Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/587184
"There's been a huge push downward of math curriculum," says Montsinger, UTLA. "Students in middle school are now required to know what I needed to know in high school. They feel like they are going to spend the next three to four years catching up. They feel like failures and want to give up. There's a snowball effect, and if we don't catch them now, they won't graduate." Parents mistakenly believe children don't need them in middle school as much as they did in elementary school, and often take a step back, says Montsinger. But students, going through hormonal upheaval and peer pressure, need their parents more than ever. "At this age, parents need to be more involved," Montsinger says. "I see students who could drop out at any minute if given the opportunity." The problem isn't just in urban areas, says Alex Coursey, an English teacher at Technology Middle School in Rohnert Park who spent the previous two years teaching at an alter- native middle school. " I t ' s n o t r e c o g - n i z e d a s m u c h o f a problem in rural areas, but sometimes you see stu- dents one day and they're just gone the next day," says Coursey, Rohnert Park-Cotati Educators Association. "You don't know if they have moved or transferred to another school or what happened." He believes students feel lost and experience culture shock when they go to middle school after being in a close-knit elementary school environment for so long. " T h e re ' s a l o t m o re d ra m a a t m i d d l e s c h o o l . Sometimes there is so much going on at home that school seems like a secondary issue. They may have sick or addicted parents. Some are even head of their household." Research done at Johns Hopkins University shows that in high-poverty environments, it's possible to identify students in middle school who will exit before graduation. Warning signs include failing math or English, not attending school regularly, and misbe- havior. The more indicators, the more likely a student won't earn a diploma. LAUSD has the highest number of seventh- and eighth-graders dropping out, notes The Hechinger Report. The district installed a new data system to D U E T O B U D G E T P R O B L E M S , school districts have drastically cut the number of counselors like LAUSD's Lora Palacios — as well as social workers and attendance clerks. This has made it difficult to monitor dropouts and offer interventions, says David Kopperud, education programs consultant for the California Department of Education. "Huge cuts in the past meant student support services were decimated," he says. That may change under the Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs), which must set goals and establish action plans in eight priority areas, addressing chronic absenteeism, school climate, and students' sense of "connectedness," among other issues. With funding tied to LCAPs, Kopperud believes, schools will hire back counselors and social workers, which could reduce the dropout rate. He has seen a few districts already do so. In addition, some of the money saved as a result of Prop. 47, which requires misdemean- or instead of felony sentences for certain drug and other offenses, is mandated to support truancy and dropout prevention programs. The state has identified 11 "Model School Attendance Review Board (SARB)" districts, including Long Beach Unified and Coro- na-Norco Unified, which have effective policies for improving atten- dance and preventing dropouts. They use a three-tiered approach (see chart below). Investment in the first two tiers — recognizing good and improved attendance, parent and student engagement, personalized early outreach, etc. — has proved effective and less costly than tier 3. "You can't engage with middle school kids in only a punitive way, or you lose them," says Kopperud. "You want to form relationships so they can be open with you about what's going on, so you can ad- dress their specific problems to help them re-engage with school." Source: California Department of Education Impact of Budget Cuts "They feel like failures and want to give up. If we don't catch them now, they won't graduate." IMPROVING ATTENDANCE S E V E R E C H R O N I C A B S E N C E ( M I S S I N G 2 0 P E R C E N T ) • Refer persistent cases to the SARB for intensive case management and coordination of agencies C H R O N I C A B S E N C E ( M I S S I N G 1 0 P E R C E N T ) • Provide personalized early outreach • Meet with student/family to develop plan • Offer attendance mentor/buddy A L L S T U D E N T S AT P R I O R I T Y S C H O O L S • Recognize good and improved attendance • Educate and engage students and families • Monitor attendance data • Clarify attendance expectations and goals • Establish positive and engaging school climate High Cost Low Cost K I M B E R LY M O N T S I N G E R 33 V O LU M E 2 0 I S S U E 3