Our view: Heading off dropouts before they happen

If a student has poor attendance, receives two or more behavioral referrals or fails math or English in middle school without intervention, that student’s chances of graduating drops to 25 percent, said Elisabeth Bocklet, director of marketing and communications for United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County.

“This is an unacceptable statistic and it is within our power to change it,” she added. “Every young person deserves an equal opportunity to reach his or her fullest potential — graduating from high school prepared for college, career and citizenship.”

The Asheville Buncombe Middle Grades Network and United Way will host a GradNation Community Summit to discuss a focus on middle school youth to improve high school graduation rates. Organizers will look at innovative and effective approaches being used across the country.

Participants will share best practices already underway and identify steps for the future, Bocklet said.

An important part of the summit is participation by those outside the educational system. Representatives of nonprofits and the business community will discuss how they can help.

It’s not as if no one has thought about this problem before, or tried to do something about it. The most notable effort is the three-tier Response to Intervention program. High-quality instruction comes first, with additional classes or one-on-one assistance as needed.

But does it work? “In my conversations with educators, RTI seems to be either a smashing success or a haphazard flop,” Rebecca Alber wrote in Edutopia. She says it appears to be vital that both students and teachers are involved.

That’s a good point. While organizations such as the network and United Way can help, no program will work without an active role for those most directly involved, the students and their teachers.

Locally, United Way already has a pilot Community School project at Enka Middle School. Two AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers (Volunteers in Service to America) are coordinating student, family and community projects. Organizations such as the YMCA, Girls on the Run, the Literacy Council and MANNA Food Bank are participating.

Within two years, United Way expects to fully implement the Community School strategy at Enka, Erwin and Asheville middle schools.

“United Way … serves as the ‘backbone’ organization,” Bocklet said. “We act as organizer and facilitator to the process while a number of partners provide the direct services.”

Bocklet has high hopes for the summit. “We hope teachers, families, nonprofits, businesses, elected officials, the faith community and concerned neighbors will join us at the GradNation Community Summit for a morning full of powerful examples of successful strategies — national and local — inspiration and the creation of concrete next steps,” she said.

“This is very much a community partnership.”

It takes a community to build a strong, effective educational system. To that end, the summit is important. Just don’t forget the teachers and students.