Baptist Hill High School is a local public school in one of the more economically depressed areas in our county. The area is predominantly black, entirely rural and very closely related (everyone is someone’s cousin or aunt/uncle - fairly typical in the southern rural communities). Without any change in population, demographic or local economy, they went from a 30% graduation rate to over 70% in a few short years.
Given that every factor outside of the school remained unchanged, what accounts for this unusual turnaround? Some details are provided in the article, but if that’s all there is to it, why do we still have schools here and elsewhere maintaining graduation rates in the 30% range?
http://www.wcbd.com/midatlantic/cbd/news.apx.-content-articles-CBD-2008-04-01-0028.html
A new report shows some of the nation’s largest cites are getting a failing grade when it comes to graduation rates. News 2 checked rates here in the Lowcountry. According to the 2007 State Report Card: Berkeley county has a 68-percent graduation rate; 61-percent in Charleston county; 64-percent in Dorchester District 2; 59-percent in Dorchester District 4; and 78-percent in Georgetown county. Based on the 2006-2007 school year, in Charleston county, Academic Magnet had the highest graduation rate of 100%, while North Charleston High School had the lowest of 35.3%.
News 2 visited Baptist Hill High School in Hollywood, a school that was once in the same boat as North Charleston High School, but is now sailing to greater heights. Baptist Hill is breaking that declining cycle. Dr. James Winbush, a third year principal at Baptist Hill says thanks to hardworking staff and students, and prevention programs they have made significant progress. He says, “Because of hard work and diligence, we’ve come along way. A few years ago, we had a graduation rate of about 30-percent. Right now as of last year we had a graduation rate of 71 percent.” Dr. Winbush says because of programs, hardworking students and staff, this title one school with 429 students, has its eyes set on a number one goal. He says the focus is on accountability, tracking students, and keeping tabs on those who leave school. A typical graduation class has around 80 student, and making sure all students graduate is a top priority. Winbush says, “Putting in programs where students who have missed credits or failed credits being able to recover those credits in the summer or after school.”
Twelfth grader Michal Taylor says staying in school can be a struggle. He says, “Right now, I’m doing much better. I was struggling a little bit since the 9th grade, but my grades have improved since 9th grade.” Michal credits programs at Baptist Hill for helping him stay the course. He says, “We had a tutorial program that the students can stay and get extra tutoring from teachers that need help from teachers. To me it’s made a lot of difference and improved my grade and makes me want to stay.” Twelfth grader Edith Jenkins says it allows her to keep her eyes on a bigger prize. She says, “I thought about me being the first person in my family to go to college in my family.” While the graduation numbers are improving, for these students the journey to success continues well beyond walking across the high school graduation stage. Michael Taylor says, “I think that’s a great improvement. It shows if we try hard enough anybody achieve anything.”
School districts have started several programs to increase graduation rates. In Charleston county, M-GAP and E-GAP programs are used to bridge the gap between early, middle, and secondary education. There are also programs targeting at-risk students, and programs aimed at middle school reform. In Berkeley county, all 9th graders now have I-G-P-S, that’s Individual Graduation Plans, and next year the district will implement a Star Academy to reduce the number of over-age 8th grade students at risk of dropping out.
The State Department of Education says right now they have ten different formulas used to calculate graduation rates. Tuesday, the federal government announced a plan to adopt a uniformed formula for all states, which is something South Carolina has been pushing for.