1. Graduation Rates Up
Wisconsin’s graduation rates increased between 2009-10 and 2010-11, ensuring the state’s near, if not top, graduation ranking in the nation.
State Superintendent Tony Evers called it good news, noting the dire lifetime implications of dropping out of high school.
Wisconsin’s traditional method of measuring graduation (the state’s “legacy rate” compares each year’s graduates to the number of students who had been expected to graduate that year) shows three years of steady progress. For 2010-11, the graduation rate was 90.5 percent, up 0.6 from the previous year and 1.1 from 2008-09.
Counting only students who graduated with a regular diploma within four years of entering high school, the rate was 87 percent for 2010-11, up 1.3 points from 2009-10.
The DPI will publish a six-year cohort rate in 2012-13.
“Though the vast majority of students graduate between the ages of 17 and 19, there are some individuals who will need longer to complete high school,” Evers noted. “It takes perseverance, but that diploma is a key to future success.”
Over the two years of available data, the four-year cohort rate improved for all subgroups of students, although there are still graduation disparities by racial and ethnic groups, economic status, disability, and English language proficiency.
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2. China Meetings
State Superintendent Tony Evers joined U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others at the U.S.-China High-Level Consultation on People to People Exchange in Beijing, May 3-4, 2012.
Remaining in China through May 6, Evers toured secondary schools (known as “middle schools” in China) and participated in meetings related to student exchanges, the sister relationship between Wisconsin and Heilongjiang Province, and other education topics. Heilongjiang has been Wisconsin’s sister province for thirty years. Officials in both places have expressed enthusiasm about re-affirming and continuing to grow the partnership during this anniversary year.
During the trip, Evers met with national Chinese dignitaries such as the Vice-Minister of Education, Hao Ping, as well as Heilongjiang Province education officials. He also visited with students and educators, and in fact had the chance to
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3. Concussion Materials Online
New guidelines and resources on the risks of concussion for student athletes are now available, as required by a new state law passed in April.
The DPI, in consultation with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA), developed the amterials. guidelines and resources. They will help to educate coaches, student athletes, and parents/guardians about the nature and risk of concussion and head injury in athletic activities.
The new law requires this education. It also requires athletes suspected of suffering head injuries to be immediately removed from practices and games until a health care provider examines them and gives permission for them to participate.
The new law is modeled after the "Lystedt Law" from Washington State. The National Football League has been promoting that law as a model for statutes all states should have in place.
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4. Health Education Standards
The Wisconsin Standards for Health Education are now available, unabridged, as a book, from DPI Publications Sales. The excerpted PDF version continues to be accessible on the DPI’s Health Education webpage.
Imagine a Wisconsin in which all students are fit, healthy, and ready to learn; where all students have the essential skills to live a healthy and productive life. Imagine that young people successfully apply the skills they learn in health education to real-life, challenging situations throughout their teen and adult years.
At a time when many forces pressure students to make decisions that can compromise their well-being, health-related skills and knowledge are important parts of ensuring every child graduates prepared for success.
To clearly identify what students should know and be able to do in order to lead healthy lives, the standards provide a framework for aligning health education curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
The document builds upon earlier efforts, including the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards for Health Education (1997) and the National Health Education Standards (2006).
The price for the book form of the standards is $18.
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5. Environmental Awards for Teachers in Appleton, Berlin
Hands-on projects helped land a win and an honorable mention for Wisconsin teachers in the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators from the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Sandra Vander Velden, founding teacher of Fox River Academy in the Appleton School District, is among 18 winners. Fox River Academy puts environmental education at the core of the curriculum, often drawing it all together with project-based or service-learning.
“Each week, in partnership with a field biologist, Sandra leads students in local land restoration projects that complement rigorous inquiry learning projects conducted in the classroom,” notes the award program on its website.
Students have installed a butterfly garden to help reduce crime in a park, and helped Department of Natural Resources biologists search for newborn elk calves to aid in the animal’s reintroduction to the wild.
They learn leadership skills through giving formal reports to the school’s governing board, leading tours, writing a newsletter, and more.
The outdoor, active approach and family feeling among students can bring invaluable benefits. A boy with ADHD and Tourette Syndrome advanced to grade level in mathematics at the Academy and developed great pride by leading activities for special needs and other students.
Vander Velden and her district will each receive $2,000.
One of 13 honorable mentions, Pat Arndt of Berlin High School offers students real-world projects, has transformed the school’s lawn into an experiential learning garden, and helped convert an unused piece of school forest into a ropes course.
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6. Teen’s Prevention Work Honored Nationally
A junior at Reedsburg Area High School won $5,000 plus the same amount for a favorite charity, for her work combating abuse and improper disposal of prescription drugs.
Jordyn Schara, of North Freedom, started a nonprofit organization to keep prescription drugs out of drinking water and prevent the abuse of drugs by youth—thousands die each year from the problem.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards named Schara one of America’s “Top Ten Youth Volunteers for 2012.”
Schara’s group joined with one started by Illinois teacher Paul Ritter under the national umbrella of P2D2 (Prescription Pill and Drug Disposal Program). The group reports that 1 in 5 teens nationally have abused prescription medication, and that prescription opioid deaths now outnumber those caused by cocaine and heroin combine. Teams in numerous states have joined the effort.
According to the website Volunteer Match, Schara has said many adults and even government agencies told her that as a teenager, she would not be able to start a successful nonprofit; however, “I am very assertive. I have to be, because many adults don’t listen to teens.”
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