Officials: Time, effort, data mining reason for rising grad rates at Central

In 2018, Cape Girardeau Central High School achieved its highest graduation rate in years — 88.2%. As recently as 2013, the district’s graduation rate percentage was in the 60s.

Under the direction of then-district superintendent James Welker, the Professional Learning Community was launched in 2012 as the district’s way to “focus on student achievement.”

The plan was to have more one-on-one time with students, and the improvement has been steady.

Current administration and faculty agree the recent upswing from the near to mid-80% to almost 90% stems from placing more of an emphasis on individualized student programming and increased communication with students’ guardians. And while a graduation rate increase of 20 percentage points within a decade is impressive, school officials said they aren’t satisfied. Central’s rate is still slightly below the state graduation rate of 89.23%, and slightly lower than other larger schools in the region, including Poplar Bluff (91.9%), Sikeston (91.7%) and Jackson (94.5%). But they said they hope the comprehensive methods implemented in the last few years continues to nudge the numbers well into the 90s.

Tony Robinson, Cape Girardeau School District deputy superintendent of secondary education, said the methods are intentional, though not necessarily innovative.

“It’s really about taking the time and committing to the work of looking at each one of your students individually to see how they’re performing,” he said, “and looking at that data on a weekly basis, and responding to it. ...”

This is achieved through “cohort monitoring,” he explained, which was introduced at the beginning of last year. The practice involves assistant principals, counselors and administration regularly reviewing students’ academic data, including letter grades, attendance and credit deficiency.

“What you’re really looking at is how kids are performing each week,” Robinson said. “If there’s a drop in performance, you’re immediately responding to that and supporting them with some sort of intervention; making a phone call home, setting up extra tutoring or putting them in some extra support during the school day.”

He said it’s “doing whatever you can” to let that struggling student and the student’s family know, “Hey, you’re important to us.”

A few years ago, he said, Missouri began to require schools to take into consideration four-year graduation statistics, and to work to increase those figures.

That’s had a huge influence on educators who are continuing to work with students more purposefully and helping students hit milestones, Robinson said.

In 2014, the number of Cape Girardeau Central High School graduates was 247; more than the 240 who graduated in 2018. The number of graduates and students evaluated through cohort monitoring fluctuated some between 2014 and 2018.

But overall, the school’s graduation rate in 2014 was less, 85.8%, when compared to the 88.2% achieved in 2018.

Robinson explained by email, “The federal government did make changes to the definition of a graduate by allowing Missouri and schools not to count severely disabled students in the graduation rate. Which according to DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) had a minimal impact on graduation rate data.”

Extra opportunities

Robinson said he has seen an increase in the number of students who are participating in courses offering dual credit.

If the students aren’t enrolled in the Accelerated Collegiate Experience, or ACE program, they are able to take advantage of dual-credit courses so they can progress and “have some college credit when they graduate,” he said.

ACE, according to Cape Girardeau Central High School principal Nancy Scheller, is for juniors interested in attending Cape College Center with hopes of graduating from high school with both an associate degree and a high school diploma.

The high school has nearly 1,100 students enrolled, she added.

CCC provides community-college-type services to the citizens of Cape Girardeau County and the surrounding area, according to its website.

Robinson doesn’t see those opportunities as “incentives,” he said.

“I see kids seeing it as something that is beneficial for them,” Robinson said. “I think kids look at it as an opportunity.”

He said there’s also been an increase of the support students have at the high school level, with access to a Missouri college adviser who solely focuses on post secondary prospects. The adviser exposes students to college and career opportunities well in advance, Robinson said.

The school’s counselors also spend time planning student schedules and working with them on post secondary plans, Robinson added.

“That’s all wrapped up into what they are doing, in addition to cohort monitoring,” he said.

An additional program, Flex, was added this year, he said. It allows students to participate in a mixture of work, school or college courses during the school day.

“It gives our students the flexibility in life,” he said. It also allows the students to still be progressing toward graduation, Robinson said, but being able to also learn on campus.

The Missouri Options Program also is available to students at Cape Girardeau Central High School, Robinson said.

According to the program’s website, it caters to students who have the capabilities to complete the high school graduation requirements of the State of Missouri, but lack the credits to graduate with their cohort and are at risk of leaving school without a high school diploma.

If a student is falling behind during what Robinson referred to as a “cohort year,” he or she can still participate in the program in order to get caught up, Robinson said.

“That helps a lot of kids get back on track,” he said.

Scheller said many different interventions also have been implemented through the use of a newly added additional eighth hour during the school day, describing it as “an academic intervention.”

Right now, she said, it’s dedicated to freshmen.

“We saw some trends in ninth grade that we weren’t really happy with, so we started this intervention,” she said of the decision.

Academic data breakdown

Through all of the available data, more student information can be provided to the faculty more quickly and in a more responsive way, Scheller said.

“Our counselors are all about keeping that data up-to-date,” she said.

A senior spreadsheet is maintained, which contains each senior enrolled, along with every course required for graduation. The spreadsheet is updated weekly based on the students’ academic progress, she said.

“We are aware of who is struggling and whom we need to give more attention to or more interventions to,” she said.

To make more in-depth review of student progress more attainable, students are classified by last name and assisted by three counselors and four assistant principals on a weekly basis, Scheller added.

A lot of work goes into it, she said, and more students are reached than ever before.

“This time of year, every week we [look up] seniors, to make sure we’re on track,” she said. “Teachers, as soon as they see somebody struggling, they are emailing us and notifying us so that we can stay on top of it.”

Mental health support

Support of the students’ emotions, attitudes and behaviors also is factored into the graduation rate, according to Robinson and Scheller.

Robinson said he expects the impact from programs connected with Cape Girardeau Central High School — such as Honorable Young Men Club and Tiger Lillies — “to be seen on an eventual, not immediate basis.”

“When you have more kids who have made connections with adults who are on track academically and behaviorally, then that has a positive impact on the graduation rate.”

Faculty outreach

Scheller said some school faculty members even provide students with a ride to school when they’d otherwise choose not to attend.

“My team, my teachers, go above and beyond for students,” she said. “All of those things are showing that we care, which we really do.”

Scheller said, “It says a lot for our faculty and staff. Our counselors have put in tons of time and effort, and the administration, the assistant principals, because they are taking the time.”

The future of Cape Central High School

The improved graduation rate is great, Scheller said, “but more so, we want each of our students to be successful.”

But with that nearly 90% graduation rate, Scheller said, “that means one out of every 10 (students) didn’t make it, so that’s not OK either.”

“We are happy that we have increased it, but we want a 100% graduation rate,” she added. “So we are going to keep fighting and keep pushing and keep promoting that student until we get there.”

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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