Education Week - September 7, 2022 - 14

tinued, " but if they're not able to do so, then we wanted to
create some flexibility for them. "
Similarly, Arizona high school graduation advocates expect
the state to continue graduation-requirement waivers for seat
time and credit hours for years to come.
" That flexibility is something that came as a result of the
pandemic, and I believe it is something that will continue
because it has been appreciated and welcomed by school
system leaders to deliver instruction more flexibly for graduation, "
said Parra of ALL in Education. " We definitely now
have a moment going forward to really rethink how we support
students and families as a whole and make sure that
when they come to school, that they have all of the supports
and resources that they need to be successful. "
Deeper connections needed
to reengage students
However, Balfanz and others who study dropout causes
argue states and districts need to go well beyond academic
recovery to reignite students' interest in and connection to
school.
" We've got a huge high school crisis, " said Hedy Chang,
the executive director of Attendance Works, a national nonprofit
focused on student absenteeism. Federal data show
that even by the end of the 2020-21 school year, nearly 40
percent of schools did not offer full-time in-person classes,
and researchers, teachers, and students themselves have
found students less engaged during remote learning.
While nearly all schools returned to full-time, in-person
instruction during the 2021-22 school year, schools and individual
students have continued to experience extensive disruptions
from the delta and omicron waves of the pandemic.
Chang said exposures and family or personal illness have
worsened student disengagement and chronic absenteeism
in the last two years.
" You know, kids, when they miss a lot of school, they feel
nervous about coming back because they feel so far behind.
And I think this affects the kids at the secondary [level] in
particular. So if you quarantine for five or 10 or 15 days [during
a semester], they can't figure out how to catch back up to
class, " Chang said. " We've seen a lot of kids leaving [high
school], not just kids who have traditionally struggled. "
Nathan Fochtman of Washington state is one of them.
" I was never a grade-A student or anything, but I was on
track to graduate and I was passing most of my classes " as a
junior in spring 2020, he said. Over the next year of mostly
remote learning, Fochtman said he was less and less able
to concentrate. He stopped participating and eventually
stopped attending video classes. By the time his high school
returned to in-person instruction, he had missed half his senior
year and felt returning to class was " pointless. "
Two years later, Fochtman works as a cashier at Safeway
and is finally earning credits again through an alternative
program in his district. He needs another three credits to
graduate, before he hopes to join a program to earn a welding
associate degree.
Fochtman said schools need to do more to reengage students
who disconnected during the last few years, beyond
just calculating how far behind they are. " I never got [teachers]
messaging me or trying to call my phone to get on schoolwork.
Whenever I joined the [school] Zooms, I didn't participate,
but none of my teachers ever said anything about
it, " he said.
By contrast, Fochtman said the counselor assigned to
him through the alternative program reaches out to find out
what's wrong whenever he misses an assignment or discussion.
" One time, I was going through something with my
dad-he has really bad lung issues-and I was basically ignoring
my counselor for a week, " he said. " He just showed
up at my house. He wanted to make sure everything was fine
and that I'd be able to continue class. "
Both states and districts may need to provide broader and
longer-term supports for high school students in the decade
to come.
" I know people hope there is quick, rapid recovery " for
graduation rates, Balfanz said, " but we know there have been
increases in middle-grades failures, and that itself has been a
predictor of dropping out. So maybe there's enough time for
the kids to recover, but on the other hand, [academic problems]
can be additive. Schools have to prepare [because] ...
there could be quite a long tail to this. "
14 | EDUCATION WEEK | September 7, 2022 | www.edweek.org
-3%
-3%
-2%
-2
-1%
-1
1%
1
NOTE: Data not available for all states in all years; grayed states do not have data available.
2%
2
3%
3
4%
4%
'Graduation Counselors'
Go Door-to Door
To Find Missing Students
By Eesha Pendharkar
Charleston, S.C.
O
n a Tuesday morning, LaTosha Walker
drove along from tree-lined streets with
mansions to trailer parks, from apartment
complexes to single-family homes, on a
mission to reach 20 or so students who've
gone missing from school.
This is how Walker, an enrollment coach for Lowcountry
Acceleration Academy, spends three days a week: hitting
the road to offer students who have dropped out of school
a second chance at graduation through the academy, which
caters to students whose lives don't allow them to put
school first.
" A lot of times, you have to meet the kids where they are, and
they're at the house, " she said. " Sometimes they need a gentle
nudge to encourage them to get back on track. "
That Tuesday, clad in a Lowcountry Acceleration Academy
shirt with a clipboard in hand, Walker knocked on eight doors
in the suburban towns of North Charleston and Hanahan.
Only one person answered.
That door was opened by a school-age boy. " Is he still currently
in school? " Walker called out, seeing the mother in the
background. The mom said she had tried to get her son enrolled
in another alternative school, but had not heard back.
Walker assured her that Lowcountry Acceleration Academy
would get him started on his application that same day.
" Then you can start school as soon as possible, " she said as
she handed the mom a flyer about the school's offerings.
" I feel a good possibility that she will respond because she
actually wants her child in school, " Walker said as she drove
away.
'I can knock on 18 doors
and nobody answers.'
Every week, Walker gets a list from her supervisor at
Lowcountry, which is technically a public charter high
school, of students who have dropped out of or aren't attending
their public school in one of three partner districts:
Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester. She calls, emails, and
texts the families' last known numbers before driving out to
find them in person.
Every day is a new challenge for Walker, who moved to
the Charleston area a year ago. Some days, she makes more
stops on a single street than a mail delivery person. Other
days, she's driving far out of town to rural South Carolina.
" No Trespassing " signs hang on some homes, where she is
not authorized to knock; other times, people appear to be at
home but choose to not answer.
" I can knock on 18 doors and nobody answers. The sucAT-A-GLANCE:
Public School Graduation Changes Between 2019 and 2021

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Education Week - September 7, 2022

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