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October 2015 IDRA Newsletter - Push Outs: Children of Color
“So while some Texas schools are making progress, we need to continue to look at multiple, transparent measures and to take action to ensure that all students graduate prepared for college.”
– Dr. María “Cuca” Robledo Montecel, IDRA President and CEO
Published 10 times a year, each edition explores issues facing U.S. education today and strategies to better serve every student. This newsletter is published in print and on the IDRA website, in addition to this eLetter format.
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Texas Public School Attrition Study, 2014-15 School Holding Power Holds Constant in Texas – At 24 Percent
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by Roy L. Johnson, M.S.
The overall high school attrition rate held firm in Texas from 2013-14 to 2014-15 at 24 percent. IDRA’s latest annual attrition study shows that the overall attrition rate remained unchanged from one year to the next following four consecutive years of one percentage point declines.
This year’s study is the 30th in a series of annual reports on trends in dropout and attrition rates in Texas public schools. It shows that high school attrition rates in Texas have declined from 33 percent three decades ago to 24 percent in 2014-15. Recent trends in attrition rates for Texas public high schools continue to reflect a positive outlook for the total high school population and for most race-ethnicity and gender group.
The latest study released this month builds on a series of studies by IDRA that track the number and percent of students in Texas who are lost from public school enrollment prior to graduation. Since conducting the first comprehensive study of school dropouts in Texas in 1985-86, IDRA has conducted attrition analyses to assess schools’ abilities to hold on to their students until they graduate. – Keep reading
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IDRA’s Transformational Research on the Dropout Issue – A Personal Reflection!
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by Josie D. Cortez, M.A.
Written on an IBM typewriter three decades ago, the sheet of paper has that familiar patina that comes with age, but you can still make out most of the fading words: “I sympathize with the problems created for San Antonio school districts by the release of [IDRA’s] dropout data, but I take exception to the attempts of some districts to execute the messenger for reporting the bad news.” The “messenger” was IDRA.
It was 1986 as IDRA conducted the landmark research study of dropouts in Texas. Under the leadership of Dr. José A. Cárdenas, IDRA’s founder (and author of the typewritten letter), Dr. María “Cuca” Robledo Montecel, IDRA President & CEO, led the research together with Dr. Albert Cortez, Mr. Roy Johnson, and others. I joined IDRA and helped coordinate the research, focusing on what schools were doing to prevent students from dropping out. The study’s seven volumes became game changers in Texas education… but not without a fight.
A firestorm ensued with most school superintendents challenging the findings – “absolutely ludicrous” was probably the nicest thing said.
One superintendent’s phone call brought me to tears. Dr. Cárdenas, a former Edgewood ISD superintendent, took the call, and I began to learn some important lessons about institutions failing students rather than the other way around.
Fast forward almost three decades, and I am writing my final IDRA Newsletter article. Retirement looms ahead, and I can’t help but wonder how it all went so fast. – Keep reading
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For School and College Success – The Power of Non-cognitive Skills
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by Nilka Avilés, Ed.D.
Of course, all students inherently have the ability to think critically, solve problems, interact socially and persist in tasks. They are creative and resilient. When the adults and institutions that surround them support, nurture and encourage these competencies with trust, high expectations and respect, students’ non-cognitive skills blossom.
Borghans, et al., (2008) define non-cognitive skills as personality traits that unpack patterns of thought, feelings and behaviors. Non-cognitive skills, referred to as habits of mind, matter for students’ long-term success. They can be observed, intentionally-cultivated, reinforced and mastered by integrating a pedagogy that facilitates the flowering of the internal strengths and powers of the learners.
As educators, we should plan effectively to construct the tasks and challenges that will drive learners to think critically, solve complex problems, increase interaction and communication with other learners, and persist because of the intrinsic drive that is unleashed. When we do this, students can generate ideas, analyze them, and create, produce, and ultimately exhibit behaviors that are socially acceptable to peers and self in a dynamic and engaging learning environment…
If non-cognitive skills are critical for school success, how can we as teachers and school administrators address these skills? What mindset must teachers and administrators adopt in order to effectively address students’ non-cognitive skills that foster habits of mind? – Keep reading
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Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program Winning Essay
by Seventh-Grader, Agustina García
The Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program is a great experience that every student should participate in during their middle school years. For those individuals who think there is no hope for their future, this is the program for you. I had no desire to receive an education, and because of my bad behavior, my teachers and parents did not think I would succeed in life. This all changed when I was chosen to participate in the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program. Because of what I have learned through this program, I have learned to develop positive characteristics that will help me achieve greatness in my life. Let me explain my reasons as to how this program changed me from the person I once was. – Keep reading
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Meet Roy Johnson, M.S., IDRA Director of Support Services and Evaluation
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This year, the IDRA Newsletter is highlighting our staff’s varied and diverse talents and backgrounds. Roy Johnson, M.S., directs evaluation work at the IDRA and is the lead author and researcher for IDRA’s annual school attrition study. He manages many of the organization’s research and evaluation activities, ranging from federal to corporate funded projects, international to national, state to local in scope. Mr. Johnson has more than three decades of experience in educational evaluation and research at all educational levels from elementary, secondary and post-secondary. From his youth, Roy has had an interest in equal opportunity and has providentially worked in settings focusing on equity of opportunity in employment and in education. Following his graduation with a master’s degree in urban studies, he worked for two years as an equal employment opportunity
and affirmative action officer. After this tenure, he joined IDRA where he has focused on equal opportunity in education for over three decades. Beyond his professional endeavors with IDRA, Roy’s life is characterized by his commitment to his faith and family. Hailing from a family of 14 including his parents and 11 siblings, he was reared to be committed to his faith in God and his loyalty and devotion to family, both immediate and extended. – See online
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Podcasts: Recordings from IDRA's Award-Winning Classnotes Series
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Videos
IDRA Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program Featured for American Graduate Day
KLRN’s American Graduate Day celebrates Dr. Cuca Robledo Montecel and IDRA’s Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program. KLRN produced new video spot about the IDRA Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program is airing now and is online. South San Antonio ISD Superintendent Dr. Abelardo Saavedra and South San HS student, Silvia Favela, sat down to tell KLRN about their experience with the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program. [01:30 min].
Dropout Prevention that Works – Quick overview of how the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program impacts students and schools. [01:30 min]
Communities Using Data – See video interview of Aurelio M. Montemayor, M.Ed., about communities using data. He tells the story of a group of low-income Spanish-speaking families and their high school children used data and surveys to collaborate with their school to improve math instruction. [06:02 min]
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