
  event, but a process that may begin even before
  elementary school.

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Objectives

• Share mission of the Middle and High School
  Graduation Coach including assurances that LEA
  makes
• All graduation coaches are full time and
  dedicated to the work.
• Share the roles of graduation coaches and
  principals as well as Community Coach information
• Understand the 4 step process for the development
  and implementation of a Middle and High School
  Graduation Program
• Provide an overview of the work which fits into
  whole school, target group, and case management
  support
• Transition Programs
• Career EmphasisStudent Career Portfolios
• Vertical Teaming5th to 6th and 8th to 9th
  including Transition programs
• Understand the Expectations of the MS HS
  Graduation Coaches
• Know the timelines and important dates
• Discuss Credit Recovery Questions/Issues (HS)

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Graduation Coach Mission
To assist schools and communities throughout
Georgia in implementing a locally-defined,
comprehensive stay-in-school program which
results in a substantial increase in the number
of students who continue their education at least
through high school graduation and prepare for
post secondary schools where they are able to
take their place in the work force and in their
communities as contributing citizens.
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Assurances-Signed by Superintendent

• that each high school and middle school in its
  jurisdiction will have the full-time services of
  a graduation coach who is engaged in at-risk
  student and graduation assistance activities
• Salary, benefits, office space, equipment,
  materials and supplies to include computer,
  printer, desk, phone, workspace (a location where
  confidential student or parent sessions can be
  held)
• Provide the graduation coaches access to student
  records, test scores, and other student data
  (second year for Work Management System Data)

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AssurancesSigned by Superintendent

• Allocate time for training and collaboration of
  school staff
• Authorize middle and high school coaches to
  attend all Graduation Support Sessions (district,
  RESA, DOE)
• DOE Training Dates
• September 5
• February 24
• Provide training and travel funds
• Coordinate available financial, human and
  physical resources

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Grant/State/RESA/District Support

• 43,000 per coach ( 52,000,000 state-wide)
• Training from DOE and CIS
• RESA Networking Meetings
• approximately four a year
• District Networking Meetings--Monthly

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Roles of Graduation Coaches

• Coach, facilitate, and lead
• Identify and support at-risk students
• Assist in developing school-wide support and
  interventions
• Develop and support a graduation team in the
  building
• Provide direct service and case management
  support for students
• Assist in developing and supporting transition
  and advisement programs
• Develop relationships with all stakeholders
• Market the role of the graduation coach to all
  stakeholders
• Complete assessment and reporting documentation
  (local and stateWork Management System)
• Form a working relationship with the principal
  and service providers
• Facilitate mentoring programs (mentors who have
  not had a background check, must have one)
• Support credit recovery plans and programs

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Graduation Coaches do not

• Replace the duties and responsibilities of the
  counselor of record for identified students.
  Counselor of record does
• Scheduling
• Registration
• Transcript History Evaluation and Input (HS)
• Transcript Audit Check sheets (HS)
• Classroom Guidance for Academic and
  Personal/Social Topics
• Provide counseling duties as listed above,
  however, will provide support in academic,
  career, and personal/social/emotional life
  domains.

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Graduation Coaches do not

• Manage absenteeism issues for the school
• Oversee local school SST and/ or RTI meetings and
  programs
• Accept duties and responsibilities as test
  coordinator for a school or for specific testing
  periods
• Coordinate the overall classroom guidance
  program, but may work with counselors to conduct
  classroom guidance on topics related to
  graduation, i.e. careers and transition/advisement
  .

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Graduation Coaches do not

• Coordinate or maintain the TAA (Teachers as
  Advisors) Program in the local school. May have a
  group of at-risk students that they meet with
  daily, weekly, bimonthly, etc. May serve on a
  committee that plans lessons and provides support
  for the local school program.
• Have extra-duty assignments unless the assignment
  provides interaction with students, especially
  students on their case load (reality check many
  coaches have expressed the positive side of
  having hall duty because it provides visibility
  to students and staff)
• Provide direct academic instruction (i.e., credit
  recovery, tutorial, remediation, etc.)
• Create, schedule, and/or facilitate curriculum
  for Credit Recovery, Georgia Virtual, etc.

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Expectations of MS and HS Graduation Coaches

• Successfully analyze data to
• Identify at-risk students (focus on grades 6-12)
  Work Management System Data
• Quantify the number of at-risk students by
  category
• Identify trends, patterns and groupings
  (sub-groups on testing and/or AYP data)
• Identify opportunities to provide individual and
  target group services
• Develop Peach State Pathways for at-risk students
  
• Limited to 80-100 students per school
• Organize student documentation in file folders

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Expectations of MS and HS Graduation Coaches

• Recommend programs to the principal and
  Graduation Team
• Focus efforts on whole school interventions
  (advisement, transition, career, incentives, and
  celebrations)
• Plan and complete classroom guidance for students
  (career topics only)
• Plan, assist, and monitor transition and
  advisement programs, particularly 5th to 6th and
  8th to 9th
• Have positive results against specified
  strategies and goals for each grade
• Form a team of advocates within the school that
  is focused on improving the graduation rate
  (Graduation Team) with data continually being
  analyzed

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Expectations of Principals

• Collaborate with graduation coach
• Listen to graduation coach
• Learn from coach about the program

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Expectations of Principals

• Uphold LEA assurances
• Support the graduation coach and the duties and
  responsibilities of what the coach does to
  support students
• Convey importance of graduation coach role to
  staff, students, and community
• Actively participate on graduation advisory team
  including prioritizing the work and writing and
  implementing the work plan
• Assist in providing data collection and sharing
  ideas about how the work supports the School
  Improvement Plan
• Allow graduation coach to present program as well
  as results to stakeholders

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Three Levels of InterventionCounselors and
Graduation Coach/Counselors

• Whole School
• It takes a village to raise a kid.
• Everybody participates
• Whole school strategies
• 5-6 Transition and Advisement
• 8-9 Transition and Advisement
• 9th, 10, and 11th Advisement for Students and
  Parents
• 8th 11th Registration
• Senior Seminars and Letters
• Targeted Classroom Guidance Topics for all
  Students

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Levels of Intervention Continued

• Target/Small Groups (Intentional Guidance)
• Academic (Ex. GHSGT Science test study group,
  Level 1 CRCT 9th grade students)
• Career
• Personal/social (grief and loss, anger
  management, etc.
• Individual Case Management
• Individual information folder
• Work management system data

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Analyzing Data

• Data is analyzed to determine areas of concern
• CRCTLevel 1 students
• CogAT
• GHSGTOften Science and Social Studies
• EOCT
• Writing Assessments
• ITBS
• PSAT
• NAEP
• District Common Assessments
• AYP Graduation Rate
• Grades
• Attendance15 days or more per year
• Discipline
• Over-age
• Credit deficient
• Retained in the past
• Economically Disadvantaged
• On CRCT and GHSGT reports, what are the
  sub-groups? Students with disabilities???
  African-American students??? White students???
  Economically disadvantaged students???

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4-Step Process For Developing And Implementing A
Middle and/or High School Graduation Program
Step 4. Making a Difference
Step 3. Where To Focus

• Develop a Graduation Work Plan Against the
  Established Priorities

• Analyze Data
• Look for Common Areas of Need
• Establish Priorities With Principal and
  Graduation Team

Step 2. Whos At Risk
Step 1. Getting Smart

• Identify Potential At-risk Students by Name

• Understand School Population and Currently
  Available Resources

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All data will not be hard data!

• Some data will be soft data
• Pregnancy
• Abuse
• Home issues
• Financial issues
• Job issues
• Motivational issues
• Stress
• Serious illness of family member
• Depression

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Step 4. Making a Difference
Levels of Intervention
Case Management Interventions designed for
individual students with multiple risk factors
may involve comprehensive interventions from
multiple service providers Examples Tutoring Fle
xible scheduling Counseling 212-The Extra
Degree of Support
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Step 4. Making a Difference
Levels of Intervention
Small Group Interventions designed for a segment
of the student population to address a common
issue Examples Study skills Tutoring Credit
recovery Support courses Test taking Skills Career
s
Case Management Interventions designed for
individual students with multiple risk factors
may involve comprehensive interventions from
multiple service providers Examples Tutoring Fle
xible scheduling Counseling 212-The Extra Degree
of Support
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Step 4. Making a Difference
Whole School Interventions designed for the
entire school population to address major issues
with the potential to become epidemic Examples C
lassroom Guidance on Advisement and/or Career
Topics TopicsAdvisement Topics Including
Career Interest Inventories
Graduation Requirements Career Fairs
Speakers Assembly Programs SAT Online
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Step 4. Making a Difference
Levels of Intervention
Case Management
Small Group
Whole School

• Key Elements for Developing A School Graduation
  Plan
• Select Program Strategies
• Choose Appropriate Level of Interventions for
  Student Populations
• Align Resources (Service Strategies) for Service
  Delivery
• Facilitate Services
• Evaluate, Monitor and Report (Work Management
  System and Local Data Reporting)

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Strategies for Building Relationships and Working
with Individual Students

• Graduation Coaches
• Schedule the time to build the relationship with
  students. Utilize before and after school time as
  well as lunch time to meet with students.
• Take a genuine interest in something positive
  about the student. (Play up strengths.)
• Be respectful of cultural and economic
  differences.
• Find ways to develop the students interests via
  career interest information and simply getting to
  know the student.

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Strategies for Building Relationships

• Demystify the graduation coach role and let
  students know the purpose of the position.
  Communicate with parents about role of coach.
• Work with all students via whole school
  interventions, so that other students dont think
  he/she just works with the at-risk students.
• Let staff see the coach in action.
• Build trust through consistency.
• Be an active listener to both students and staff.

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Results and Continuous Improvement

• Results Based Evaluation

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Reporting and Monitoring

• Quarterly Report to DOE via Work Management
  System
• Report goes into data base
• Analysis and Monitoring Progress toward Goals
• Late reporting is communicated to superintendent.

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Graduation Coach Data 07-08Note Data Sheet

• Guidance Curriculum (Planned Delivery)
• (Classroom guidance, transition and advisement
  projects, small target groups, parent workshops,
  mentors groups, incentives)

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Graduation Coach Data Continued

• Individual Student Planning
• Test talks, grade talks, attendance talks,
  behavior talks, graduation planning talks
• Re-evaluating a transcript audit.what can be
  creatively done for student to move to next grade
  or graduate

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Graduation Coach Data Continued

• Responsive Services
• Things that are not planned, i.e. conflict
  resolution, abuse, home issues which might
  include death or serious illness of caregiver,
  financial concerns, job issues, etc.

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Graduation Coach Data Continued

• System Support
• Professional learning and training
• Online credit and credit recovery spreadsheet
• Meetings which include graduation team and
  leadership or school improvement team meetings
• Disaggregation of data
• Work Management System Reports
• Monthly Meetings at BOE
• Testing (Note shaded areas of concern)

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Spreadsheet

• Promising Practices
• Interventions
• Celebrations
• Incentives

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Support for Students Seriously At-risk

• At Matthews (2007-2008)
• Individual Advisement Sessions
• Middle School Coaches Provided Classroom Guidance
• Study Skills, Testing Taking Skills, and Career
  Pathways
• Plan for 2008-2009--Provide Individual Advisement
  and Transition Support for Ombudsman students

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The Bottom Line

• More Graduates Increase in AYP!

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Community Coaches High School for 2007-2008

• Supported by Georgia Power
• David Stewart, Community Development, Metro
  Project Manager
• Raquel Dortch PCHS David Williams
• djwillia_at_southernco.com
• Latisha Saunders SPHS -- Maurice McNair
  (tentative)
• Sandy Colvard EPHS -- Deirdra Kumar
  dnkumar_at_southernco.com
• Nancy Childers HHS -- Jamie Masters
  jgmaster_at_southernco.com

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Together

• We all make a difference.
• Too often we underestimate the power of a touch,
  a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest
  compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of
  which have the potential to turn a life around.
• Leo
  Buscaglia

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Counselors and Graduation Coaches support..

• Imagine Success for Each Student, and Make It
  Happen!