Lynchburg schools look to implement changes to raise scores

Lynchburg City Schools’ officials know there is room for improvement in a new set of graduation-rate statistics released Wednesday, and say the new data will help zero in on students needing extra help.

“We’re not sitting here questioning any data,” said Al Coleman, director of secondary education. “We’re asking where does this data show we need to focus resources in order to improve?”

The new measure, called the On-Time Graduation Rate, is considered more accurate by many educators because it tracks students individually and does not use estimations.

Lynchburg had 72.3 percent of students graduate on time in 2008, a rate that was lower than other area divisions but higher than cities such as Danville, Charlottesville and Roanoke.

“I think it gets at what we need to do as a school division: really look at these students on a student-by-student basis,” Coleman said.

That’s what the division has been doing, he said, citing several programs in place, including GEAR UP, or Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs.

The early-intervention program for students from low-income families provides tutoring, mentoring and college counseling to prepare students for post-secondary education.

Coleman said there’s also an emphasis on ninth-graders’ transition to high school because that is a year where many drop out. He said the division will continue to look at the needs of individual students, noting there has already been progress at Heritage High School in closing the achievement gap.

Both Heritage and E.C. Glass had virtually the same graduation rate of about 72 percent, but E.C. Glass had significant achievement gaps within subgroups while Heritage did not.

“I’m not happy the rate is 72 percent,” said Heritage Principal Mark Miear. “I am pleased there’s no difference in the achievement gap between blacks and whites.”

Heritage was an anomaly in the area’s schools because all subgroups, with the exception of students with disabilities, achieved within 2 percentage points of each other. Students with disabilities had a higher rate than other subgroups.

Miear said Heritage added an enrichment period this year, where students must get assistance in courses they are having trouble with. The school also paired ninth-graders with faculty mentors.

“Two years ago we started an extensive freshman transition program and I think it was even better this year,” he said. “Studies have shown if students are successful in their ninth-grade year they are more likely to graduate.”

At E.C. Glass, administrators also beefed up the ninth-grade transition this school year by assigning students mentors.

“The number one way to attack this graduation issue is to make sure students feel a part of the school. It’s a place they want to go to and they feel like a part of a family there and feel like they want to attend regularly,” Glass principal Kevin Latham said.

Glass represented one of the most dramatic differences between subgroups. For example, the school-wide graduation rate was 72.3 percent, but black students had a rate of 54.4 percent and disadvantaged students a rate of 58.4 percent.

“We do have academic disparity at E.C. Glass and that’s something we’ve been trying to address,” Latham said.

The school, he added, is committed to teaching in a way that works for all students. Within the past year or so, for example, faculty members have been trained in methods that have been proven to increase student achievement.

The bottom line?

“We can beat this problem,” Latham said, “and we will.”