‘Coaches’ help lower number of dropouts

A state program attacking Georgia’s long-standing dropout problem has helped cut the number of students who quit before high school graduation by 10 percent, Gov. Sonny Perdue said Wednesday.

Perdue said 18,859 students dropped out during the 2007-08 school year, a decline of 2,241 or 10.6 percent from the previous school year. He credited much of the success to graduation coaches, positions he created that started two years ago.

The coaches work in public middle and high schools. They identify students who might not graduate and give them help they need to get a diploma.

National studies have ranked Georgia as having one of the lowest graduation rates in the country. A report released in June showed only four states and the District of Columbia were worse. That report was based on graduation rates from 2005, before the coach program began.

By decreasing the number of dropouts, Georgia will increase its graduation rate, which Perdue said strengthens the state’s ability to have an educated workforce and compete in a global economy.

Students at risk of dropping out often skip school, have discipline problems, lack parental support, are behind in their credits or are failing two or more classes.

“These were not kids who were incapable,” Perdue said. “These were kids who got diverted.”

The coaches develop relationships with the students and give them more individual attention. They get students on track by finding mentors, organizing tutoring programs and helping kids register for classes online to retake courses they failed.

Perdue talked about the graduation coach program during the National Dropout Prevention Center annual conference in Atlanta.

Other states are trying to create similar positions, said Alan Richard, spokesman for the Southern Regional Education Board, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that advocates for education in Georgia and 15 other states.

“Georgia is playing a leadership role nationally in addressing the high school graduation problem, and the reason for that is the state’s graduation coaches,” he said.

Early reports show the program is working, but more research is expected, he said.

High school coaches began during the 2006-07 school year, and middle school coaches followed the following year. There now are 398 coaches working in Georgia high schools and another 242 working in middle schools at a cost of about $52.5 million, according to state figures. The state has 442 high schools and 464 middle schools.

Some Georgia schools have declined state funding for the program because they had their own positions in place or didn’t like all the rules. For example, graduation coaches are not allowed also to work as classroom teachers.

GEORGIA’S DROPOUT NUMBERS

The graduation coach program started in the 2006-07 school year and expanded to middle schools the following year. The number of high school dropouts in Georgia has decreased.

>School year..Number of dropouts

>2002-03 .. ..24,810

>2003-04 .. ..23,683

>2004-05 .. ..24,280

>2005-06 .. ..23,372

>2006-07 .. ..21,100

>2007-08 .. ..18,859

>Source: Georgia governor’s office