tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37380426.post7459203236395812289..comments2016-10-14T06:51:06.327-05:00Comments on Roy's Account: Reducing the Dropout RateRoy Bishophttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04088727169633016961noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37380426.post-71929698346227256412009-02-18T11:54:00.000-06:002009-02-18T11:54:00.000-06:00To Anonymous--We are involved with a community con...To Anonymous--<BR/><BR/>We are involved with a community conversation regarding Native-American Issues in Weatherford with the school district and the Cheyenee-Arapaho Tribes.<BR/><BR/>Please contact the local affiliate in your district and help us make a difference.<BR/><BR/>You can also email me at rbishop@okea.org. I will respect your privacy.Roy Bishophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04088727169633016961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37380426.post-45773056901643013062009-02-18T10:49:00.000-06:002009-02-18T10:49:00.000-06:00I am so frustrated at the antique attitude of Okla...I am so frustrated at the antique attitude of Oklahoma education. There is apparently no room for change that will affect the future education priorities for this small town I live in. I see the native american kids (including my own son) failed and placed back into the same grade they just completed. For what--even though they passed these classes--with A's and B's they missed the "magic" number of grades to enable them to finish that year. So they go back and repeat with embarrassment and shame as they have failed. What kind of message does this send to them I think to be 18 and still a freshman is very difficult for most and it is at that point they give up. That seriously sets a tone for the rest of their young lives. Please OEA look at the policies--implement change--help these kids.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37380426.post-32908565421191912502008-12-08T06:17:00.000-06:002008-12-08T06:17:00.000-06:00The heart of our student dropout issue is motivati...The heart of our student dropout issue is motivation. I see the problem increase in our middle schools. Thousands of hours are wasted in middle school. Students then repeat the 9th grade. Most dropouts never make it to the 10th grade. Too much of our focus is only to motivate toward the next test, not for goals in life. Thus we have enrollment patterns like the one you can see on charts for Dallas ISD like the ones at www.studentmotivation.org/DallasISD.htm. <BR/>Once we begin to focus on long term student motivation the educational world changes. We did that in 2005 at our inner city Dallas middle school with a 350-pound vault bolted to the floor in the school lobby under spotlights. The students immediately asked about it and were told it was the School Archive for letters they would write to themselves before leaving for high school. These letters document their history to date and their plans for the future. They are sealed into a self-addressed envelope. The last week of 8th grade, after a Language Arts Class group photo in front of the School Archive with each student holding their letter in front of them, they each place their letters onto their classes shelf inside the vault. It will stay there for a decade. They are given a copy of that photo with details on the back for their 10-year class reunion in November of that 10th year. <BR/><BR/>They know they will then retrieve their letters and also be invited to speak with the then current 8th grade classes about their recommendations for success. They are warned that the decade younger students may then ask them questions like "Would you do anything differently if you were 13 again?"<BR/><BR/>The School Archive Project is now preparing for the 5th class to place letters into the Archive this next May. At the two high schools our students attend, that used to be some of the highest dropout rate high schools in Dallas ISD, the 9th to 10th grade dropout rate has gone down 40% in the past two years. (See charts at www.studentmotivation.org taken from Texas Education Agency data.) <BR/>We are cutting the dropout rate during the transition where it used to be the worst, between 9th and 10th grade. Now to get them to graduation and back for their 10-year reunions that start in November of 2014. <BR/><BR/>Everything we need to know about keeping students motivated and in school has certainly not yet been achieved! Money is NOT the only thing needed. This project costs only about $2/student.<BR/><BR/>The School Archive Project is being presented this week at the Texas School Improvement Conference in Austin (http://www5.esc13.net/sirc/tsic.html).<BR/><BR/>Bill Betzen<BR/>The School Archive Project - A Dropout Cure<BR/>www.studentmotivation.org<BR/>Quintanilla Middle School<BR/>2700 Remond Dr.<BR/>Dallas, Texas 75211<BR/>972-502-3200<BR/>214-957-9739 (cell)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com