This section includes descriptions and electronic links to a variety of resources schools can use to help increase the number of students who complete school with a high school diploma. Areas include programs and strategies for prevention, intervention, and reengagement; publications and resources; students of color; students with disabilities; other special populations; and national organizations.
High School Graduation and Students with Disabilities - DPI Information Update Bulletin No. 10.08
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- Prevention Programs & Strategies
- Intervention Programs & Strategies
- Reengagement Programs and Strategies
- Publications and Resources
- Students of Color
- Students with Disabilities
- Other Special Populations
- National Organizations
Prevention Programs & Strategies
This website contains resources to support district implementation of academic and career planning (ACP). Academic and Career Plans (ACPs), often referred to as Individualized Learning Plans, present an opportunity to improve academic achievement and post-secondary success for all students. Research validates how ACPs improve student motivation and engagement; foster increased school-family communication; aid goal setting, planning, and achievement; and enhance transitioning after high school.
Community learning centers provide students with academic enrichment opportunities and additional activities designed to complement their regular academic program. These centers also offer literacy and related educational development for families of these students. Community Learning Centers, which can be located in elementary or secondary schools or other similarly accessible facilities, provide a range of high-quality services to support student learning and development, including tutoring and mentoring, homework help, academic enrichment (such as hands-on science or technology programs), community service opportunities, as well as music, arts, sports, and cultural activities. At the same time, centers help working parents by providing a safe environment for students when school is not in session. The Department of Public Instruction administers a grant program to establish and support community learning centers.
Comprehensive School Counseling Programs
The ultimate goal of a comprehensive school counseling program is student success. The program's design, delivery, and content are dedicated to enhancing the ability of all students to fully utilize the educational opportunities available to them. The PreK-12 program is delivered through direct and indirect services designed to address three domains of student development: academic, personal/social, and career.
Comprehensive school counseling programs are integral to the school's educational environment and partner with other academic and behavioral initiatives to effect positive changes in student achievement and behavior. Professional school counselors plan the comprehensive school counseling program and facilitate its delivery in collaboration with school administrators, other professional educators, and community members to produce measurable results. Resulting positive changes include increased student achievement, an improved graduation rate, better attendance, reduced disciplinary referrals, completed individual learning plans, and increased student participation in the community.
Early and Middle College High Schools
Early and middle college high schools partner with institutions of higher education to offer all enrolled students an opportunity to earn an Associate’s degree or up to two years of college credits toward the baccalaureate while in high school, as well as a high school diploma. The initiative is based on the assumption that engaging under-represented students in a rigorous high school curriculum that is tied to the incentive of earning college credits will motivate them and increase their access to and success in additional postsecondary education after high school.
Fostering Connectedness to School, Peers and the World of Work
In 2008, 93.2% of students participating in Career and Technical Education graduated from high school compared to 80.9% of all non-participating students (Career and Technical Education Enrollment Reporting System, 2008). Connections between students and their schools, peers and the world of work can be encouraged through the following strategies:
- create small personal learning environments for low-income and minority youth,
- provide gender- and culturally-specific counseling and teaching for minority males,
- provide mentoring programs for low-income minority students,
- improve college and career counseling, including sharing information on college costs and other hurdles to achieving goals,
- link students to employers and colleges through direct experience, and
- provide support groups for foster and minority youth.
Work-based learning programs like the Employability Skills State Certificate, Wisconsin Youth Apprenticeship Program, State Certified Skills Co-op, and Job Shadowing connect students with real world jobs and provide them a structured program to improve their career readiness.
A Developmental Perspective on College & Workplace Readiness - This report provides a developmental perspective on the competencies young people need to be ready for college, the workplace, and the transition to adulthood.
Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS)
Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS) is a systemic approach to proactive, school-wide behavior based on a Response to Intervention (RtI) model. PBIS applies evidence-based programs, practices and strategies for all students to increase academic performance, improve safety, decrease problem behavior, and establish a positive school culture. Schools implementing PBIS build on existing strengths, complementing and organizing current programming and strategies.
Service-learning is a teaching method that engages students in solving problems within their schools and communities as part of their academic studies. Research has shown that service-learning has an enduring positive impact on students' academic achievement, civic engagement, and personal and social development. Service-learning is an effective instructional pedagogy which asks students to use their abilities and skills to make their school, local, and global communities stronger. It is a key strategy in developing 21st century skills which will lead to a prepared workforce and a civically engaged citizenry.
Wisconsin Employability Skills Certificate
The intent of the Wisconsin Employability Skills Certificate Program is to recognize a student's mastery of employability skills valued by employers, to help students explore a career interest, and to provide a state credential of student mastery of employability skills. The main strategy is to provide, within state guidelines, state certification of a broader range of local district school-supervised work-based learning programs. The employability skills in this program have been identified through the U.S. Department of Labor's Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) in partnership with educators, business, industry, and labor representatives.
Intervention Programs & Strategies
Alternative Education
School districts may develop programs that help all students to be successful. Program ideas range from early intervention for at-risk learners that start the student off on the right track to programs for students who have lost their way entirely. For the student who has lost his or her way, this might include jail or detention-based education, credit acceleration, a behavior program or just an opportunity to come back to school and graduate. While the short-term goal of alternative education is to meet the needs of some students, the long-term goal must be to identify successful alternative education strategies and use these strategies as a basis for improving the learning opportunities for all children.
The GED Option #2 allows authorized school districts to use the GED test battery to measure proficiency in lieu of high school credit for students enrolled in an alternative education program. A student who passes the GED tests and completes the other requirements for graduation is entitled to the traditional high school diploma. Wisconsin law allows a school board to grant a high school diploma to a pupil who has not satisfied the credit requirements, if:
- the student was enrolled in an alternative education program, and
- the school board determines that the pupil has demonstrated a level of proficiency in the subjects for which credits are required equivalent to that which they would have attained if they had satisfied the credit requirements, Wis. Stat. sec. 118.33(1)(d).
Technical Education High School Diploma
2011 Wisconsin Act 156 permits a school board to grant a technical education high school diploma to a pupil who does all of the following:
1. Satisfies the credit requirements and earns the number of credits for high school graduation as established by statute and the school board.
2. Successfully completes a technical education program, established by the school board, in one or more subjects.
Diplomas Now is an innovative school turnaround model used in a large urban setting that unites three experienced nonprofit organizations to work with the nation’s most challenged middle and high schools to deliver the right interventions to the right students at the right time. Diplomas Now unites three organizations – City Year, Communities In Schools and Talent Development – each one with years of experience in youth service and third-party evidence of impact on helping students succeed. Diplomas Now works closely with school administrators and teachers to identify off-track youth and develop, implement and sustain comprehensive, targeted and customized strategies to get them back on track. Diplomas Now is deliberately designed to incorporate, complement and accelerate the impact of other promising and innovative efforts that aim to boost post-secondary success.
The Wisconsin National Guard Challenge Academy is a residential program committed to improving the quality of life for 16 to 18 year old at-risk teens. In the residential phase, much of the Cadets’ time is spent in classrooms where preparing for the High School Equivalency Diploma (HSED) testing is the priority. In addition to classroom instruction by licensed teachers, activities include anger management classes, character development curriculum, rappelling, ROPES courses, experiential activities, community service projects, and leadership experiences.
Reengagement Programs and Strategies
Reengagement programs and strategies seek to help out-of-school youth reenroll in school and earn a high school diploma or equivalency degree. Efforts include:
- Adult career and technical education programs
- High school equivalency test programs to prepare students for an alternative credential
- Computer-based instruction, such as distance learning programs
- In-school programs that provide academic or social and emotional support for students who reenroll after dropping out
- Programs that grant credit toward high school completion for mastery of skills and content, as opposed to actual hours of instruction (i.e., “seat time”)
- Alternative or “second chance” schools
Dropout Recovery Resource Guide
The Dropout Recovery Resource Guide was developed based on information and findings associated with the following activities whose goal was to identify effective dropout recovery programs, strategies and practices:
- Literature search and review on effective dropout recovery practices and strategies;
- Statewide survey of school district and charter school dropout recovery programs;
- Identification of districts and charter schools with promising practices in dropout recovery;
- In-depth interviews with districts and charter schools with promising practices;
- Interviews with and site visits to districts, charter schools and college programs with potentially promising dropout recovery practices.
Whatever It Takes: How Twelve Communities Are Reconnecting Out-of-School Youth
This report explores two questions:
- What can be done to recover and reconnect our young people to opportunities for building useful lives in work, family, and citizenship?
- Who is doing what, and where, to reengage out-of-school youth while working to strengthen the communities in which they live?
Publications and Resources
Dropout Prevention Practice Guide
A summary of research and recommendations from the What Works Clearinghouse around dropout prevention. This guide seeks to help educators develop practice and policy alternatives for implementation. The guide includes specific recommendations and indicates the quality of the evidence that supports these recommendations.
Dropout Risk Factors and Exemplary Programs: A Technical Report
This study, conducted by NDPC/N, and sponsored by Communities In Schools Inc., finds that there are multiple risk factors which increase the likelihood that students will drop out. The evidence clearly shows that a student dropping out of school is always the result of a long process of disengagement that sometimes begins before the child enrolls in kindergarten. The report also provides information on 50 programs that were found to be effective in addressing these risk factors.
Effective Strategies for Dropout Prevention
The National Dropout Prevention Center/Network has identified 15 effective strategies that have the most positive impact on the dropout rate. These strategies have been implemented successfully at all education levels and environments throughout the nation.
This applied research project sought to explore the prevalence, consequences, potential contributing factors and possible responses to chronic absence in grades K-3. To deepen understanding of the issue, this project supported new analysis of national and local data on student attendance patterns, a review of relevant literature, and interviews with practitioners, researchers, and funders about promising practices and programs. This summary presents findings about why chronic early absence matters, what contributes to its prevalence, and what are the implications for action.
Video Clips of Promising Graduation Strategies in Wisconsin
The videos clips available at this site are short interviews with Wisconsin educators and others who have helped boost graduation rates at schools in Wisconsin. Listen to some of the successful graduation-boosting strategies featured in the new, three-minute video profiles including,
- TAGOS Leadership Academy in Janesville: A school where once-struggling students find new enthusiasm by getting to plan their own projects and set their own goals.
- Attendance Intervention Specialist position in Green Bay: A special kind of school social worker hired to focus on students just beginning to exhibit habitual truancy.
- Wisconsin Virtual School/Wisconsin Web Academy: A quality online resource that Wisconsin schools can use in conjunction with classroom instruction, so teachers can spend more time giving individualized attention to students.
Students of Color
Next Generation Charter Schools: Meeting the Needs of Latinos and English Language Learners
This report identifies strategies that have been found to be effective in serving Latino students and English Language Learners in both traditional and charter schools.
Plans for Dropout Prevention and Special School Support Services for American Indian and Alaska Native Students This paper provides recommendations to help schools become more responsive to the needs of American Indian and Alaska Native students.
Students with Disabilities
National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities
The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities provides technical assistance to design/select and implement effective, evidence-based interventions and programs to address dropout among students with disabilities.
Students with Disabilities Who Drop Out of School: Implications for Policy and Practice
This publication identifies what strategies work to reduce the dropout rate for students with disabilities.
Graduation Procedures for Students with Disabilities (DPI Information Update Bulletin 10.08)
This DPI Bulletin describes how students with disabilities are able to meet the high school graduation policies developed by the local school board.
Self-Determination Handbook with Forms
This handbook is designed to help students with disabilities learn self-determination skills and improve their ability to take responsibility for their post-high school lives.
Transition Action Guide for Post-School Planning
This Guide was developed to assist people and agencies involved in the transition process in the improvement of communication, coordination, and services for students with disabilities transitioning from school to work.
Policy and Procedures Review Checklists: These checklists are tools to help school districts determine if they have policies in place in each area for students with disabilities. By completing the checklists and documenting the source and location of related documents, the district is in a position to address any areas not covered that may be negatively impacting their students with disabilities.
Other Special Populations
Additional Learning Opportunities in Rural Areas: Needs, Successes and Challenges
This report identifies additional learning services that are effective in rural schools.
This article considers the practical, conceptual, and empirical foundations of an early identification and intervention system for middle-grades schools to combat student disengagement and increase graduation rates in our nation’s cities.
Services for Expelled Students: Overview of Research and Policy
This paper provides an overview of research and state and federal policies related to services for expelled students.
National Organizations
Alliance for Excellent Education
The Alliance for Excellent Education is a national policy and advocacy organization that works to make every child a high school graduate - to prepare them for college, work, and to be contributing members of society. Founded in 2001, the Alliance focuses on America's six million most at-risk secondary school students - those in the lowest achievement quartile - who are most likely to leave school without a diploma or to graduate unprepared for a productive future. The Alliance works to encourage the development and implementation of federal and national policies that support effective high school reform and increased student achievement and attainment. It works to synthesize and distribute research and information about promising practices that enlightens the national debate about education policies and options.
The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan professional development organization based in Washington, DC, which provides learning opportunities for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers working on youth and education issues at the national, state, and local levels. The website includes links to webcasts, e-bulletins, and publications.
Institute of Education Sciences
The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) publishes practice guides in education to bring available evidence and expertise to bear on the types of systemic challenges that cannot currently be addressed by single interventions or programs. Authors of practice guides seldom conduct the types of systematic literature searches that are the backbone of a meta-analysis, although they take advantage of such work when it is already published. Instead, authors use their expertise to identify the most important research with respect to their recommendations, augmented by a search of recent publications to ensure that research citations are up-to-date.
National Center for School Engagement
The National Center for School Engagement (NCSE) was established following more than a decade of educational research conducted by The Partnership for Families & Children, formerly known at the Colorado Foundation for Families and Children. NCSE makes many resources available on this site concerning school attendance, attachment, and achievement.
National Dropout Prevention Center
The National Dropout Prevention Center provides knowledge and promotes networking for researchers, practitioner, policymakers and families to increase opportunities for youth in at-risk situations to receive the quality education and services necessary to successfully graduate from high school.
Schools Moving Up Webinars cover a variety of topics, including preventing dropouts. Webinars include what happens to high school dropouts who return to school, reducing school dropout rates, and supporting students in alternative education settings. Registered users are notified about new Schools Moving Up webinars each month.
The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences. The WWC produces practice guides for educators that address instructional challenges with research-based recommendations for schools and classrooms; assesses the rigor of research evidence on the effectiveness of interventions (programs, products, practices, and policies); develops and implements standards reviewing and synthesizing education research; and provides a registry of educational evaluation researchers to assist schools, school districts, and program developers with designing and carrying out rigorous evaluations.
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