New Federal Formula Expected to Change U City's Graduation Rate Figure

University City Superintendent of Schools Joylynn Pruitt notified school board members at Thursday night's meeting that the U.S. Department of Education has changed the way it calculates graduation rates, which affects University City's figures.

“This will cause University City and other school districts to go back and recalibrate graduation rates they had previously established,” Pruitt said. She gave the example that with the new formula University City’s graduation rate would go from 83 percent to 73 percent. 

"It will appear as though everybody's graduation rate has dropped," Pruitt told University City Patch. "It won't mean that we have not graduated as many kids."

According to a news release from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the new graduation rate will be calculated using the number of students who graduate within four years. Missouri’s current graduation rate allows a student to graduate in more than four years.

“All schools, particularly University City, have to do better in getting kids in and getting kids out,” Pruitt said.

“I’m very concerned about this new federal formula,” said school board member Rick Salamon. “If the game is going to change midstream, that is a serious concern for us,” he added.

School District spokesperson Linda Russell Wesley told Patch the new federal regulation is a different way to calculate existing graduation rates to create a uniform standard nationwide. She noted that under the new federal formula, most high school graduation rates will decrease in Missouri. However, she said it doesn't mean more students are dropping out; it's simply a different way of calculating graduation rates.

"For now, the state has said that it will report both the federal calculation and state calculation when reporting data. It's not yet known what future impact this might have on the state standard for graduation rate that is reported in the Annual Performance Report (APR)," Russell Wesley said.

She stressed that the district's focus remains on student success.

"We want all students to earn a diploma, and we continue to work toward that goal," she said.

Missouri’s 2011 four-year high school graduation rate, which includes University City's new graduation figures, will be made available to the public on Monday.

HOME WORKS!

This semester, three University City Schools implemented a new program in which teachers make home visits with families.

At Thursday’s school board meeting, Karen Kalish, the founder of Home Works! gave a progress report on the program, which is aimed at building bridges between parents and teachers who may not be connecting and communicating effectively.

In the past several months the program has made:

• 52 home visits to families at
• 90 home visits to families at
• 96 home visits to families at

The program, which has been around for four years, trains and pays teachers to go to their students’ homes to forge a relationship with the students' families, raise students' academic achievement and decrease any behavioral issues.

Kalish said the first visit focuses on relationship building and truly listening to the parent and not passing judgment.

“How are you doing? How can we work together? What are your hopes and dreams for your child?”

“It takes years. This is not an overnight success,” said Kalish about a child’s academic progress.

The program is in its fourth year at Maplewood-Richmond Heights. “We’re through at that system,” Kalish said.  “It’s part of the culture now at MRH.”

“Your program sounds terrific to me," said School Board Member Rick Salomon. “My only hope is that we can be as successful in U City as you have been so far,” he added.

“Having this in our schools is a privilege,” school board member Tom Peters said. “You’re a real asset to the district,” school board president Stacy Clay said.

WORK TO BE DONE

Superintendent Joylynn Pruitt said the district is looking for a consultant to work with the algebra and math team to see what can be done to help students do better in that area.

“We are nowhere near where we need to be in mathematics,” Pruitt said.

Currently, the district does not meet state annual performance standards for Algebra 1.

The district has also formed a math committee, which had its first meeting this week.

SMART BOARDS

The School Board Thursday voted unanimously to approve the purchase of 17 SMART Boards at a cost of $48,331.

“It’s imperative we stick to the forefront of technology,” school board member Tom Peters said. However, he said it’s important that the district monitors the board’s usage to make sure teachers are using the technology.