Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Dear District Administrators,
We are excited to launch a new program to help re-engage chronically absent, no longer attending, and academically at-risk students in the state of Wisconsin. ENGAGE Wisconsin, a new program from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, will serve students in grades K-12 and provide academic and social-emotional support to boost school attendance and academic performance.
This pgram is available to school districts, students, and families at no cost. When your Local Education Agency opts to participate in the program, you’ll be able to refer eligible students to be connected with a personal Academic Success Coach who:
● Conducts risk assessments to identify any barriers to school engagement and academic success.
● Builds personalized success coaching plans.
● Regularly works with the students to help them navigate challenges and be their best.
DPI encourages you to utilize your local Dropout Early Warning System data to identify those students who will benefit the most from this program.
The goals of ENGAGE Wisconsin are to:
● Reach students as fast as possible.
● Identify their academic and social-emotional barriers to school engagement and academic success.
● Provide them with individualized, ongoing human support.
● Stabilize and improve their attendance and academic performance.
Schools, students, and families are still feeling the impact of the last few years. We believe personalized coaching support from ENGAGE Wisconsin will help our most at-risk and disadvantaged students improve attendance, recover from unfinished learning, and, ultimately, be their best.
ENGAGE Wisconsin provides your students with an additional layer of support without overburdening your staff. Academic Success Coaches start their relationship with students by conducting a risk assessment, which identifies any barriers preventing students from engaging with and succeeding in school. This data is gathered and shared with school districts through a dynamic data dashboard, allowing them to provide interventions to students, if appropriate. Coaches can also work one-on-one with students to help them navigate any academic or social-emotional challenges by providing:
● Academic and community resources
● Access to 24/7 tutoring services
● Homework help
● Motivation
● Study, time-management, and test-taking tips
● Feedback on resumes and cover letters
● And more
This support program is available throughout the 2022-23 school year. An independent evaluation of the ENGAGE program demonstrated significant gains in student attendance, GPA, credit earned rate, and graduation rate when comparing students who were referred to the program and participated to those who did not participate.
Get started now by filling out the form on https://www.engagewisconsin.com/
or by emailing EngageWI@GraduationAlliance.com. All you need to do is provide contact information for your district’s point of contact and data coordinator and share an estimate of the number of students you plan to refer to ENGAGE.
For questions on ENGAGE Wisconsin, please contact EBIS.Support@dpi.wi.gov.
Sincerely,
John W. Johnson, PhD
Deputy State Superintendent