District takes aim at high dropout rate

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, Dec. 15, 1998 | 11:19 a.m.

The dropout rate among students in Clark County during the 1997-98 school year was 11.8 percent, up 0.1 percent from last year, school district officials have announced.

That's 5,974 students who left without earning a diploma.

"We don't like the dropout rate where it is," Superintendent Brian Cram said. "There are a number of outside issues that complicate the problem, but we have to deal with it."

The state's 17 county school districts are required to send statistics on dropout rates to the state Department of Education by today. The department will release a report with statewide figures in the spring.

Last year, Nevada's dropout rate was 9.9 percent, among the highest in the nation. Clark County, Nevada's most urban county, had the highest dropout rate in the state last year.

Cram said dropouts leave school for a number of reasons. Among them are the temptation of relatively high-paying jobs and parents who do not stress the importance of education.

"If the community does not accept dropouts, then students aren't likely to do it," Cram said. "The community, parents, and the school district have to send the message that this is not acceptable. We (the district) have a part in this. We have a responsibility to teach our students that it's important to stay in school."

The district's latest strategy to keep a lid on the dropout rate includes a recently unveiled six-point plan:

-- Lengthen the school day for middle and high school students who need extra help. Cost: $3.2 million.

-- Increase intervention services for at-risk students, including additional counseling and providing smaller classes for low achievers. Cost: $5.7 million

-- Fund pilot programs to put dropouts or would-be dropouts in classes located in community learning centers around the county. Cost: $2.5 million.

-- Modify the Nevada Administrative Code so that students who pass the GED are recorded as graduates, not dropouts, effectively lowering the dropout rate.

-- Develop grade-level assessments for grades 6-12 in language arts, math and science so that teachers can better identify remedial and enrichment needs.

-- Evaluate the Dropout Prevention Act programs to determine what works.

"The problem is these (solutions) are very, very expensive," School Board member Ruth Johnson, a member of the district's committee on dropouts, said. "We need to evaluate and take a hard look at our resources -- we have to look at the programs we have."

District officials hope the state Legislature will embrace the plan, even at a time when Nevada faces budget shortfalls.

"We have no choice but to continue to ask for funding for those programs," Len Paul, assistant superintendent for secondary education, said. "We're asking because we need it."

The district already uses a variety of programs to capture students in danger of dropping out. Among them are 15 "alternative" schools with more than 1,600 students, some of whom were kicked out of their home high schools. The alternative schools generally offer more teacher attention and structure.

The district also runs organized middle school basketball programs and a host of tutorial reading programs and business mentorship programs aimed at lowering dropout rates.

One of the district's after-school programs is Contract Study, which is in effect at several high schools.

Students in Contract Study take classes four days a week, one hour a day after school. A student can make up a half-credit course in five weeks -- equivalent to a semester of class.

The Contract Study program at Basic High School in Henderson this year has offered make-up classes in computer and English. For a half-credit in English, students are required to finish a 20-paragraph paper and read 250 pages of a book.

"For this group, to get the paper done is a big deal," Basic teacher Laurel Macdonald, a Contract Study teacher, said. "They're really uncomfortable with anything academic. It may not seem like a lot ... but I think they've gotten the skills they need to keep up with their graduating class."

Basic junior Jason Sakuma this week polished off a research paper about Mexico and finished reading a book about slain rap artist Tupak Shakur. His effort earned him a half-credit of English he lacked.

Sakuma is six credits behind -- roughly a year of school -- after blowing off some of his classes. But a few weeks in summer school this year convinced him to make up the credits and graduate with his class.

"I really screwed up," the determined 16-year-old said. "I've got to get back on track."

Macdonald said 47 students signed up for the first Contract Study course offered in English. After Macdonald told them about the research paper, all but 16 dropped out of the class in the first few days. Twelve passed.

"They had no idea they would have to do a research paper," Macdonald said. "They thought it would be an easy A."

Macdonald said Contract Study probably will expand next semester as more seniors realize they may not graduate.

"A lot of them don't see a diploma as a big deal," Macdonald said. "They figure, 'I can make $40,000 in tips, why do I need to graduate?' "

The dropout problem is one with which Cram has struggled during his nearly 10 years as superintendent and 11 as principal at Western High School.

"If it gets worse it will get worse in very small amounts," Cram said. But he added, "Improvement is going to be slow."