The ADN asked Anchorage School Board candidates about high school graduation rates. One response was that it was a poor metric.
High school graduation is a major milestone on the path to successful adulthood, and a positive predictor of a community’s outcomes for employment, self-sufficiency, economic growth and health. Graduation should and does signify academic and social readiness for the next stages in life and citizenship. That’s why the “90 Percent Graduation by 2020” partnership brings together educators, community service providers, business and faith leaders, as well as many others, to make youths know we have high expectations for them and are there to help them achieve. Together, we urge rigorous academic standards, and help all students acquire the academic, work, social skills and attitudes needed.
That’s why 90 Percent Graduation by 2020 charts the journey from birth to graduation with clear benchmarks, such as kindergarten readiness, steady attendance, academic proficiency and satisfaction of core high school credits. These are predictors of graduation, and we track them to focus on the children who may need more attention to successfully achieve each benchmark.
We begin by getting books to our youngest and assisting parents to launch their toddlers on a lifetime love of reading and learning, get ready for kindergarten, and later read at grade level or beyond. We continue through elementary and middle schools, addressing chronic absenteeism by enrolling kids in before- and after-school programs and connecting them to whatever other help they may need to stay and thrive in school. Children served through this work are now attending school at rates higher than the general population.
And for high-schoolers short on coursework, a rigorous initiative helps the most struggling students recover credits through help in and out of the classroom. Since 2016, 164 students have defied long odds — and in some cases harrowing circumstances — to graduate. They didn’t overcome for the sake of an empty metric. They fought for a diploma that counts and a sense of achievement that lasts.
It’s a false choice to imply that we choose between graduation and learning. The thousands of students, professionals, and volunteers working together as part of 90 Percent Graduation by 2020 are making graduation synonymous with learning, literacy, achievement and preparation for further education and careers.
— Michele Brown, president/CEO, United Way of Anchorage
Sonya Hunte, V.P. of education impact, United Way of Anchorage
Anchorage
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