Is 9th grade intervention working?
| Thursday, Jul 02 2009 08:25 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Jul 02 2009 08:25 PM
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Kern High School District Ninth Grade Intervention Program
Students still in school
Class of 2010
Spring 2007: 919 students in the program
Spring 2009: 607 still enrolled (66 percent)
Class of 2011:
Spring 2008: 1,131
Spring 2009: 926 (82 percent)
Students back on track to graduate
Class of 2010
Fall 2007: 18 (2.6 percent)
Spring 2009: 40 (6.6 percent)
Still credit deficient as of spring 2009
Class of 2010
260 students more than 60 units away
75 within 60 units
101 within 45 units
76 within 30 units
65 within 15 units
High school exit exam results
Class of 2010 (631 at-risk students tested)
Passed English and math: 259 (41 percent)
Passed English only: 95 (15 percent)
Passed Math only: 60 (10 percent)
Let a 9th grader squeak through to sophomore year with low reading and math skills and odds are he'll drop out or not get a diploma.
About 10 percent of all freshmen -- or roughly 1,000 students -- in the Kern High School District need that remedial help. So in 2006, the district implemented a so-called Ninth Grade Intervention program whereby kids, for example, were encouraged to enroll in after-school classes and summer school to ensure they'd earned at least 45 credits before becoming sophomores.
The first round of data is in. The results aren't staggering. But "kids are still with us, still taking courses," said Joe Thompson, assistant superintendent of instruction.
This past spring, the district classified 40 students, or 6.6 percent of the class of 2010, as "back on track."
More importantly, a much larger percentage of the same students -- 66 percent -- were still in school. In other words, more than 600 out of 900 at-risk freshmen had not dropped out by the end of their junior year.
This summer, more than 70 percent of the at-risk students in the class of 2010 were enrolled in summer school, working hard to earn credits toward graduation.
Many are still considered credit deficient: More than 250 are more than 60 credits behind; on the other end of the range, 65 are much closer and only need 15 more credits -- three classes -- to be considered fully on track for a diploma.
Board member Ken Mettler has long advocated cutting back on "social promotion" -- advancing students to the next grade even though they haven't passed enough classes or earned enough credits.
"It's good. We've kept these kids in school," Mettler said about the data.
Many are self-remediating, said Mettler, describing the added element of peer-pressure that motivates a student to hit the books to stay on schedule with classmates.
It doesn't cost much.
Some federal money supports summer school classes, or the district's new online learning courses.
"It's just working smarter, putting a focus on these students' needs and not just passing them along," Thompson said.
"With a high school diploma, and in the big picture of the economy, they become productive citizens."
Next year's data from the class of 2010 -- taking a four-year look at the effort -- will give a more clear idea about the effectiveness of the program compared to nationwide statistics, Thompson said.
"It's not magical, but you saw a substantial leap in the (high school exit exam) passage rate, there's reduced remediation, and more kids are getting all the way through," said KHSD board President Joel Heinrichs.
