Excerpt
GWEN IFILL (Newshour): Our latest story about the dropout crisis and efforts to keep students in school comes from the Midwest.
Special correspondent John Tulenko of Learning Matters Television profiles one school district that altered its whole approach toward at-risk students.
It's part of our ongoing American Graduate project.
More excerpts
JOHN TULENKO: Watch lists have proliferated in high schools, owing largely to No Child Left Behind. The federal education law penalizes schools that fail to raise graduation rates.
To get its potential dropouts back on track, Shelbyville turned to technology. In this classroom at a local college, high school students in danger of dropping out can make up the courses they failed, and take new ones on computers.
Melissa Lakes runs the program.
MELISSA LAKES, Shelbyville Schools: It's at their own pace. It doesn't make them move on until they're ready to move on. It doesn't nag at them for not getting it right the first time around. You know, it's just -- it's whatever they need.
JOHN TULENKO: Nationwide, school districts seeking to raise graduation rates have embraced this alternative approach called online credit recovery.
Shelbyville runs three-hour classes, five days a week, with afternoon sessions for busy students like Kayla Owsley.
MICHAEL MAUPIN, student: (slow learner) Here, you can listen to music. You don't have as many people out here bugging you, or you don't have your teacher talking the whole class period.
JOHN TULENKO: At each of the computer centers, students track their own progress. Every time they pass a course, they tear a tab off these sheets, and the tabs go quickly.
MICHAEL MAUPIN: Here your work is a lot easier.
JOHN TULENKO: Easier? What do you mean?
MICHAEL MAUPIN: How do I put this? Out here, you can get a credit in half-a-week, a week, a couple of days.
KAYLA OWSLEY, student: It took me about two weeks to get one class done.
JOHN TULENKO: Have you seen kids move through the material quickly?
JASON WEST, Shelbyville Schools: I have.
JOHN TULENKO: What are we talking about?
JASON WEST: I'd say we're looking at a month, to month-and-a-half.
JOHN TULENKO: It's quicker, advocates say, because it breaks with the traditional model of schooling, which requires everyone to sit through semester-long courses, even though some students can master the material faster.
COMMENT: About student Michael Maupin, I have to wonder about his attitude and REAL life. I've got news for him, in real life he will HAVE to deal with what he finds objectionable in school. The world will NOT adjust to him, he has to adjust to reality.
As to students moving at their own pace, this has always been better for any student, K-12 or college. The problem has been implementing the idea in traditional schools, hard to do.
It is easier in the college setting, especially where they have online computer courses where you have live-video to interact with a teacher, or recorded-video of the course presentation, and may include eMail/Chat contact with teacher or other students taking the course.
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