It’s easy to take a hard line with schoolchildren, forcing them to conform to the standards set by the school system and either pass or fail. That kind of tough love holds all students up to the same standards, but it has also led to an unacceptable number of drop-outs and youth who are disaffected with learning.
A more difficult approach, and one that has been found to lead to a greater rate of success, is to work with students on a personal level to help them reach the goal of high school graduation. We’re glad to see that the Biddeford School District is taking that approach for the students who fall through the cracks of the traditional school system’s offerings.
The district is now in its second year of the Alternative Pathways Classroom program, which serves 30 students in grades 10-12 who are considered “at risk,” meaning they are not on track to graduate. Many of these students have problems that have kept them from finding success in the regular classroom, leading to truancy and crime in their past.
Whatever their situation, these youth are all headed down the wrong path and without an intervention program such as this, they’ve been identified as likely to give up on school entirely. That’s an unacceptable outcome, and this year the instructors expect 20 of their students to graduate. Last year, 10 of them earned their diplomas.
Teachers in this program meet students at their educational level, rather than expecting them to handle the coursework intended for their grade level, and work with them on an individual basis. In addition to the schoolwork, students also obtain paying or non-paying jobs, through which they earn credit. They can also learn about environmental ecology through the University of New England, work on the Biddeford Primary School garden, and pursue boat building studies through the Compass Project in Portland.
The job and job-shadowing through the APC program is an important component, since many students who struggle in school fail to commit themselves to the work because they do not see any practical applications for what they are learning. By taking their education into the workplace, hands-on, they can fully experience the importance of their education while also learning how to be a quality employee.
It’s no secret that a high school diploma is a key component of a successful life, since few without it can ever realize their true earning potential and all will find that its absence is a roadblock over the course of their career. A tough love attitude of shrugging off the losses of students who don’t make the grade in the usual four years of high school doesn’t do anyone any good ”“ not the students, and not society in general.
According to statistics compiled by the nonprofit National Dropout Prevention Center, high school graduates earn $9,245 more per year than dropouts, on average, and dropouts have a significantly higher unemployment rate. Dropping out of school also appears to have a correlation to crime, as statistics show 75 percent of state prison inmates are dropouts, as are 59 percent of federal prison inmates, the NDPC reports.
Programs such as the APC offer the additional direction these students need to reach that goal of earning their diploma, and that’s good for us all, financially and socially.
We hope that even those who find support in this program, but can’t quite get that diploma in time, will have gained enough self-confidence to go on and earn their GED through the adult education program instead of giving up.
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Today’s editorial was written by Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Kristen by calling 282-1535, ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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