> SOUTHERN INDIANA —
The Indiana Department of Education released high school graduation rates for the 2010-11 school year, showing all but one district in Clark and Floyd counties graduated more than 90 percent of their students last year.
According to a release from IDOE, Indiana’s state graduation rate came in at 85.7 percent. About 45 percent of high schools met or exceeded the 90 percent mark and 83 percent graduated 80 percent of their seniors or more.
Beginning in 2006, the state began measuring graduation rates by holding schools accountable for students starting from their freshman year and keeping track of students who left the school or district. The percentages reflect the students who completed high school in four years.
NEW ALBANY-FLOYD COUNTY
As a district, the New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corp. boasted the highest one-year change in graduation rates, gaining 5.5 percentage points from its 2009-10 school year. The district graduated 92.3 percent its seniors in 2010-11 with the four-year cohort measurement.
Louis Jensen, director of high schools for NA-FC schools, said a combination of intervention programs, credit recovery programs and help from administrators and counselors have helped the district consistently raise its graduation rate.
He said as their rates climb, improvement becomes more difficult to attain.
“We’d like to see both schools be above 95 percent, that’s a goal we’d like to obtain,” Jensen said. “As you get up there, it’s a lot harder to go from 93 percent to 95 percent than to go from 72 to 85. Once you get in the 90s, that next percentage becomes more difficult to obtain.”
He said another move that helped the district was putting alternative school students back into high schools with the extended-day program.
“A lot of times, our students would go there and just kind of wouldn’t finish,” Jensen said. “By moving them back into the extended-day program has allowed us to keep track of those students in a way we never have before.”
He said programs like Bulldog Scholars, Highlander Scholars, Focus on Freshmen and Be a Better Bulldog have helped NA-FC high schools stress the importance of earning at least a Core 40 diploma.
From here, Jensen said the high schools will continue to implement intervention programs that target students who need extra help in completing their courses.
GREATER CLARK
The only district to both fall below state average and the 90 percentile range in Clark and Floyd counties in 2010-11 was Greater Clark County Schools, graduating 77.6 percent of its seniors — a 2.6 percentage point drop from 2009-10.
Travis Haire, assistant superintendent, said there’s a lot of work to do in the district, especially since nearby districts outperformed Greater Clark by about 15 percentage points.
“The truth is if districts around us can be at 90 percent, we need to get at that level,” Haire said. “We need to be competitive.”
He said administrators in Greater Clark are reviewing data from last year to see why students dropped out or moved out of the district to come up with a plan and target rate for next year.
“There’s clearly nothing we can do about that now, but we look at the trends,” Haire said. “We’re relating it to what we can do for 2012. I’d say we’re probably a week or two away from looking at a realistic target of where we want to get.”
He said overall, there isn’t a big achievement gap between students at different income levels or ethnicities, but more work still needs to be done to raise their graduation rates.
“I don’t think our gaps are huge, but it’s still not where we want to be,” Haire said.
Haire said students on free and reduced lunch tend to be more transient, moving either because their family has to find a new place to live, finding new jobs or moving in with other family members.
As the school investigates some of the trends that drove students to drop out, Haire said the district can begin to formulate better intervention programs for students who might have more trouble in school than others.
“Clearly, we’re disappointed that we had this drop,” Haire said. “I think there are several factors that go into this. One is we have really stressed holding on to our kids and trying to make sure they finish school whether it be in four or five years. I think we’ve worked really hard with our alternative efforts to encourage those fifth-year students to getting their GEDs, which translates into dropouts.”
CLARKSVILLE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
With the highest graduation rate of students for 2009-10, Clarksville Community Schools saw a modest increase of 0.3 percentage points, but it still puts the district at 96.3 percent of its seniors graduating.
Of the students who decided to leave the school district, Clarksville had the highest percentage in the area entering home-schooling. Those students are not counted as dropouts by the state.
Kim Knott, superintendent, said she’s proud of the graduation rate pulled out of the small district. She said intervention programs to help students catch up to grade level is easier when there are fewer students to track down.
“I believe we can get every kid to graduate from Clarksville High School,” Knott said. “That’s the ultimate goal. Because of our size and what we provide ... we have a pretty good chance of getting 100 percent.”
Knott said with graduating classes of about 100 students, online courses and other programs, students in Clarksville have shown success in passing ISTEP+ exams, but sometimes need a second chance at it.
“We’re having some success on ISTEP and [end of course assessment] retesters,” Knott said. “Some students may not do well on the first time around, but we’re having some success with students who are retested.”
She also said while the district’s mobility rate is still above state average, it’s still pretty low and allows flexibility in reaching students who need an extra hand with their course work.
“Our mobility factor from district to district is actually decreasing in our community, which is an asset,” Knott said. “When your student mobility is lower, it allows you to focus in on who really needs those interventions.”
WEST CLARK
Though their rates dropped just 0.7 percentage points, West Clark Community Schools still graduated 90.6 percent of its students in 2009-10.
Assistant superintendent John Reed said a drop is still a drop, though. He said the number of students moving into West Clark — a fast growing district — brings students who may not have been tested to the same standards they’re being tested in his district.
“Our biggest challenge across the board is the mobility of our students,” Reed said. “We have so many people transferring in, it’s very difficult to figure out when they get to us and how to get them on the same page with the rest of our students.”
He said without knowing what’s been covered with students in the districts they’re coming from, it takes time to figure out where they stand in comparison to students in West Clark.
Reed said regardless of the subgroups within the schools, students seem to do well in graduating in four years.
“I’m pretty content with the fact that we don’t have any one particular desegregated group that is way out of whack with the overall population,” Reed said. “All of our schools are doing fairly well with graduation and there are no special groups that seem to be falling behind the general population.”
He said the use of more technology may help students do better, as well. He said the district wants to investigate credit recovery programs students can use at home with a computer, as well as seeing if the district looks closer at switching to electronic textbooks.
“It’s real hard to tell if we’ll do that,” Reed said. “I think it’s something that’s heading our way and is going to come one way or another. We’re going to have to study it very carefully.”
Clark County
February 11, 2012
Most area graduation rates above state average
Districts examine ups and downs, seek improvement
-
-
Vietnam veteran receives medals 46 years after active duty ends
-
Pence talks bridges, jobs during Southern Indiana swing
“I think everyone senses with the recent bridges agreement, the potential for extraordinary growth,” said Mike Pence, a U.S. House member who is seeking to replace Gov. Mitch Daniels and retain the gubernatorial seat for the Republican Party.
Continued ... -
Delaware woman dies in I-65 crash
-
Clark County approves self-insurance plan
Clark County Insurance Agent-of-Record Diane Swank presented health insurance renewal options at the council meeting Monday, but the county’s fiscal body decided to recess its meeting in order to review a proposal to move the county to a self-insured plan.
Continued ... -
Jeff to start enforcing insurance ordinances
A 2004 ordinance that dictates how much city retirees pay for health insurance – ignored for years by Jeffersonville officials – looks like it will now be enforced.
Continued ... - ISP arrests five at Clark County roadblock
- May 23, 2012
-
Appeals court hears Covered Bridge case
The Indiana Court of Appeals heard the respective oral arguments on the town of Sellersburg’s effort to annex the Covered Bridge Subdivision and the Willows on Wednesday. Covered Bridge appealed the trial court’s ruling that the town’s annexation preceded the subdivision’s effort to incorporate into an independent town and that, in exchange for sewer service, the residents would agree to not remonstrate against the annexation attempt.
Continued ... -
Redistricting on tap again for Jeffersonville
Though they just did so last year, it’s already time for the Jeffersonville City Council to start thinking about redistricting again.
Continued ... -
JEFF Fest set for June 9
The Jeffersonville Entire Family Fun Festival, better known as JEFF Fest, will
Continued ...
be held from 11 a.m.. to 4 p.m. June 9 in Jeffersonville’s Preservation Park, 150 W. Market St. -
Charlestown encourages Realtors and developers to help it grow
he city hosted a showcase for about 200 developers and Realtors at Charlestown High School on Tuesday. The purpose of the showcase was to pitch the city as a place that is expected to prosper, especially in light of the continued development at River Ridge Commerce Center.
Continued ...
-
