WCPSS High Schools

“Final Push” Graduation/Promotion Strategies

April 17, 2015

Using the questions below to guide your thoughts, consider what action steps your school currently has in place – or could easily put into place – to maximize student success as the 2014-2015 school year draws to a close.

  1. Using 3rd quarter report card data, how many students are in danger of failing (D or F)? Who are the students and in what courses?
  1. Is there a master list of all students – and especially Seniors – that are in danger of failing? Who monitors the list? As the principal, have you reviewed the list?
  1. What person/persons are responsible for following up to ensure interventions/recovery opportunities are being put into place for these students?
  1. What recovery/intervention opportunities are available? Are these opportunities systemic or random, depending upon teacher/counselor/administrator?
  1. What communication is required regarding these students identified as “at risk for failure”? To parents? To students? To counselors/administrators? What accountability system is in place to ensure that these communications are occurring?
  1. In addition to required communication, is there a process or expectation for an additional layer of personalization, such as hand-written notes, phone calls, one-on-one conferences for students in danger of failing? If so, who does this? Could faculty volunteers be utilized to assist with this effort?
  1. Has Board Policy 5520 (and your school-level grading policy) been reviewed recently with the entire faculty, especially in regards to intervention systems for failing students? Is this a topic that could be the focus of a PLT meeting within the next couple of weeks?
  1. Does your school have an incentive plan to encourage students to perform at the highest level possible on year-end assessments? Does this plan vary from teacher to teacher, or is it systemic? How has (or will) this plan be communicated to students and parents? Example: Replacing quarter grade with higher exam score, if certain stipulations are met.
  1. What strategies are you employing to promote a school-wide focus on teaching, learning, and high academic achievement during the final 6 weeks of the school year? What does this look like (posters, signs, announcements, videos, phone messengers, etc?). What role do student leaders play in this effort at your school?
  1. In working through your school’s data manager, are you 100% confident that all cohort graduation data in PowerSchool is updated and accurate? What process is in place to ensure this is the case? Who is responsible, other than the data manager?
  1. In working with your school’s Dean, are you 100% confident that transcripts for all Seniors have been reviewed and reviewed again to ensure they are 100% accurate? Who is responsible, other than the Dean?
  1. How is GradPoint being used at your school? How many students are enrolled and in what courses? Are there any open seats that can be filled by a student that is likely to fail, especially a Senior?
  1. If the school year had ended after the 3rd Quarter, do you know how many Seniors would have failed and not graduated? Has this number been shared with the faculty? Using that data, do you have enough information to predict what your school’s 4-year graduation rate would have been?
  1. In reviewing the 3rd quarter failure data – in addition to data from previous semesters and/or years – what courses seem to have the highest number of failures? What teacher? Have you met with individual teachers and/or PLT Teams to discuss this data? What did you (or could you) communicate?
  1. Aside from the principal, how are other members of your school’s leadership and/or administrative team being held accountable for the performance of students under their supervision? Counselors for their grade level/alpha? AP’s for their grade level/alpha? Do you have data to track? If not, where would be a quick and easy place to start (3rd quarter failures, for example).
  1. Are there other strategies that could be put into place to help in getting students “across the finish line”? Who might you consult to get more ideas, both inside and outside your building? Who will lead this effort?