Community Capacity for Re-Engagement Centers

We often talk about policies that are needed to address the eduployment crisis without talking about the actual capacities states, districts, and high schools need to develop in order to re-engage and serve over-age and under-credited students. The High School Graduation Initiative has been an important funding stream for districts to do just that.

The National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education, and Families has compiled insights from High School Graduation Initiative grantees into building re-engagement capacity:

Davenport, Iowa: “When working with at-risk students it is crucial to have the extra support staff so teachers can focus on teaching, and the support staff can focus on eliminating barriers to the students' learning. The HSGI project director, case managers, mental health therapist, and School-To-Career coordinator and reengagement paraprofessionals are doing whatever it takes to help students be successful by facilitating credit recovery, recruiting drop-outs, home visits, transporting students to school or to appointments, finding them housing and food assistance and literally sitting with them side-by-side for extra academic support.” - Tedra Holland, HSGI Project Director, Davenport Community Schools – Kimberly Center

Washoe County, Nevada: The county-wide district’s network of Reengagement Centers constitutes the primary outreach and enrollment strategy within the HSGI grant. The Washoe County School District has established six centers, embedded in the community. Staff members reach out to potential students who are not enrolled or are at risk of dropping out. The Centers provide case management to meet immediate physical and social-emotional health needs. Centers operate as “transitional sites” that shepherd students into the educational system. An ongoing evaluation by the district’s Department of Accountability found that, as of February 1, 2013, 1,345 students had re-enrolled via a Center. The evaluation also provides ongoing insights regarding student trajectories, demographics, and differentials by demographic groups, etc.

Massachusetts: Amidst numerous other activities involving multiple districts, the Commonwealth has used its HSGI grant to expand a dropout and recovery work group. This group meets in person twice each year and holds webinars three times each year. Among subgrantees, districts in Springfield, Brockton, and Phoenix Charter are focusing most intensively on outreach and recovery. Adapting the approach of the well-established Boston Reengagement Center, Brockton and Springfield are setting up places to house outreach and recovery.

Pasadena, California: The local school district’s Child Welfare, Attendance and Safety Department (CWAS) has instituted an “attendance recovery week” at the outset of each school year. CWAS staff members (three counselors and four advocates) also conduct ongoing home visits to reengage students to their school of residence/re-enrollment, or to an appropriate community resource such as Pasadena Community College’s Community Education Center, Youth Build, etc. Pasadena also developed an on-line link from the PUSD home page as an easy reference tool to guide parents on the appropriate steps/procedures to re-enroll their student. The project earmarks students identified through “no-show” or “drop” on attendance reports. A second list comprises students formerly with the PUSD, who attended Opportunities For Learning (OFL), who are now no longer enrolled at OFL with whereabouts unknown.

You can learn more about re-engagement centers in the U.S. including Camden, Dayton and Portland  at the NationalLeague of Cities. And check out JFF’s Back on Track Designs.