[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...ArticleID=28192

MCHS graduation rate at its highest in years

Alicia Ebaugh
Staff Writer

MICHIGAN CITY - At 76.7 percent, Michigan City High School's graduation rate is its highest in years.

That's according to Michigan City Area Schools Interim Superintendent Carla Iacona, who announced the school's 2009 graduation rate at Tuesday's School Board meeting. Michigan City has been making a steady gain in graduation rates since 2006, when it was at a low of 59.7 percent, she said.

"This is a keystone statistic for us right here," School Board member Jeffrey Jones said. "We talk about ISTEP scores and other things, but unless a student walks across that stage, none of that matters for their success."

However, Jones stressed the state average graduation rate is 81.5 percent. Michigan City's graduation rates also lag behind every other school in La Porte County. For example, Westville High School graduated 80 percent of its students, and La Porte graduated 83.6 percent.

"It shows me we have work left to do," Jones said.

Several programs that help students pass their Graduation Qualification Exams have played a big part in boosting the district's graduation rate so quickly, said Jan Radford, MCAS director of curriculum and instruction. Improved tracking and monitoring of students also has helped, she said.

"Some, we weren't able to account for before when they left the district," Radford said.

The state Department of Education has set a graduation rate goal of 90 percent. Michigan City High School would have to graduate 60 more students in 2010 than it did last year to meet that goal, according to state enrollment records.

In other business, board member Bill Greene said he wanted the district to provide some form of punishment to the teacher whose 6-year-old student wet her pants after she was not allowed to use the restroom, as mentioned in a Jan. 10 News-Dispatch letter to the editor. The teacher apparently was a substitute, he said.

"We better start screening these teachers better," Greene said. "She should be written up, docked, taken off the call list for some weeks to show we won't tolerate this kind of behavior."

Iacona said she would look into the matter.

Iacona also announced MCAS received a $350,000 career and technical education grant as part of the federal 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act signed by President Barack Obama on Dec. 16.

"We want to thank Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-Granger, for his efforts in helping us secure this funding," Iacona said.

Also, January is National Mentoring Month, and more than 80 students are still on the waiting list for a mentor through the district's Hours for Ours program, Iacona said.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2010/0...32002952462.txt

Graduation rate

MCHS making remarkable progress
Published: Thursday, January 14, 2010 11:47 AM CST
Editorial

The Issue:

Graduation rate has risen from 59.7 percent to 76.7 percent.

Our Opinion:

Everyone involved deserves praise. Real people’s lives are being improved.

Michigan City High School has made remarkable progress in boosting the graduation rate over the last three years from 59.7 percent to 76.7 percent in 2009, according to figures supplied by Michigan City Area Schools.

While the rate still lags the state average of 81.5 percent, it is much improved, and everyone who had a role in the change deserves applause — students, parents, teachers, administrators — and state education officials who define achievement levels and measure each school’s progress.

Administrators and teachers in particular deserve praise for trying various ways to see that students don’t fail, with an increased emphasis on tracking and monitoring student performance on a regular, frequent basis. Students who need help are getting individualized attention so that they make progress academically and meet the goals set out by the school system and the state.

One such example is the “credit recovery program,” which gives students a chance outside the regular school day to make up courses where their work was incomplete or failing. Nineteen students are in that program, ensuring that they will get enough credits to graduate in the four years time that the graduation rate is based on.

Educational progress is measured in statistics, percentages. While those are revealing, the raw numbers are a little more meaningful. The 19 students in “credit recovery” are 19 human beings — young people in our community — each of whom will have a better life because they are taking the opportunity to get a high school diploma, which is their ticket to a job, advanced training, a better career, success in life, rather than the sad outcomes most dropouts experience.

Boosting the graduation rate those 17 percentage points means that some 75 more of this community’s young people are getting a diploma than before — 75 people with a better chance to succeed in a tough job market.

These are real people, and this is real progress. The schools are doing something right.

[lovethiscity]

This is a generation of students that had the use of the resource teachers through title 1 funding. What will happen in a few years when the generation of kids that do not have the extra help? Title 1 was diverted to the early learning center. Just wondering

[Mack]

I think graduation rates are more related to getting kids to stay in school. Regardless of the funding , children with home lives that don't encourage education or communities that ignore the needs and activities of their youths will have higher drop outs. The Title 1 and quality of teacher stuff gets one a higher grade and a better education .....but parents and communities keep kids IN school.
KUDOS to both in Michigan City...(and the police department in a way)
The NAY Sayers and bashers of the system are losing the argument with facts.

[John_Taylor]

This is a generation of students that had the use of the resource teachers through title 1 funding. What will happen in a few years when the generation of kids that do not have the extra help? Title 1 was diverted to the early learning center. Just wondering

?

[Southsider2k12]

This is a generation of students that had the use of the resource teachers through title 1 funding. What will happen in a few years when the generation of kids that do not have the extra help? Title 1 was diverted to the early learning center. Just wondering

Honestly, I think we will see the graduation progression take a 3-4 year dip, with the group of kids who misses out on the 3rd to 5th grade extras works through the system, and then will take a "hockey stick" move upwards, past the old marks by a significant margin.

The single biggest issue teachers deal with in the MCAS is kids who are not ready for their respective grade level. The problem is that it does not start with the 3rd grade. Kids make it to K and aren't ready. By the time they are socially promoted along to third grade, it is getting close to being too late for them to catch up with their respective class. I honestly believe the reason we lag sooo far behind the rest of the state in graduation rates, even with this large improvement is that we don't start addressing these problems early enough.

I know that the MCAS screwed up the way they funded Pre-K early learning, but it is vital to moving these school system to the next level of achievement. It isn't often you are going to hear me agree with what has happened here in recent years, but I do hear. Too many kids are just not ready for school when the are 5 years old in this town, for a myriad of reasons. Being unable to fix things out of the school systems control (namely the "education" a kid has before they hit our school system) the one thing we can do is try to help them out earlier. Catching kids at this stage is big. We just need to figure out how to fix Title I and fund Pre-K. I honestly believe if we have to close the Early Learning program, we will see a regression similar to what we saw after the closing of the Alternative School, which we are just now statistically recovering from.