Riverhead school district officials say they are working to improve high school graduation rates, which Superintendent Nancy Carney calls “unacceptable”: 74 percent for all students, well below the state standard of 80 percent. The numbers are much worse for African American (69 percent), Hispanic (51 percent) and economically disadvantaged (66 percent) students and students with disabilities (53 percent), according to the State Education Department’s 2012-2013 school report card data.
Assistant Superintendent David Wicks and Riverhead High School principal Charles Regan during last night’s Board of Education meeting gave board members and the public a rundown of the district’s action plan to improve graduation rates.
Wicks explained what the term graduation rate means and how the rate is established by the state.
“It’s not just the percentage of students in a given year who make it to graduation,” Wicks said.
A class “cohort” is established based on the number of students entering 9th grade. The cohort number is determined by the number registering for 9th grade and attending school for a minimum of one day, Wicks said. That number is expected to complete the high school curriculum and graduate within four years. If any student in the cohort does not graduate within four years, he or she is considered a “noncompleter” — unless the district verified transfer to another district.
“That’s what’s reflected in the state school report card. It’s not necessarily someone who drops out,” Wicks said. It includes students who need more time to graduate as well.
The district has already hired two new ESL teachers, one of whom is assigned to the high school, Wicks said.
Riverhead is updating its eligibility policy “to be more rehabilitative,” he said, and will use Right Reason Technologies for credit recovery, the assistant superintendent said.
One innovation, for example, is to provide remedial courses to students who did not pass certain required classes as they move ahead, rather than requiring them to repeat the same class. For example, he said, a 10th grade student who did not pass 9th grade English would be allowed to take the 10th grade English class and simultaneously take a special 9th grade core skills class.
“We will also focus on professional development focused on the success of our special education students,” Wicks said.
“We want to immediately identify students most at risk of not graduating and provide intensive support,” Regan said.
Recognizing that parent involvement is critical to student success, the administration will stress the importance of the parent/student portal, which allows students and their parents online access to assignments, test schedules, grades and progress reports in real time.
“Full integration of the e-school parent portal strengthens the student-parent-teacher partnership,” Regan said. “Starting this September, all teachers will be publishing their grades on the parent portal, so parents will be aware of how children are doing almost immediately.”
Board members asked the administration to implement the portal for the middle school, too.
“We should start in kindergarten,” trustee Chris Dorr said, “and at the same time start in the high school and middle school, so that in a few years, it will meet in the middle.”
Some board members were perturbed that many teachers do not embrace the “e-board” technology. Trustee Amy Lantz, describing parents frustration with teachers who don’t use the technology, demanded to know why it happens.
“We can’t force them to,” Wicks replied.
“Then all this is futile,” Lantz said.
Trustee Lori Hulse asked the administration why teachers couldn’t be “required” to use the e-board system and Wicks promised to look into it.
Riverhead Central Faculty Association vice president Gary Karlson cautioned the board against one-size-fits-all solutions.
In response to a question from a parent, who cited a statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics recommending that middle and high schools delay class start times to 8:30 a.m. or later, Carney said the district would look into it “if that’s what the board and the community want.”
Classes at the high school begin at 7:05 a.m., which parent Yolanda Thompson of Aquebogue said was “a shock.”
Carney said busing considerations in a district that’s 100 square miles in size are a big factor in how the district schedules classes for all grade levels. She also noted that because of the size of Suffolk County and the long travel times to other schools for athletic contests, high school students who participate in interscholastic sports have to get on the road by 2:30 in order to arrive at distant schools for after-school games.
The superintendent said the district could also look into “flex-time” for the high school, which would allow different start and end times for different students with different needs.
Tailoring class schedules to meet the sleep patterns and needs of teenagers will help ensure their academic success, Thompson said.
Correction: A previously published version of this story incorrectly identified the RCFA vice president as Greg Wallace.
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