NDPC-SD Big IDEAs: Dropout Prevention Strategies


ISSUE CONTENTS



 


VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

OCTOBER, 2004

Woman In Wheelchair


THE NATIONAL DROPOUT PREVENTION CENTER FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES (NDPC-SD)

The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) was created to assist in dropout prevention and re-entry programs for students with disabilities. Through varied formats and venues, the Center provides resources and information about effective dropout prevention strategies, technical assistance, and program replication. The Center's audiences are state and local education agencies, policymakers, administrators, researchers, parents, teachers and other practitioners. NDPC-SD is housed at the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network (NDPC/N) at Clemson University and is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). NDPC-SD is part of OSEP's Technical Assistance and Dissemination Center (TA&D) Network.

How NDPC-SD Works
» NDPC-SD identifies evidence-based programs through research syntheses and assists state education agencies to implement model programs and effective practices. The center uses effective, coordinated networks of "exchange team experts" to assist with research syntheses, product development and dissemination of information. In addition, NDPC-SD provides professional publications, conferences, forums, institutes and Web-based activities.

Partners
» NDPC-SD partners with Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) of Newton, Massachusetts and the Institute of Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) of San Antonio, Texas to carry out its activities. Along with NDPC/N, these organizations bring over two decades of experience in research, product development, professional development, and technical assistance programs. EDC has more than 335 projects dedicated to enhancing learning, promoting health, and fostering a deeper understanding of the world, as well as a a long history of meeting the needs of students with disabilities. In addition, IDRA has substantial experience in supporting educational equity for traditionally underserved groups, assisting in development and implementation of intercultural and multilinguistic educational interventions, and providing parent training and services to students with disabilities.

High School Boy

Resources
» NDPC-SD has access to a broad range of expertise and experience through its national partners and other collaborators, including The What Works Clearinghouse, the What Works Synthesis Center, the National Center for Secondary Education and Transition, the Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative, and other OSEP-supported TA&D projects. Many NDPC-SD programs and services receive guidance from a broadly representative national advisory committee that includes members of special and regular education practitioners, administrators at the state and local levels, parents and researchers.

» For additional information
visit our web site at www.dropoutprevention.org or E-mail us at NDPSD-L@clemson.edu


Big IDEA: Consistently monitoring student levels of school engagement (e.g., attendance, academic performance, disciplinary actions) and using the result to intervene early with at-risk students is an effective strategy in dropout prevention.

A REVIEW OF THE CHECK AND CONNECT MODEL

JOSIE DANINI CORTEZ, M.A.

Given that students with disabilities are twice as likely to drop out of school than their general education counterparts, dropout prevention models that work for this population are especially needed by schools. In addition, schools need to meet the Title I requirements under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act which requires all sub-groups of students, including students with disabilities to meet adequate yearly progress. Schools must show evidence of improvement for students with disabilities in key accountability measures that include both the dropout rate and academic performance.

It is within this context of higher accountability measures and high dropout rates that schools look to research-based and evidence-based dropout prevention models. Check and Connect is one model that already has evidence of effectiveness and shows great promise in many settings and contexts.

Originally funded in the early 1990's by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), Check and Connect promotes a student's engagement with school using seven components:

  1. Relationship Building
  2. Routine Monitoring and Alterable Indicators
  3. Individualized and Timely Intervention
  4. Long-Term Commitment
  5. Persistent Plus
  6. Problem-Solving
  7. Affiliation with School and Learning

The model was first developed for urban middle school students with learning and behavioral disabilities in Minneapolis. In their review of the model, Sinclair, Christenson, Evelo, and Hurley (Dropout Prevention for Youth with Disabilities: Efficacy of a sustained school engagement procedure. Exceptional Children, 1998, 65(1)) speak to the significant evidence of treatment effects for students with disabilities. For students who participated in Check and Connect in middle school through grade 9, nine percent had dropped out of school compared to 30 percent of students who received treatment in only the seventh and eighth grades. Furthermore, those students who participated in Check and Connect in middle school and through the first year of high school were more likely to be enrolled in school and on track to graduate than similar students in a comparison group.

A key factor in the Check and Connect model is the "monitor"—one individual who is responsible for ensuring a student "connects" with school and learning. This is based on earlier research that identifies a caring adult and advocate is important to a student's staying in school (The Answer: Valuing Youth in Schools and Families - A Report on Hispanic Dropouts in the Dallas Independent School District, 1989 IDRA). The Check and Connect monitors must be

  • Persistent
  • Believe that all children have abilities
  • Be willing to work closely with families using a "non-blaming approach"
  • Advocate for the student
  • Committed to documenting the intervention
  • Able to work well in different settings

The monitor must establish trust with the students and their families, sometimes becoming their lifeline and navigator through the school system. The monitor regularly checks on student attendance and academic performance, talks to the families and listens to students, checking and connecting throughout the year. The monitor checks student engagement periodically using several indicators that include attendance, social/behavior performance, and academic performance. Using these indicators, the monitor can then "connect" using either basic or intensive interventions. All students receive basic interventions which are primarily comprised of purposeful conversations with the monitors once a month for secondary students and once a week for elementary students. The monitor talks to the student about their progress in school and its connection to graduation, possible conflicts or concerns and their resolution, and strengthens student coping skills.

High School Boy

The intensive intervention is triggered by a student exhibiting early warning signs of dropping out of school (e.g., attendance, academic performance, behavior). The monitor taps existing support services when needed and appropriate and increases the degree of interaction with the student, including calling the student and parent in the morning to make sure the student gets out of bed and gets to school.

The Check and Connect model is also being tried in an early literacy school engagement effort (Project ELSE) through OSEP funding. In this effort, kindergartners from six schools were identified as being at risk for reading difficulties. Schools were randomly assigned to be Check and Connect treatment or control group schools. The three treatment schools are receiving Check and Connect with literacy support while the control group schools are receiving assessment and consultation about assessment results. The four-year program should be completed by Fall 2004.

These and other research efforts provide the evidence that help improve models as they are applied in different settings and with different sub-populations of students. The replicability and validity of models as they are used by different practitioners in different settings, especially with students with disabilities, must continue to be examined with the rigor that the chief beneficiaries—our students—deserve.

» For Additional Information
Visit the Check and Connect Web site at: ici.umn.edu/checkandconnect/

National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET) published an Issue Brief (Examining Current Challenges in Secondary Education and Transition, June 2002, Vol. 1, Issue 2) that provided profiles of three dropout prevention models that focused specifically on students with disabilities.


FIRST ANNUAL NATIONAL SPECIAL EDUCATION FORUM

November 3-4, 2004 in Orlando, Florida

The National Dropout Prevention Center for Student with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) invites state and local education administrative personnel, teachers, parents, and other educators to attend its First Annual Forum on effective dropout prevention strategies and programs to increase school completion rates for students with disabilities. Creating Model Dropout Prevention Programs: Begin with Effective Instructional Strategies is the theme of the First National Forum on Dropout Prevention in Special Education.

This Forum features a synthesis of 20 years of research studies that determines what works in dropout prevention for students with disabilities. Experts in the field of emotional and behavior disorders, learning disabilities, and special education research will present workshops on effective practices in transition, self-determination, academic engagement, effective content design and delivery, and effective behavior support programs that help students with disabilities stay in school and graduate. State education personnel will have an opportunity to learn about research-based interventions, discuss state-specific and national issues in dropout prevention, and network with hundreds of other colleagues, researchers, parents, and practitioners.

Join us at the Rosen Plaza Hotel in Orlando on November 3 & 4, 2004. Bring a team to strategize and create a work plan, bring the family and make it a mini vacation in the home of Disney World.

» Check out the conference program



SPREAD THE NEWS
We encourage the distribution of our eNewsletter.

Big IDEAs may be distributed freely as long as it is not altered in any way, distribution is without charge, and all copies retain the NDPC-SD copyright notice.

» Contact Us
The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities
209 Martin Street
Clemson, SC 29631-1555
Toll Free: 866-745-5641 | TDD: 866-212-2775
Fax: 864-656-0136
Email: NDPCSD-L@clemson.edu
www.dropoutprevention.org

» Regístrese a nuestro boletín de noticias, Grandes Ideas: Estrategias Para Prevenir La Deserción Escolar.

 

» HELP

 

 
  NDPC-SD LAUNCHES NEW WEB SITE

The National Dropout Prevention Center for Student with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) Web site provides a one-stop resource for information on dropout prevention for general education students and students with disabilities. The Web site shares its address with its sister Center, the National Dropout Prevention Center/ Network (NDPC/N): www.dropoutprevention.org. The portal page offers visitors a pathway to either the NDPC-SD or NDPC/N Web sites. Although there is some shared content, each site provides unique information pertinent to its mission. Both Web sites are rich in content and provide a host of resources for administrators, practitioners, parents, students, and the general public. However, the NDPC-SD site is entirely focused on dropout prevention for students with disabilities.

Web site Development
» The new Web site is the result of the collaborative efforts of NDPC-SD's major partners: the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network (NDPC/N), Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), and the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA). Dr. Selete Avoke, the OSEP Project Officer, approved the overall design. NDPC/N is hosting the site, providing technical assistance, and developing content. Education Development Center, Inc. took the lead in developing the design with input from the other partners.

The content is organized within the following categories:
»
About NDPC-SD
»Effective Practices
»
Technical Assistance
»
Resources
»
eNews
»
eConnections
»
Calendar
»Feedback

IDRA is responsible for translating the content into Spanish (coming soon!). We are very interested in feedback from our users. We hope to hear from many of you.


ABOUT THE BIG IDEAS: DROPOUT PREVENTION STRATEGIES
E-NEWSLETTER

NDPC-SD offers individuals a free subscription to its electronic newsletter, Big IDEAs: Dropout Prevention Strategies.

Produced quarterly, readers will be kept abreast of professional development activities, upcoming events, new data and materials, synthesis of research, survey results, Spotlights, FAQs, and links to additional sources of information about the implementation of scientifically validated dropout prevention, educational and reentry programs, and evaluation policies and practices. NDPC-SD's goal is to make Big IDEAs as interactive as possible by encouraging readers to submit comments and provide feedback via periodic polls on key issues, as well as linkages to virtual technical assistance and online community discussions.

» Subscribe to Big IDEAs now!



IDRA logo

THE INTERCULTURAL DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH ASSOCIATION

The Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) is an independent, non-profit organization that advocates the right of every child to a quality education. For more than 30 years, IDRA has worked for excellence and equity in education in Texas and across the United States. IDRA was founded in 1973 by Dr. José A. Cárdenas and, today, is directed by Dr. María "Cuca" Robledo Montecel. IDRA fulfills its mission through professional development, research and evaluation, policy and leadership development, and programs and materials development.

» IDRA's Work in dropout prevention spans twenty years, beginning with the development of the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program. This internationally recognized, research-based program works by identifying junior high and high school students in at-risk situations and enlisting them as tutors for elementary school youngsters who are also struggling in school. Given this role of personal and academic responsibility, the Valued Youth tutors learn self-discipline and develop self-esteem; schools shift to the philosophy and practices of valuing students considered at-risk. Results show that tutors stay in school, have increased academic performance, improved school attendance and advanced to higher education.

» Since its inception in 1984, the program has kept more than 12,300 students in school, young people who were previously considered at risk of dropping out. The lives of more than 220,000 children, families and educators have been positively impacted by the program. The program design is based on IDRA research on the dropout issue and school holding power. The program has grown across the United States and is presently in 13 cities in Brazil.

» Learn more about IDRA



EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT CENTER, INC (EDC)

Since 1958, Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), has pioneered strategies that bridge the worlds of research, policy, and practice. See www.edc.org for descriptions of EDC’s approximately 325 projects. The organization’s award-winning programs and products, developed in collaboration with partners across the country and around the globe, consistently advance learning for individuals of all ages. One of EDC’s key missions is to help students with disabilities succeed at school, in the world of work, and in the community.

As one of the partners in NDPC/SD, EDC will be assuming a variety of roles. For example, EDC has taken responsibility for the design of the NDPC/SD Web site and the newsletter. In addition, through EDC’s Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative (with a membership of 90+ school districts), EDC disseminates information about the NDPC/SD to special and general education leaders around the country, provides field-based needs assessment data, and helps to connect NDPC/SD's work with that of other national initiatives. EDC will also be running online events before and after NDPC/SD teleconferences, and contibuting to ensuring the effectiveness of NDPC/SD's research-to-practice mission.

» Learn more about EDC



UPCOMING EVENTS

Teleconference with
Dr. Brian Cobb of the What Works Transition Research Synthesis Project.

Dr. Cobb will discuss his synthesis of research on studies dealing with anger/aggression management in adolescents with disabilities.

» View calendar


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IDEAs that Work: U.S. Office of Special Education Programs


The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)
is committed to positive results for children with disabilities. The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities is an IDEAs that Work project. Project Officer: Dr. Selete Avoke.

 

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