COMMITTEE TARGETS STUDENTS WHO ARE AT RISK OF DROPPING OUT

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- About 18 percent of the students now enrolled in Cape Girardeau Public Schools will never earn their diplomas. And though the dropout rate here is lower than the national or even state average, educators are concerned.

"We shouldn't be satisfied just because our dropout rate is lower than the state average," said Jim Watkins, principal of Washington Elementary School. "Studies have shown that earning capacity rises as you receive more education. We're not only trying to help the individual, we're trying to help the area as well."

Watkins is co-chairman of a committee of area educators whose primary task is to identify students at risk of dropping out, and develop strategies to encourage them to stay in school.

The 18-member committee met for the first time last week. They formulated 13 goals they hope to accomplish in the district to help lower the dropout rate. Nationwide, 29 percent of students don't complete their high school educations; statewide the figure is 24 percent.

Carolyn Vandeven, principal of L.J. Schultz Middle School also co-chairs the committee. Vandeven said identifying characteristics of high-risk students will be one of the first duties of the committee.

"We'll develop our definition of what we mean by at-risk students, and then identify their needs," Vandeven said. "These will include needs we are currently meeting as well as needs which we are not meeting."

There are several ways to begin to identify these students, she said. Primarily, they are ones who miss at least 20 days of school per year.

"We look at students who drop out because of pregnancy, and ones who have failed one or more years," she said. "Helping these students could mean special programs, different teaching techniques, or a combination of other activities."

Students who hold down part-time jobs, or who come from a single-parent family will also be considered as having a high potential of dropping out, she said.

A survey of area teachers, completed in 1989, is being used as a reference by the committee, Vandeven said. That survey measures teachers' opinions on why students miss a lot of school or drop out completely.

"The number one reason the teachers cited that places students at risk is a parent's negative attitude toward education," Vandeven said.

Ranked second was low self-esteem in students, third was frequent drug or other substance abuse by a student, and forth was missing more than 20 days of school per year.

Both Vandeven and Watkins said solutions won't necessarily mean implementing new or costly programs.

"We'll start by looking at programs that are already in place," Watkins said. Programs in use in other districts will also be examined for possible use in the Cape Girardeau district, Watkins added.

"But we won't be making our needs fit someone else's," he said. "We want to make sure the programs are for us."

Educators from elementary through high school levels will be involved in deciding on what actions should be taken. Representatives from the Cape Girardeau Vo-Tech Center are also included in the committee.

The committee tentatively expects to present an initial report on their findings to the Cape Girardeau Board of Education May 14, Vandeven said.

Several members of the committee plan to attend a Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Students-At-Risk conference in early March.