NEWS

PSD fights slipping graduation rate

Rob White
rwhite@coloradoan.com
Poudre High School student Austin Libby plays a game with third graders at Polaris Expeditionary Learning School in Fort Collins on Monday. For many students in Poudre School District’s Opportunities Unlimited program, mentoring the younger students ‘creates a level of confidence that they haven’t previously had,’ said teacher Jacqui Walz.

Austin Libby was able to keep his academic struggles to himself for a long time.

While his friends at Fort Collins High School easily managed to pass their classes, Libby couldn’t even manage a D, it seemed, despite his desire to make the grade. But last year, as he reached the realization that his friends would be graduating without him, Libby considered his future.

“All throughout high school I was struggling with depression, but I kind of found my own way with music and cars, I guess,” said Libby, 18. “But my senior year it got really bad.

“You ask yourself, ‘Is this worth it?’ Is it always going to be like this?’ ”

He was determined not to quit.

Back at Fort Collins High for a fifth year in September, with his friends having departed, Libby decided to discuss his situation with the school counselor, who suggested Opportunities Unlimited. The pilot program operated out of Poudre High School is one way Poudre School District is addressing a graduation rate that preliminary figures show has dropped by more than seven percentage points over the past four school years.

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PSD’s four-year graduation rate has been on the decline since the 2011-12 school year, falling from 86 percent that year to 81.7 percent in 2014, the most-recent year complete data is available. That year, 1,740 seniors out of a possible 2,129 graduated on time.

Meanwhile, districts across Colorado are catching up to PSD, as the statewide graduation rate increased from 75.4 percent to 77.3 percent over the same time frame.

PSD’s adoption of stricter graduation guidelines starting with the graduating class of 2015 could further close that gap: The district’s preliminary estimate for the 2015 graduation rate is 78.7 percent, though PSD hasn’t tracked how much annual graduation rates change between the the release of the preliminary estimate and the final number.

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Data for the graduating class of 2015 is still being finalized by the Colorado Department of Education, which will release the information in January.

So yes, even as members of the 2016 senior class are making — or have already made — their college plans, it may seem like those who didn’t graduate on time last year have fallen into a blind spot in the state’s public education system.

But officials at both the state and district level say they have a good idea of where the majority of students like Libby are, and have plans to help them get back on track.

On-time graduation rates, past five years (in percentages)

Changing what’s required

Despite its recent graduation rate slip, PSD compares favorably among the state’s 20 largest school districts, with the eighth-best on-time graduation rate among those districts for 2013-14.

Serving roughly 29,000 students, PSD is Colorado’s ninth-largest public school district.

“We did notice the two years of decrease” in the district’s graduation rate, said John Passantino, assessment and school support coordinator for PSD. “It’s still in a very good spot, but it did decrease and that’s something we’re having conversations about with building leaders and brainstorming some ideas.”

While PSD might seem like it’s losing ground on the rest of the state, comparing district graduation rates is an inexact science. Graduation requirements vary from district to district, as do how districts count credits toward graduation.

“The graduation rate doesn’t say what the diploma means,” said Judith Martinez, CDE’s director of dropout prevention and student engagement. “Graduation requirements are what each locally-elected school board determines.”

PSD’s guidelines meet or exceed the state’s standards.

For PSD’s Class of 2015, new requirements included a 9.1 percent increase in the amount of high school credits required to graduate, from 220 to 240. The district is in the process of working through another set of guidelines to align with those set by the state for the class of 2021.

“The positive there is that there are a number of options, a number of ways to honestly earn a diploma,” PSD’s Passantino said. “There are different tracks. Some of it is internships and work-type things and there are portfolio options.”

For instance, “industry certifications” would allow students to demonstrate a mastery of skills, increasing their own job prospects or post-secondary education options, as well as their future earning potential. Such workforce-focused provisions could help districts tailor graduation requirements to meet the needs of both students and area employers.

“It’s really a pretty exciting new time to be looking at graduation opportunities and post-secondary readiness opportunities,” Passantino said. “That’s the bigger thing for us to look at: where we currently are, but how we can use the new graduation guidelines from the state to really create positive, quality options for all the kids.”

PSD graduation requirement changes

Poudre School District graduation requirements that went into effect for the class of 2015 included an increased minimum number of credits, from 220 to 240, half of which included classes in financial literacy and economics.

  • Credit requirements for the class of 2015
  • Language arts: 40
  • Math: 30
  • Science: 30
  • Social studies: 25
  • Wellness: 15
  • World language or culture: 10
  • Fine and applied arts: 10
  • Financial literacy and economics: 10
  • Humanities: 5
  • Electives: 65

Total: 240

 

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Providing different paths

Meanwhile in the here and now, Passantino said, students in danger of not graduating on time begin showing signs before their senior year, giving the district time to put support plans in action.

School environment conditions, the necessity of working, home-life disruptions, health and mental health problems, bad decisions and a lack of motivation are among the many reasons students fall off the path toward graduation.

Poverty looms large over graduation rates. Affluent districts such as Boulder Valley have the state’s highest graduation rates, while poverty-affected districts such as Adams-Arapahoe (Aurora) rank near the bottom.

In PSD, on-time graduation rates for students who don’t qualify for free or reduced lunch has held between 89 percent and 91.7 percent for the last four years for which data is available. Those who qualify for free and reduced lunches based on household income eligibility have graduation rates that have ranged from 66.5 percent to 72.6 percent.

“We do see that, and we see it in different areas of academics as well, and that’s part of how we try to build strategies to understand which kids are struggling to have success,” Passantino said.

“Up until the Class of 2014, we had nice improvements going on for our subgroups, so there were big areas of celebration there. Then the last year where we have the finalized data, we did have a drop. … It’s complex. We’re talking about four years of credits. Some of these things are academic, and some of them spill into different (personal) areas where we want to support kids.”

Students who don’t graduate in four years are still followed, with five-, six- and seven-year graduation rates tracked, as well as a completion rate that accounts for students who pass high school equivalency tests.

“Our goal is, really, that students are post-secondary ready,” Passantino said. “We want the four-year rate to be as high as possible, but we also want to make sure that we have options to capture kids who may not finish in the traditional time frame.”

PSD’s dropout rate, a measure of students who leave education and can’t be tracked through graduation or completion, has remained at less than 2 percent in recent years.

For those who have fallen behind the four-year timeline or are in danger of dropping out, PSD has alternative campus options in Centennial High School and Poudre Community Academy, and the Opportunities Unlimited program that is being supported primarily by Poudre High School.

At Centennial, students must pass a six-week “Discovery” course focusing on how to work in a group, anger management, communication in an adult mode, assertiveness, problem-solving and conflict resolution before getting in. Personal responsibility and accountability are focus areas.

Those who complete the course are met with school days of five, 75-minute, class periods periods with instruction following district curriculum and state standards during a school year broken into six-week “hexters.”

“We do that so kids can reboot at a quicker rate and find success at a quicker rate,” said Centennial Principal Mike Roberts. “They don’t have to wait an entire semester before they find out if they are passing a class.”

Credit recovery is available, too, for students who want to move at a quicker pace.

Centennial has about 150 students enrolled, Roberts said, and adds more every six weeks, so the number is expected to grow to about 190 by the end of the year.

Poudre Community Academy is smaller, with about 80 students, with a focus on accountability and community support. Students also receive credit for work in various service-related projects.

Opportunities Unlimited, though funded almost entirely by Poudre High School and operated by PHS teachers, veers from a traditional high school format.

“Here our teachers rotate through (one classroom) and each individual plan of study is addressed in each class,” OU instructor Wendy Bryner said. “Then they are doing individual work either to finish off those credits for a diploma or they’re going to be supported in studying for the GED (General Educational Development tests).

Opportunities Unlimited focuses on college readiness for students age 17 to 19, with an eye toward continuing their education at Front Range Community College.

Bryner said GED requirements have become more difficult and standards-based in Colorado, so many OU students will take one of three tests offered in Wyoming — the HiSET exam — which is comparable to the old GED.

There were 27 students enrolled as of last week — including 12 former Poudre students — with others coming from each of Fort Collins’ three other comprehensive high schools, Loveland High School and others in Northern Colorado.

Students’ school day typically starts at noon, with after-hours classes running until 5:30 p.m. If students have to leave early for work, they are asked to come in earlier.

Desks aren’t in a row. An emphasis is on treating students as adults in more of a family atmosphere. Yoga and mindfulness classes are part of the program, and students have the teachers’ phone numbers if they need assistance.

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Finding his own way

At long last, Austin Libby has begun to find his way.

“I was really scared at first because I’m not a people person,” he said. “When I came here, it’s really small and kind of forced me into talking, not sitting in the back of the classroom anymore. It’s helped me.”

Libby learns better by doing, by using his hands. His “plan of study” is automotive. Some classes still seem like they may not apply, but he can see where they’re taking him now. And he’s still seeking his diploma.

“We’re focusing on getting me out of high school, getting all the classes that I need instead of aimless classes that don’t matter,” he said. “Once I’m done with that, we’re moving to Front

Range in January."

How districts stack up

Among Colorado’s 20 largest school districts, Poudre School District had the eighth-highest on-time graduation rate in 2014, the year from which the most-recent data is available.

PSD ranked 113th out of 185 districts measured in 2014. Each district reporting 100 percent on-time graduation in 2014 had fewer than 25 graduates. Windsor RE-4 saw 91.7 percent of its 254-student class of 2014 graduate on time.

Here’s a look at how PSD’s graduation rate stacked up among districts with the 20 largest potential graduating classes:

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