Center for Educational Excellence in Alternative Settings
University of Maryland: The College of Education
Keeping Our Eyes and Ears Open
This Month’s Policy Issue
Last month, we questioned the ongoing use of Carnegie units and seat-time requirements to determine high school credits and, ultimately, high school graduation. We noted the especially pernicious impact of this framework on young people in the juvenile justice system, who are older and significantly credit deficient. This month we want to highlight two challenges young people face when they are transitioning back from secure settings.
• In some states, students who leave secure facilities are forced to attend an “alternative” school before they can return to their community schools. When these alternative schools are high quality and designed to support an effective transition as part of a reintegration plan, this process can be quite effective—and I’ve visited some states with such programs. Unfortunately, when alternative schools are poorly resourced, when they’re throw-away schools, they simply lead kids to quit on school—which we can’t afford.
• In nearly every state I have visited, I have heard stories about high school principals simply refusing to accept students coming back from placements—even when state or district law requires them to. Oftentimes the only support these students get as they try to re-enroll is an updated transcript sent to their receiving school; it is left up to them and their parents to negotiate their return. Even though a spate of research has shown how important pre-release planning is to student success in the community, some states are still releasing students without school or job training placements worked out at all.
States have got to do better. We will highlight states with innovative transition programming in our next newsletter. Meanwhile, Education Week just published an admirably balanced article on this critical issue.
The Great Dropout Problem
NPR station WAMU has a great series looking at the dropout problem from a number of perspectives. A February 28 piece focuses on two young men who are close to graduating, in spite of immense challenges. Listening to them tell their stories reminds me of so many of the kids who have come through the Maya Angelou schools, including the Maya Academy at New Beginnings. Click here to listen to interviews with Christopher Feaster and Travaris Chambers. Christopher, who is finishing up at Marriott Hospitality High School in DC, has overcome years of homelessness. Travaris, who got locked up and was out of school for three years, is now a 22-year-old senior at DCPS's Luke C. Moore Academy. Congrats to both of them, their families, and the teachers who have helped them find success in school.
College Placement Concerns
Researchers at Columbia's Community College Research Center just published a fascinating (and somewhat troubling) paper assessing the validity of the Accuplacer in assigning inbound college freshmen to remedial classes. Their paper shows just how difficult (and oft-misguided) it is to use a one-test-fits-all approach to assessing student performance and readiness. There's a lot to take away from the paper, but one thing is clear: high schools and college placement support teams need to make sure students understand the impact that their performance on the Accuplacer will have on them as they enter college—particularly community colleges and open-enrollment four-year colleges. For these students, preparing for the Accuplacer may, in fact, be more important than prepping for the SAT/ACT. If you don't want to read the paper, here's the New York Times’ take on it: Colleges Misassign Many to Remedial Classes, Studies Find and A Better Chance to Succeed.
This summary report of recent research from the Juvenile Justice Network reinforces a few key points for policy makers and advocates around the country: (a) longer sentences for youth offenders don't reduce recidivism, (b) for most youth offenders, well-structured community placements are more effective at reducing recidivism (and less expensive) than locking teens up in secure settings, and (c) in spite of what many people think, most youth offenders do not go on to become serious adult criminals.
Sam Seidel's book is a great reminder to us all to 'keep it fresh' as we seek ways to engage with disconnected teens. Even if you don't have time to read the book, you should check out his website, hiphopgenius.org, and watch the trailer which is just amazing.
Poetry from young men at New Beginnings, DC's long-term youth correctional facility.