ONE-D Dropout Prevention Summit

DETROIT

Changes to No Child unveiled

Education chief: Reforms aimed at boosting nation's graduation rates

BY LORI HIGGINS and CHASTITY PRATT DAWSEY • FREE PRESS EDUCATION WRITERS

April 23, 2008

Saying the U.S. can't afford to "waste so much human potential," the nation's top educator on Tuesday proposed requiring every state in the nation use the same formula to calculate high school graduation rates -- an action she said is necessary to grasp the seriousness of the dropout problem.

"We can't solve a problem until we diagnose what's wrong," U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said in a speech before the Detroit Economic Club at the Masonic Temple.

It was one of many policy changes to the federal No Child Left Behind law that Spellings announced -- changes that wouldn't go into effect until November, the waning days of President George W. Bush's administration.

Spellings also wants states and schools to be more transparent about free tutoring and the option of attending better schools for those attending failing schools. She also wants to require schools to use more federal funds to reach out to parents and for states to come up with stronger interventions for chronically failing schools.

The policy changes, which would be open for public comment for 60 days, "will give families lifelines and empower educators to create dramatic improvement," Spellings said.

But they also could penalize schools with graduation rates that are too low. In Michigan, for instance, schools with rates lower than 90% face sanctions that range in severity the longer they don't meet the goal.

Under her proposal, states would adopt a graduation rate formula proposed by the National Governors Association in 2005 and one which most states, including Michigan, then agreed to adopt. The formula looks at the number of students who enter high school in ninth grade compared with those who graduate four years later, but with adjustments made for transfers in and out of the school or district.

Schools would have until the 2012-13 school year to adopt the uniform formula. To date, only a handful of states have fully adopted the formula proposed by the governor's group. In August, Michigan will report graduation rate data for the Class of 2007 using the new formula, said Jan Ellis, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Education.

Part of the delay is that states need a data system that would be able to track students from the time they enter high school until they leave.

"It's a more honest way of getting the information about the success rate of students in our schools," said David Maile, director of instructional services for Huron Valley Schools.

What makes some uncomfortable, Maile said, is that rates under this formula will likely be lower than what educators and parents in most schools are used to seeing.

"People are going to be discouraged," Maile said. But he said if the same formula had been used for decades, it would show the same lower rates.

Bill Zolkowski, principal at Thurston High School in the South Redford School District, said he's not sure a formula exists that would be accurate and useful, particularly for urban districts that see greater mobility among students.

"I don't know how any of us who teach poor children can find a graduation rate formula that will be instructive or informative, just because of the mobility," Zolkowski said.

Zolkowski said that while the new formula takes mobility into account, it doesn't factor in situations when a student leaves the state without informing the district and the new school doesn't request records. It's a situation that happens frequently and could have that student being counted as a dropout.

Schools were already required to meet graduation rate goals, but under the new rules would have to demonstrate substantial improvement in increasing their graduation rate. In addition, for the first time, the federal government would include the graduation rates of subgroups of students -- including minority and special education students -- in determining whether schools meet No Child Left Behind goals.

Currently, there is no uniform way of determining how many students graduate from high school. Each state uses a different formula. And national reports on graduation rates report strikingly different rates. Detroit Public Schools, for instance, reports a graduation rate of less than 70%. However, just two weeks ago, a national report put that rate at 25%, the lowest among the nation's big cities.

Spellings referenced that dismal rate in her speech, saying it's happening at a time when "we should be sending more students to college." She noted that 2 out of every 3 girls and 3 out of every 4 boys in Detroit will not graduate on time.

Spellings said she supports changes that Detroit Superintendent Connie Calloway has planned for five low-performing schools.

She said some of the changes are "going to make a lot of people uncomfortable." However she said, "Your schools are in urgent need of reform, change and improvement."

Calloway, who was in the audience for Spellings' speech, said the proposed new regulations are on target to improve achievement.

"Everything I heard is encouraging," said Calloway, who is among the regional leaders expected to participate in a two-day conference on dropout prevention this week in Southfield.

During a question-and-answer session later in the day, Travis Parks, a senior at Cesar Chavez High School, asked Spellings whether she thought urban students have to work harder than nonurban students to meet federal standards.

Spellings said yes, because of a lack of sufficient resources and opportunities at some inner-city schools.

Afterward, Travis said he wished Spellings had expanded on that sentiment. He said he "was really looking to know how we could acquire those resources."

Contact LORI HIGGINS at 248-351-3694 or lhiggins@freepress.com.

Dear Jim Ross

This is your confirmation to attend the 2008 One D Dropout Prevention Summit and Retreat. This confirmation serves as your ticket to enter this event.

One D Dropout Prevention Summit and Retreat
April 24 & 25, 2008
8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Lawrence Technological University
Wayne H. Buell Management Building
21000 West Ten Mile Road
Southfield, Michigan

You must have this confirmation for entrance into the event. Due to the overwhelming response, this confirmation is non-transferrable and can only be used by Jim Ross.

You have committed to attend both days of the conference. Information presented on the first day of the conference is critical to the discussion on the second day. Your participation on the second day is very important to our success.

If you are unable to attend, please contact Annette Grays at 313-226-9419 or annette.grays@uwsem.org

**Please note: Portions of this conference will be recorded**