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Crook County Graduation

Crook County School District
Graduation Equity Improvement Project

Program Timeline: August 2021 - July 2023
PROJECT AIM
Designate a staff member to provide individualized support, resources, and services for freshmen and sophomore students who are exhibiting signs of being off-track for graduation.  
 
The Crook County School District is a rural school district in Central Oregon that is dedicated to promoting equity and achievement for all our students and families. Currently, our economically disadvantaged students are graduating at a lower rate than their non-economically advantaged peers. This project seeks to pilot an early intervention graduate coaching model to provide resources and support for freshmen and sophomores that are  showing early warning signs of potentially not graduating.  

We currently have a graduation coach position who works specifically with students in their senior year who are not on-track to graduate and are in jeopardy of becoming a dropout. The graduation coach identifies the unique needs of the student and then tailors support services and resources to their individual needs of the student and family. These resources range from connecting the student to our Family Access Network advocate, weekly check-ins at the student's home, or facilitating social and emotional supports. In addition, the graduation coach closely monitors the student's academic progress and formulates a plan for the student to earn all the necessary credit needed to graduate. While successful, due to the significant total number and needs of our off-track seniors, this model has been unable to expand to serve our off-track underclassmen students.

 

2020-2024 Regional Health Improvement Plan Priority Area

Address Poverty and Enhance
Self-Sufficiency

Future State Measure

Increase graduation rates among youth experiencing economic disadvantage.

Project Details

Priority Area and Organizations Involved

What We Want to Accomplish

 
This project is desperately needed in Crook County as our school district currently has the lowest graduation rates in the region for economically disadvantaged students (Crook County: 73%, Deschutes County: 74.3%, Jefferson County: 80.4%). The impact of dropping out of school has far-reaching economic and social consequences for both the individual student, their family, as well as our local community. Early support of at-risk students will allow our school district to provide timelier academic, social, and emotional supports for at-risk students while there is still  adequate time to intervene. Creating a position designated to provide individualized support for off-track students during their early high school years will certainly lead to improved graduation outcomes, specifically for our economically disadvantaged students. In addition, each off-track student has unique set of barriers that are preventing academic success. Working with students and families to identify and remove their barriers requires a tremendous degree of time, effort, and relationship building. Establishing a graduation coach position that is designated for freshmen and sophomore students is an essential step to reducing the inequity within our graduation outcomes. This position will provide the early individualized investment with these students and families that will eventually lead to improved graduation outcomes.
 
 

Project Description

 
The Crook County School District Graduation Equity Improvement Project will seek to collaborate with the Central Oregon Health Council to establish a new model that provides a graduation coach for our freshmen and sophomore students. By providing this resource and support earlier in a student's high school career, fewer students will need intensive support their senior year. We believe that by having a position designated to support off-track students during their early high school years we will prevent students from falling behind in credits and therefore increase our school district's graduation rate, particularly among those students and families who are economically disadvantaged. 
 

Equity and This Project

Historically marginalized community groups can often run into barriers navigating the bureaucracy of the  American school system. The proposed graduation coach would serve as a liaison for families to help navigate any cultural or linguistic barriers that may be preventing a student from finding academic success as well as connect students and families with any additional social support services that are needed. 

Additionally, at the core of this proposed project is incorporating both parent & student voices. As we work with current off-track students & their families, parents often explain that their teenager rarely shares any academic deficiencies with their family or that parents simply do not know the best way to get their student back on track. We also reviewed the previous two years of our CCSD Parent Survey, finding that a vast number of our parent stakeholders are desperately desiring additional individualized support for their student. As part of this project, we will continue to seek parent input & refine our support practices based on annual feedback. Moreover, we will seek to match all off-track students with model upperclassmen for mentoring through our Link Crew program. 

By providing families from historically underrepresented populations a position designated to support their unique needs, this project will certainly promote equity amongst Crook County's most disadvantaged students.

 Equity
 
Objectives
Increase the graduation rates for economically disadvantaged students by providing individualized support and monitoring student progress throughout their Freshmen and Sophomore year. 
 
 
Off-track, economically disadvantaged CCSD students report feeling supported by school staff. 
 
 
Increase the overall Crook County School District graduation rate for economically disadvantaged students. 
 
Reporting Timeline
A progress report for this project will be available in February 2022.
 
A final report for this project will be due August 2022.
Please check back under "What We're Learning" to see the outcomes of this project after the final report is submitted.