Completion Rate Running head: HILLCREST HIGH SCHOOL COMPLETION RATE IMPROVEMENT

Hillcrest High School Completion Rate Improvement Plan Brian Hennig Grand Canyon University Data Driven Decisions for School Improvement EDA 577 Dr. Cassidy McBrayer January 24, 2011

Hillcrest High School Completion Rate Improvement Plan Hillcrest High School is located in Dallas, TX in the Dallas Independent School District (DISD). The school was not able to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) due to student completion rate. This plan will specifically address the components of graduation/dropout rate and college readiness. The overall goal of the plan is to increase the percentage of students graduating in four years by identifying students off-track and enroll them in appropriate courses/programs to get them on track for graduation. After the narrative below appendix A will contain break down chart of the proposed plan to get Hillcrest students on track to graduate in four years. All staff must be used to address the completion rate issue. Staff members can serve in operation comeback to get students who have dropped out re-enrolled in school. In order to facilitate this, a list of all dropouts and leaver codes needs to be complied and reviewed for the 2011 cohort. Verification of leaver code documentation must also be made. Verification of summer graduates and TAKS passers must also take place. Students must be found by the school start window through use of emergency contact information, parent contacts, home visits, friends, neighbors, athletic events, community colleges, and private/charter school contacts. All records for the 2011 cohort must be kept in a central campus location with specific assignments for advocates for each student. Counselors must also be involved in scheduling students for assistance and support. Students must be enrolled in TAKS preparation course for the TAKS re-test in October. Coordination with the Reconnection Center for tutorials and opportunities to complete class work, earn credits, and other appropriate interventions. Counselors must work with students individual graduation and postsecondary plans.

A preemptive strike must be made for the 2012 cohort. Systems must be put into place immediately to prevent problems with the completion rate for the 2012 cohort. No-shows must be tracked during the first week of school. Students information and documentation must be checked for accuracy before the school start window. Weekly searches through Edit+ to verify students locations and leaver codes must be made. Mover reports must also be checked to support leaver status. To ensure the accuracy of PEIMS data submission, district and TEA cohort lists must be reconciled regularly with campus lists. As with previous cohorts, records for the 2012 cohort must be stored in a centralized campus location. All students will be classified as potential graduates, continuer/5-year graduates, dropouts, leavers to be coded, established dropouts and an advocate will be assigned. Counselors must be involved in tracking of the 2012 cohort through tracking individual graduation and postsecondary plans. Counselors must also review individual student grades/class attendance and monitor progress towards graduation each six-weeks. If a student is at-risk of getting off track a parent conference should be initiated. Students with 2+ failures during a six weeks grading period will be given an individual intervention plan to help them get back on track. Parents will have to attend a parent conference to review the intervention plan for their student. Attendance committee will meet every 2 weeks to monitor student attendance. The committee will enlist the resources of counselors, teachers, support staff and security personnel to keep students in class. Parents will be notified daily of their students absences using the absentee notification system. When a student is a chronic absentee, parents will be contacted for a parent conference.

The attendance committee will evaluate and analyze campus dropout patterns and how campus programs and related activities such as PAWS, GEMS, LoP, WINSday, AVID, Fish Camp, Freshman Success Initiative, Early Start Program, etc. help to alleviate the number of students who dropout. Programs that are working to alleviate the number of drop outs will be enhanced. If a program is having little to no effect on dropouts will be dropped in favor of those that are working. The attendance committee will also hold attendance hearings in the fall and spring. Students who are at risk of receiving loss of credit due to attendance reasons will be allowed to plead their case. Upon hearing the students case, the committee will then decide the best course of action for the student to make up the missing hours. Possible courses of remediation include, Saturday School, WINSday, Reconnection Center, summer school, night school or assignment to one of DISDs alternative campuses. To make students want to come to school, the environment at Hillcrest has to be analyzed as well. The school environment can be analyzed by surveying students, parents, teachers, and stakeholders to discover causal issues of failure and develop recommendations to improve student achievement and success in school. All staff must be involved in keeping the focus on graduation by motivating and supporting potential continuers/5-year graduates and dropouts. Special attention needs to be given to the spring semester as this seems to be when Hillcrest loses most of its students. In addition to refining the monitoring of dropouts, attendance, potential graduates, and continuers/5-year graduates Hillcrest must improve its College Readiness Center. The College Readiness center will be maximized to ensure that at least 95% of the senior class applies to a college or university, enrolls in a vocational education program, or joins the military upon

graduation. Counselors, AVID instructor, and Academic Success Program (ASP) facilitator will be instrumental in making sure this happens. Guidance and college readiness information will be distributed through 12th grade English classes in addition to using the supplemental information provided by the GO Center, ASP, AVID, and students from the University of Texas Dallas. Seniors must have the following materials made available to them: computer stations with copier access, higher education periodical library, university and college literature and promotion of Texas state and private colleges and universities as well as out-of-state state and private universities. Information on technical/vocational education and the armed forces must also be made available. In order to make sure that students are prepared for success after they graduate, Hillcrest will assure that high quality teachers are in core content areas. Preparation tools and resources for the PSAT, SAT, and ACT tests will be provided to improve college readiness. This is a huge undertaking for Hillcrest. However, to assure that Hillcrest students are graduating in four years and are prepared for training beyond high school, these steps must be taken.

Appendix A
Person Responsible MeasureSummative Entry Cohort, Transcripts Reconnection logs, individual study plans, level TAKS scores Enrollment forms, leaver documentation, Dashboard database, Campus Records. Number of students listed on the cohort and dropout list Accuracy of data from merged lists, 2010 cohort records Accuracy of student data Accuracy of data reports Academic Area Student Group

Action Step

Increase percentage of students graduating in four years (entry cohort) by identifying students off-track and enroll in the reconnection recovery program

ALL

Semester progress checks, Referral to Reconnection/Night School/Credit Recovery programs and/or course re-take, summer school, Saturday school

ALL

All students not on schedule to complete four year high school program 10th-12th graders two credits behind cohort place

Principal, Assoc. Principal, Counselors, Reconnection Recovery teacher, Registrar

Campus level data, transcripts, 9th and 10th grade TAKS scores, Reconnection Center, Title I

Principal, Assoc. Principal, Counselors Principal, Assoc. Principal, Assist. Principals, Registrar, Counselors, Teachers Principal, Registrar, Data Controller, Registrar secretary Registrar, Data Controller, Registrar secretary Principal, Registrar, Data controller, Registrar secretary Principal, Registrar, Data Controller, Registrar

Summer School, NOVA net credit recovery program, teachers of record, Title I

Use staff to address completion rate and implement Operation Come Back to re-enroll students who have dropped out. Create and implement process to ensure students in 2010 cohort are identified and listed with correct leaver code and graduation deficits Reconcile Campus and district records and ensure lists from PEIMS, Chancery, and TEA are merged and used as one data source. Keep records of 2010 cohort in a central campus location with specific assignments for advocates for each student Ensure accuracy of PEIMS data before at the end of October and again at the end of January. Put immediate systems in place to prevent problems with completion rate for 2011 cohort. Begin tracking no-shows within the first

ALL

ALL

District-wide initiative, DISD PEIMS department Dashboard database, PEIMS department, Chancery system District and state PEIMS department, TEA, Chancery, Dashboard

ALL

ALL

ALL

ALL

ALL ALL

ALL ALL

Chancery and dashboard systems PEIMS report, Edit+, DEWS, TEA, Dashboard and Chancery

Resources

week of school. Check accuracy of student information and documentation regularly before the start of school window. Search weekly through Edit+ to verify student locations and leaver codes. Document leaver codes. Check mover reports and support leaver status. Continue to ensure accuracy of PEIMS submission. Reconcile District and TEA cohort lists regularly. Organize records for 2011 cohort in a single place. Classify all 2011 cohort students as potential graduates, continuers/5-year graduates, dropouts, leavers to be coded, or established dropouts and assign advocates Schedule attendance committee to monitor student attendance every 2-3 weeks Design and implement instructional interventions and find support services for those identified as potential continuers/5-year graduates or dropouts (both established and potential.) Make individual intervention plans and involve parents Identify systems to prevent problems with completion rate for 2012 cohort and beyond. Create a detailed action plan for developing a comprehensive campus cohort tracking system with responsibilities, time lines, and monitoring plans while continuously analyzing and modifying procedures that collect data and ensure accuracy Evaluate and analyze campus dropout patterns and how the campus programs and related activities such as PAWS, GEMS, LoP, WINSday, AVID, Fish Camp, Freshman Success Initiative, Early Start Program, etc. help to alleviate the number of students who do not graduate Improve the school environment

secretary

systems

ALL

ALL

Assist. Principal, Attendance chair, Registrar, Data Controller, Registrar Secretary

Chancery, Teachers, Counselors, support staff

Attendance Records

ALL

ALL

Counselors

Transcripts, SEP, Chancery

Individual intervention plans

ALL

ALL

Principal, Assist. Principal, Registrar, Data Controller, Registrar secretary, Lead Counselor

Campus systems, Chancery and Dashboard reports, PEIMS data, DEWS

Action Plan

ALL

ALL

Principal, Attendance Chair, PAWS coordinator, Lead Counselor, Assoc. Principal, Registrar, and Asst. Principal Principal,

Evaluation of programs

Various forms of feedback such as surveys, dropout rate, completion rates Feedback from

ALL

ALL

Human capital

by surveying students, parents and teachers to discover causal issues of failure and develop recommendations to improve student achievement and success in school. Involve all staff in keeping the focus on graduation by motivating and supporting potential continuers/5-year graduates and dropouts, especially during spring semester

Parents, Registrar, all faculty and staff

faculty, staff, parents, and students

Maximize the on-campus College Readiness Center to ensure that at least 95% of the senior class applies to a college or university

ALL

ALL

Counselors, AVID teacher, Academic Success Program (ASP) facilitator

Available computer stations with copier access, higher education periodical library, university and college literature and promotion of Texas state and private colleges and universities as well as out-ofstate state and private universities and colleges including technical schools and the armed forces, Title I MyDataPortal, benchmark assessments, lesson plans, Title I

Campus level data

High Quality teachers in core content areas will provide preparation tools and resources for the PSAT/SAT/ACT tests to improve college readiness Provide guidance and college readiness information resources through 12th grade English classes in addition to using the supplemental information provided by the GO center, ASP, AVID, and students from the University of Texas Dallas Increase percentage of students in attendance Utilize the absentee notification system Contact parents via personal phone call parent conferences

ALL

ALL

Principal

PSAT/SAT/ ACT results, Graduation Rate, benchmark results TAKS results, benchmark results, college acceptance, graduation rate, PSAT/SAT/ ACT results PEIMS, AEIS, Dashboard data, attendance collection Contact logs Contact logs

ALL

ALL

Principal, Counselors, ASP facilitator, AVID teacher

MyDataPortal, counselors, ASP, AVID, Title I

ALL

ALL

Registrar, Principal, Assist. Principal Registrar Principal, Assoc. Principal, Assist.

ALL ALL

ALL ALL

Faculty and staff records, attendance office staff and hardware, daily attendance records School messenger call system Teacher records

Principals, Registrar, all teachers Attendance/Credit Recovery program after school, Saturday school, Attendance committee Identify and provide additional resources to homeless and migrant students Indentify students who missed class time due to physical and/or mental health Review attendance committee procedures. Ensure that attendance is entered for students at the Reconnection Center, internal and external AEP placements and in other authorized settings. Review the campus attendance incentive program and develop new incentives or re-establish successful ones ALL ALL Assist. Principal, Attendance Chair Principal, Attendance Chair, Counselors Principal, Nurse, Counselors, Student Support Team (SST) Coordinator Teacher referrals, No-Grade referrals, Administrative referrals Title I Youth and Family Centers, Student Support Team, Title I Student sign-in sheets Enrollment forms, attendance records Discipline Reports, attendance records

ALL

ALL

ALL

ALL

ALL

ALL

Assist Principal, Attendance Chair, Registrar, Data Controller, Registrar Secretary

Chancery

Accuracy of attendance records