How Franklin turned dropout rates around

After bailing out of Franklin High School in her senior year, Jennifer Brown is taking courses again and is on track to graduate in the spring.

Brown, who was never actually counted as a dropout, is succeeding because Franklin gave her the chance to work at her own pace in an alternative, off-campus program called the Academic Recovery Center. The 18-year-old is even optimistic about passing geometry, her nemesis in the past.

"I'm actually learning better because I'm doing it myself," she said.

It's these kind of alternative programs that Gov. John Lynch points to when he talks about raising the compulsory school attendance age from 16 to 18. Lynch campaigned for the change when he was first elected in 2004 and again this fall after a bill he strongly supported was defeated in April.

"It allows us to affirmatively and assertively state a goal: that it is important for every child in New Hampshire to get a high school diploma," Lynch said in a brief phone interview last month. Then the state can look at what it takes - from good preschool programs to regional alternative high schools - to make that happen, he said.

More than a dozen states, including California and Texas, already require students to stay until age 18.

Opponents in New Hampshire agree the dropout rate should be reduced. But they say that extra support and programs for struggling students must come first and that raising the compulsory attendance age without them would be pointless.

"The state is not funding schools adequately to the age of 16," Londonderry Superintendent Nathan Greenberg said. "Where is there a guarantee that resources are going to be in place?"

The state Department of Education is asking for about $2 million more in its next budget for dropout prevention and recovery, an amount Lynch supports. Current spending is roughly $25 million, including several federal grants. Whether the proposed increase is enough is certain to be debated vigorously when the Legislature returns this week.

A recent study on high school dropouts paid for by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation found students' reasons for dropping out vary widely. Gifted students drop out because they're bored, while girls often drop out if they become pregnant. Others become tangled in drug use and drinking. One-third say "failing in school" was a major factor.

"For almost all young people, dropping out of high school is not a sudden act, but a gradual process of disengagement," the report concluded. It said most students come to regret the decision.

Five years ago, Franklin High had one of the highest dropout rates in the state, with about 16 percent of students leaving in one year. But a concerted effort and a variety of programs have brought the rate down to about 2 percent.

One approach, financed through a state grant, has cost the school very little. Using a system called Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, the school has been examining school culture, identifying trouble spots and organizing teams to craft solutions that focus on rewards.

Franklin used the system to tackle tardiness. Students who made it to class on time received tickets for good behavior - the high school equivalent of stickers - and when tardiness decreased, administrators organized a school dance.

Other teams work with individual students facing the biggest obstacles - trouble with the law or a need to work to support their families.

The approach has been successful enough that teachers and administrators are being trained to use it in 10 other high schools throughout the state.

Other programs for at-risk youth come with bigger price tags. One computer program called NovaNet provides instruction and testing in different subject areas so students can take courses outside the classroom. Jon Wright, 19, is using NovaNet to complete Algebra II and World Geography while he works at a fast food restaurant. (next page »)