From the Executive Director
Engaged Students Persist in Learning and Stay in School Dr. Allene Magill
S
tate and national graduation rates are at historic highs. Completion rates of 81 percent (nationally) and 72.5 percent (Georgia) are encouraging, especially considering the headwinds of funding reductions, increased poverty, time-consuming accountability dictates and debates over content standards.* Georgia educators know the deleterious effects of these combined factors on the time and energy needed to connect with students. Educators want all students to achieve. This is evident every day in our classrooms and in the unending hours of effort outside of class. However, when there are no more hours in the day or instructional days in the school year, how are educators to reach the 27.5 percent of Georgia students who fail to earn the confirmation of success that a diploma represents? It seems that many pundits, policymakers and special interest groups believe that the answers lie in more tests, unproven measurement indicators, bureaucratic oversight of teachers or for-profit charter schools. It’s as if they think that those in public education are withholding effort, and by finding the right prod, educators finally will have the initiative to motivate students to succeed. At PAGE, we know better. We know that great educators possess an enduring optimism that they can be the difference in a child’s life — and not just one child, but an overcrowded classroom full of students with diverse abilities, needs and interests. That optimism remains even when, despite their best effort to encourage and support a child, he makes poor choices
August/September 2015
that hamper his progress or she faces life issues that distract her from academic work. We know that great educators design lessons that engage students in such a way that they get beyond doing an assignment and discover the joy of learning. We know that great educators develop meaningful relationships with individual students and seek to understand their hopes and challenges. We know that great educators persist in their chosen profession even when it seems that many people refuse to see what educators accomplish against a relentless tide of overwhelming odds. We know these things to be true because we know great educators. We also know that a key to reaching the nearly 30 percent of potential Georgia dropouts lies with the extraordinary dedication of educators who systematically plan for their students’ success regardless of barriers. In a recently aired series on the national graduation rate, NPR cited research that educators and schools serve as key influencers on whether a student drops out of high school or persists through challenges. Beyond a lack of parental involvement, among the reasons cited that students drop out are that they are bored and do not see a connection between instruction and their future; they need help academically and do not know where to get it; and/or they do not have a relationship with an adult at school who cares enough to encourage their progress. Because of what we know to be true about great educators, I believe that these
challenges can be addressed. That is why at PAGE we focus so much of our work on building the capacity of all educators to recognize the instructional needs of students and how to engage them. PAGE professional learning zeroes in on strengthening the ability of educators to engage students so that they persist in learning. A key is that educators develop meaningful relationships with individual students, including the ones who may not be easy to get to know. We also help school and district administrators understand how to support teachers in this important process. As noted in the NPR series, students often leave school prematurely when their relationships with educators are weak and when instruction fails to connect with their interests. As the new school year begins, I urge all of us to heed the warning signs for students at risk of failure. A student’s home life, level of parental involvement and challenges outside of school are often beyond our influence. What we can control is how we engage each student in our classrooms, encourage him to look beyond today and connect with her as a person who deserves our attention. Graduation rates in Georgia have increased more than 5 percent since 2011. We’re headed in the right direction, and PAGE is with you every step of the way in your quest to engage and ultimately transform the lives of Georgia’s n most at-risk students. *Latest national data from the 2012-13 school year. Latest Georgia data from the 2013-14 school year.
PAGE ONE 7
