Reconnecting Out-of-School Youth: Two Public High School Principals Talk about How They Re-engage Dropouts
Publication Release of Whatever It Takes: How Twelve Communities Are Reconnecting Out-of-School Youth
A Forum — March 31, 2006
Background
Facing the glaring reality of one million new dropouts each year, Nancy Martin and Samuel Halperin decided to explore and document effective strategies for reconnecting out-of-school youth. The resulting report, Whatever It Takes: How Twelve Communities Are Reconnecting Out-of-School Youth, focuses on the good news of communities nation-wide using alternative pathways to engage this growing body of young people.
The nontraditional public high school is one such pathway through which administrators have accommodated both young and adult learners, created more flexible hours, extended the school year, and, ultimately, fostered relationships, trust, and confidence. Both featured principals, James Andersen, Horizonte Instruction and Training Center and William Tracy, the Daylight/Twilight High School, incorporate these strategies with great success and were eager to share their stories.
The Dropout Problem: Numbers, Consequences, and the Good News
Samuel Halperin, Founder and Senior Fellow, AYPF, began by outlining and contextualizing the dropout problem with specific reference to a collective American responsibility and future. As “the canary in the coal mine,” the dropout rate is a central problem for all Americans, and one that calls us to deal “honestly and forcefully with race, poverty, and equality in educational opportunity.” According to Halperin, the dropout numbers are simple: “One-third of America’s high school-aged youth leave school without a diploma or a GED, and, worse yet, one-half of Latino, African American, and American Native young people do not complete a 12th grade education.” In explaining far-reaching consequences, Halperin pointed to the link between the dropout problem and higher prison and unemployment rates, higher healthcare and welfare costs, and lower tax revenues. There are reasons to be optimistic, however. “Everyday heroes” have fulfilled the “underappreciated” role of dealing with this problem and have created numerous models for reconnecting the growing group of out-of-school youth.
Nancy Martin, Senior Program Associate, AYPF, provided a summary of the report’s methodology, findings, and recommendations. Summarizing diverse case studies, she described dropout recovery efforts that exist at all policy levels, offer assistance with many different degree and employer requirements, take place in multiple settings, include actual programs as well as policy initiatives, and are, in short, varied. As Martin described, recovery program characteristics include open-entry/open-exit, flexible scheduling and year-round learning, teachers as coaches, facilitators and crew-leaders, and real-world, career-oriented curricula. Other opportunities and principles that distinguish recovery efforts in the report are opportunities for employment, clear codes of conduct with consistent enforcement, and extensive support services. In putting all of this together, Martin concluded by saying “the nation has more than enough models and know-how to reclaim America’s dropouts.”
James P. Andersen, Principal at Horizonte Instruction and Training Center, presented the nontraditional high school model and philosophy he has fashioned and sustained at his Salt Lake City, Utah, multicampus school. Horizonte itself has 1,513 high school students, 2,491 adult education students, 175 young parenting students, and 3,587 adult ESL students. Horizonte’s seven youth sites, 25 adult sites, and five combined sites accommodate a group of students that is 65% Hispanic, 19% Caucasian, 10% black, 3% Asian, 2% Pacific Islander, and 1% Native American. Other Horizonte characteristics include year-round service, an open entry/open exit policy, and flexible class times from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on weekends.
Andersen described the school as a service organization, built on such principles as the “customer is always right,” and more fundamentally, “no one got to pick where they were born or who their parents were.” Students and parents are first assimilated into this “no caste” student-centered culture immediately upon arrival during the school’s three-day orientation. Andersen believes that careful testing and extensive consultation about improvement strategies and high expectations create a lasting environment where students feel empowered and parents listen. In line with this philosophy and environment, Horizonte hires teachers on the condition that they abandon conventional status symbols such as desks, parking spaces, and separate lunchrooms and accept the administration’s policy of always taking the student’s side in disputes. As a consequence, Horizonte teachers embrace their principal’s role in motivating each student and, in essence, “never giving up on a child.” Andersen also explained how this environment is sustained through daily administrator visits to every classroom, an open appeals process, and constant teacher/student interaction outside of class (in the hallways, lunchroom, etc.). In addition, Andersen has witnessed the “unbelievable impact on student behavior” when adult and youth students interact in the same classes.
As well as allocating a large portion of its budget to staff development, Horizonte employs effective, interdisciplinary strategies in each classroom: math problems at the beginning of every class, a five-minute writing sample in each class, and 20 minutes of silent reading every day. Constant exposure has paid off with 95% participation in the NCLB required testing and Utah state testing, as well as Utah state reading scores above the district average on all the basic skills objectives categories. In the 1994-1995 follow-up school year, 76% of the main campus’s graduates were working and 21% were enrolled in postsecondary education.
Because Horizonte has been so successful, many students are choosing the school as their first choice. This is happening despite Horizonte’s continued role as an alternative school for truant or academically struggling students. Horizonte has thus transcended the barrier between dropout prevention and recovery by both attracting new, potentially at-risk students with its success, and by accepting those students who have been dropped from the traditional school roll. Andersen would like to reach out further by offering monetary incentives—he suggested a dollar per day—for coming to school. He also found fault with the traditional school system for not following up with each student after graduation.
William Tracy, Principal, Daylight/Twilight High School (DTHS), began by discussing the need for a strictly academic, walk-in program in Trenton: the 1999 dropout rate for the city was nearly 70%, and over 50% of the adult population did not have a high school diploma. DTHS accommodates this disconnected population by offering a regular high school diploma-granting program composed of multiple sites established anywhere twelve or more people are interested. DTHS also offers a shortened, flexible school day with the option of three four-hour shifts from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The school serves about 3,000 students over the course of the school year with 1,500-2,000 students enrolled at any one time. The student body is 72% African-American, 26% Latino, and 2% other racial and ethnic groups (African, Haitian, Polish, Middle Eastern, Jamaican, and Asian), with a majority of students from families below the poverty line, and 60% under the age of 21. The majority of students have been out of school for some time.
Tracy described the DTHS philosophy as, quite simply, “no throwaway kids.” In an attempt to meet the needs of traditionally undervalued students, DTHS employs a rigid but fair “intervention plan.” Replacing punitive measures, DTHS’s preemptive system directs student and teacher complaints to administrators first. This process is successful at DTHS because of the school’s safe, structured, open, and mutually respectful environment, where potential disputes end at the close of the school day in a meeting between teachers and students. The backbone of Tracy’s philosophy is that “kids want to be comfortable and connected”—a need that has prompted him to emphasize access to staff and universal respect among all parties. Instead of the teaching staff and principal sitting passively at the top of the model, Tracy places these roles at the bottom where they function as intermediaries, counselors, managers, and friends. Also, because older students take classes with younger students, intrastudent mentoring is another feature of the positive culture at DTHS. This overall environment has led to abolishing student suspension as a corrective measure, as well as the absence of metal detectors and security guards. Since its creation in 1999, DTHS has not had a serious incident report.
Daily attendance at DTHS averages 94%, and DTHS graduates 450-550 students each year. Eighty-five percent of DTHS graduates are working, in the military, or attending college full time. Based on this success, the State of New Jersey has approved a $39 million DTHS facility to open in Spring 2008, which Tracy hopes will serve as a demonstration site for a regional network of nontraditional public schools. He believes such a demonstration site could provide regional leadership, facilitate community partnerships, and eventually be included in a national network of nontraditional schools. Above all, Tracy wants support for nontraditional education and more open lines of communication for sharing successful practices.
Questions
Discussing what it means to be a nontraditional school, both principals stressed that a high percentage of students come from single-parent homes, making scheduling flexibility a central priority. Moreover, students tend to need different support services such as mental health or childcare. The two principals also emphasized the fundamental perspective of dropout recovery; as Andersen put it, “It’s up to the adult to like and respect the young adult,” and not the other way around—teachers must gain their own respect by granting it first and by reaching out to students.
Andersen and Tracy also outlined some obstacles facing nontraditional education: limited flexibility in issuing credits (a more outcome/efficiency based system would be more appropriate) and “dumping” of students by traditional high schools (the shock of absorbing new students without the proper notification has a negative effect on classroom and overall morale).
In offering advice to policymakers, Andersen discussed the transient nature of nontraditional students and the resulting need for a shortened minimum enrollment period for counting NCLB scores. Instead of 165 days, Andersen claimed the requirement should “be more like 90 days,” in order to provide a more accurate portrait of improvement. Both presenters agreed that policymakers should extend successful nontraditional school practices into the realm of traditional schools.
Both principals mentioned an increased dedication to improving postsecondary education pathways. Currently operating a summer college program with local community and private colleges, Horizonte is also working on a more involved middle-college program. For Tracy, the relationship between community colleges and nontraditional high schools should be a two-way street with an increased community college presence in high schools (community college teachers as advisers or teachers).
When asked about the Horizonte policy of taking the student side in disputes and its effect on recruiting and retaining teachers, Andersen explained the importance of making this policy clear in the interview and hiring process. Far from limiting teacher recruitment or retention, the policy acts as a quality control in addition to setting the tone for student-teacher interaction.
Both programs welcome graduates of the juvenile justice system. Andersen expressed appreciation for the “strong supports and monitoring” that accompany such students. Tracy described how he has successfully pitched DTHS to the juvenile justice system as a first option for these graduates.
Resources
Whatever It Takes: How Twelve Communities Are Reconnecting Out-of-School Youth
Horizonte PowerPoint Presentation
Daylight Twlight PowerPoint Presentation
Presenters
James P. Andersen is Principal at Horizonte Instruction and Training Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. He has a Masters of Education in Cultural Foundations from the University of Utah, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Behavior Science from Westminster College. Andersen is currently the Director of Adult and Alternative Education for the Salt Lake City School District. For the past 30 years he has served students at Horizonte Instruction and Training Center, formerly the Salt Lake Community High School, as Principal, Assistant Principal, Coordinator of High School Evening and Outreach programs, and as an Alternative High School teacher. Andersen presently serves on, and is a recent past chair of, the State of Utah Adult Education Advisory Committee. He also serves on Salt Lake County’s Youth Employment Services Council. He has served on numerous boards and committees including; the Literacy Action Center, the Wasatch Front South Older Worker Advisory Council, Chair of the Region II Department of Human Services Coordinating Council, and as an appointed member of the Governor’s Council on Minority Unemployment, the Governor’s Task Force for Literacy, the Governor’s Task Force for Child Care, Utahns Against Hunger, and the Utah Association for Adult, Community and Continuing Education. As a community advocate, Andersen has receive numerous awards including; the 1996 Cesar Chavez Peace and Justice Award, the 1997 Utah Youth Soccer Coach of the Year, Utah Issues Bureaucrat of the Year Award in 1988, UACCE Professional Educator Award in 1991, and 1991 Adult Education Program of the Year Award.
William Tracy, Principal of the Trenton, New Jersey Daylight/Twilight High School has been in education for 41 years, serving in Waterbury, Connecticut, New South Wales, Australia, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania before coming to Trenton in 1999. He graduated from Waterbury, Connecticut schools before attending Providence College, where he graduated in 1965. Bill earned his Master of Education degree from Lehigh University.
Bill has responsibility for two main campuses and five satellite sites at Daylight/Twilight. Drawing upon his diverse background in both traditional and non-traditional education, he works to offer quality educational opportunities to both out-of-school and at-risk students.
Working in conjunction with Mayor Douglas Palmer and Superintendent of Schools James Lytle, Bill established Trenton’s first retrieval program for out-of-school youth. The program culminates with successful students receiving a State of New Jersey high school diploma. The program attracts referrals from the judicial system, single parents, recent immigrants, adult learners and high school age students.
Bill has led initiatives that have resulted in partnerships with the College of New Jersey, Princeton University, Mercer County Community College and the Mercer County Judicial system. He recently chaired the mayor’s Change Coalition which addressed Hispanic student needs in the district.
Bill has coached both baseball and basketball on both the high school and youth league levels. He is an avid sports fan and follows the fortunes of Providence College, his alma mater.
Nancy Martin, co-author of Whatever It Takes, joined the American Youth Policy Forum in 2002. As Senior Program Associate, she develops AYPF forums, seminars, discussion groups, field trips, and publications to educate policy leaders on key youth issues, with a focus on out-of-school youth programming, career and technical education and high school reform.
Previously, Ms. Martin worked with the Metropolitan Washington Council of the AFL-CIO, where she directed labor union involvement in the District of Columbia School-to-Careers Initiative, a federally-funded workforce development and education reform program. In this position, she provided leadership in District-wide planning and implementation of the initiative; built union partnerships with government, business, and school communities; and oversaw implementation of the program.
Ms. Martin is a trained social scientist with a background in high school and postsecondary teaching. She has extensive experience with workforce development as a teacher, curriculum developer, and program designer and has taught in the Department of Sociology at Brandeis University and the Boston Public Schools. Ms. Martin has served as a reviewer for the US Department of Education and the National Youth Employment Coalition and as a director of the Society for the Study of Social Problems.
Ms. Martin earned her BA from Oberlin College and her MA from Brandeis University.
Samuel Halperin, co-author of Whatever It Takes, has been a leader in academia, the federal government, a foundation, and nonprofit educational organizations since earning his doctorate in Political Science from Washington University, St. Louis in 1956.
Dr. Halperin was Co-founder and first President of the Institute for Educational Leadership (1969-1981) and Founder, now Senior Fellow, of the American Youth Policy Forum in Washington, DC.
In the early 1960s, he worked on US Senate and House of Representatives committees on education. As Director of the US Office of Education’s Office of Congressional Relations and Assistant US Commissioner of Education for Legislation, he helped develop such landmark measures as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, the Higher Education Acts of 1963 and 1965, and others. In 1966, Dr. Halperin joined the Office of the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare where, as Deputy Assistant Secretary under Secretaries John W. Gardner and Wilbur J. Cohen, he participated in the development and passage of scores of Great Society measures in education and social services. For these efforts, he was twice awarded HEW’s Superior Service Award, HEW’s Distinguished Service Award, and the National Association of State Boards of Education Distinguished Service Award.
As study director of “Youth and America’s Future: The William T. Grant Foundation Commission on Work, Family and Citizenship” (1986-1992) he was responsible for development of the Commission’s major studies: The Forgotten Half: Non-College Youth in America and The Forgotten Half: Pathways to Success for America’s Youth and Young Families (1988), and three dozen research reports and monographs on youth development, school-to-careers transition, and national and community service. In 1998, he edited The Forgotten Half Revisited: American Youth and Young Families, 1988-2008.
Dr. Halperin is the author or editor of a dozen books and numerous articles on the political process and education policy. He has taught at Wayne State, American, and Duke Universities and Teachers College-Columbia University. His service on boards and advisory bodies includes the Peace Corps, Secretary of the Navy’s Advisory Board on Education and Training, National School Volunteer Program, Jobs for the Future, DC Private Industry Council, Center for Youth as Resources, Learning Matters on PBS, Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy, Associates for Renewal in Education, National School-to-Work Advisory Council, and Alliance for Excellent Education. Among his awards are the Distinguished Service Award of the National Association of Service and Conservation Corps, the Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award of Jobs for the Future, the President’s Medal of The George Washington University, the Harry S. Truman Award of the American Association of Community Colleges, and the Lewis Hine Award for Service to Children and Youth of the National Child Labor Committee.
This brief summarizes an American Youth Policy Forum that took place on March 31, 2006 on Capitol Hill, reported by Charles Stayton.
The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF), a nonprofit, nonpartisan professional development organization based in Washington, DC, provides learning opportunities for policy leaders, practitioners, and researchers working on youth and education issues at the national, state, and local levels.
AYPF events and publications are made possible by a consortium of philanthropic foundations: Carnegie Corporation of New York, Ford Motor Company Fund, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, GE Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Lumina Foundation for Education, Charles S. Mott Foundation, and others.