69传媒

Seated on risers in the chorus room at Cherokee High School are about a dozen students who鈥攋ust two months into the school year鈥攈ave already missed five days.

Their poor attendance is a red flag signaling to school officials here that those students might want to drop out. That鈥檚 why they were summoned to this meeting.

鈥淲e just want you to back up why you were not here,鈥� Nick Zincone, the 1,800-student school鈥檚 first-ever 鈥済raduation coach,鈥� says to the group, almost pleading with the students to provide some proof that they had acceptable reasons for being absent.

At the end of the session, a few students approach Mr. Zincone to explain why they didn鈥檛 come to school. Some say they were sick and thought they brought excuses. A few are pregnant, Principal Pam Biser notes later, and were either too tired or too sick to attend.

Others seem unimpressed by Mr. Zincone鈥檚 offers of small gift certificates and other incentives to entice them to stay in school. Quickly leaving the room after the group was officially dismissed, a male student wearing a navy-blue T-shirt mutters something about not wanting to 鈥渨aste my time here.鈥�

Still, Mr. Zincone鈥攚ho admits that at least once during his high school years, he could have benefited from having a graduation coach鈥攕ays he feels fulfilled in his new position.

鈥淣ot a day goes by that I don鈥檛 have someone coming in here鈥� asking for help, he says.

鈥楢 Coach Motivates 鈥� A Coach Guides鈥�

The former social studies teacher is part of Georgia鈥檚 highly visible new attempt to increase the state鈥檚 graduation rate.

Rather than giving school counselors or administrators one more task, Gov. Sonny Perdue鈥檚 goal for the program, which was approved by the legislature this year, is to provide every high school in the state with a full-time staff member who would better identify the population of students more likely to quit school and help devise alternative plans for helping them graduate.

鈥淵our sport is high school. And winning is more graduates walking the stage each May,鈥� the Republican governor, who was re-elected last week, told the graduation coaches in early September when they gathered in Atlanta for their first training session. 鈥淚n my experience, a coach isn鈥檛 just someone with a playbook and a whistle. A coach touches lives. A coach motivates, and a coach guides.鈥�

Georgia鈥檚 program, budgeted at $15 million this fiscal year, comes as a variety of efforts across the country are trying to improve students鈥� chances of finishing school. For example, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat who was also re-elected last week, announced a proposal earlier this fall to reduce absenteeism in high schools and cut community college tuition costs to encourage more high school students to attend college.

Other strategies to improve graduation rates include establishing 9th grade 鈥渁cademies,鈥� which are designed to partially shelter freshmen from the distractions of moving into high school and to provide them with extra support during that first year.

In Georgia, Wanda Creel, the state education department鈥檚 director of school improvement, said she knows the state is walking into unfamiliar territory with its graduation-coach program.

鈥淲e鈥檙e kind of being the trailblazer, but it鈥檚 exciting,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e establishing this from the ground up.鈥�

Those taking on the challenge at the local level are finding that flexibility, creativity, and additional resources beyond what the state has provided will be necessary.

鈥淥ne side of me likes this because they are saying, 鈥楬ere鈥檚 the money,鈥欌�� said Frank Petruzielo, the superintendent of the 34,000-student Cherokee County school district, referring to the $200,000 his district is getting from the state for the program. The district supplements that aid with its own contribution to the program in order to pay the five coaches annual salaries of about $70,000.

Still, he cautioned that the program also has the potential to be just another 鈥渜uick-fix model鈥� if school and district leaders don鈥檛 take the problem very seriously.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e not going to solve the dropout problem with one more person,鈥� he said.

The Cherokee County district, located in a rapidly growing suburb less than an hour north of Atlanta, includes Cherokee High and four other high schools, each of which has a graduation coach. Because the district started school earlier than most Georgia systems, administrators here had to act quickly to hire people for the new position and implement a plan for meeting the short-term goals set by the state.

The district鈥檚 tasks include running data reports on fifth-year seniors and 鈥渃redit deficient鈥� students, identifying community organizations or mentors that could help, and setting up 鈥渋ndividual graduation plans鈥� for students in a coach鈥檚 caseload.

An initial statewide report based on the first 20 days of school and submitted to Communities in 69传媒, the nonprofit agency helping to oversee the program, showed that more than 40,000 second- through fourth-year high school students have been identified as being not on schedule to graduate with their classmates.

Meeting Individual Needs

At the southern end of Cherokee County, Debbie Goldberg, the graduation coach at Woodstock High School, has been meeting with an 18-year-old sophomore who has only seven credits toward the 22 he needs for graduation.

The teenager works most nights until midnight, and Ms. Goldberg has advised him to ask his employer if he can cut back his hours, and to enroll in the district鈥檚 evening school so he can make up some credits.

鈥淗e鈥檚 not a lazy child,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e has to make some money.鈥�

Other students, however, she described as 鈥渟poiled, rotten brats,鈥� who might be skipping their early-morning classes only because they don鈥檛 want to get out of bed.

Energetic and friendly, the former science teacher said she has to be a 鈥渃hameleon鈥濃�攁ble to adapt graduation plans to individual student needs.

The state requires graduation coaches to have at least three years鈥� experience working at the secondary school level. But Cherokee County district administrators knew that they would need to offer significantly more than the $40,000 per coach provided by the state鈥攔oughly a first-year teacher鈥檚 salary in the district鈥攖o attract qualified candidates. So the district decided to almost double what it receives from the state to offer the higher salaries.

Jennifer Rippner, Gov. Perdue鈥檚 education adviser, said the governor originally asked the legislature for $55,000 per coach, but that amount was trimmed. She added that she knows local districts need to supplement the amount from the state, and that Bartow County, northeast of Atlanta, has even hired half-time data clerks to help monitor the students deemed at risk and to stay on top of the paperwork.

Following the Law

While the concept of high school graduation coaches has been generally well received in Georgia, some observers and administrators point out that students often lose hope of being successful in school long before they reach 9th grade.

A position statement from the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, the state鈥檚 largest teachers鈥� group, says 鈥渢he 鈥榙ie is cast鈥� on school dropouts very early in their learning careers, well before high school. Much research tells us that failure in the early grades, particularly failure to learn to read by grade 3 is a very high indicator of school dropout.鈥�

Mr. Petruzielo, the Cherokee County superintendent, had similar reactions and instructed the district鈥檚 newly hired coaches to also work with the middle and elementary schools that feed into their high schools.

Mr. Zincone of Cherokee High, for example, has already received a request from one of the district鈥檚 elementary schools to meet with a 13-year-old girl who is asking if she can drop out.

And Etowah High School, also in the county, plans to invite all 8th graders who will feed into the school for at least four visits there this year to help ease their transition into 9th grade.

Gov. Perdue addressed such concerns with a pledge this fall to request another $20 million to $25 million from the state legislature in January for middle school coaches.

The governor has also been especially clear that he wants principals and other administrators to avoid the temptation to use the new staff members for duties other than helping students graduate. Superintendent Petruzielo fully supports Mr. Perdue in that regard.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 want it mucked up by having these people redirected to other things,鈥� Mr. Petruzielo says.

At least one district, though, doesn鈥檛 agree that such a stipulation is necessary. The 22,400-student Fayette County district, south of Atlanta, has appointed graduation coaches, but they are also still teaching classes.

鈥淎re we participating? Yes, but we differ,鈥� said Melinda Berry-Dreisbach, a spokeswoman for the district, adding that many programs are already in place to help keep students in school. She added that Fayette County is not taking the additional state money since new employees were not hired, and that the district鈥檚 plan was approved by the state.

Heather Hedrick, a spokeswoman for the governor, said Mr. Perdue supports local control. But when hearing how Fayette County is approaching its graduation-coach program, she said, 鈥淯nless their graduation rate is 100 percent, we鈥檙e not satisfied.鈥�

Some districts have also struggled to implement the law as the state intends.

鈥淲ith this being a new program, we do have some situations that we are having to work with in order to get people in place that are solely responsible for this job,鈥� said Ms. Creel, the state education department official overseeing the program. 鈥淗owever, it is the exception in most cases that people have responsibilities in addition to their graduation coach duties.鈥�

鈥楨verybody鈥檚 Business鈥�

Establishing this position is not the first action Georgia has taken to improve its high school completion rate. And it shows. In September, the governor鈥檚 office announced that the rate has risen above 70 percent for the first time in state history, climbing from 63.3 percent in the 2003-04 school year to 70.8 percent in 2005-06.

Two years ago, for instance, the state passed a law requiring students to stay in school to keep their driver鈥檚 licenses. And the Georgia Virtual High School, which offers online courses to students across the state, was created in 2005 to give students additional chances to take the courses they need and to pursue advanced courses not offered at their schools.

During the 2004-05 school year, the Georgia education department put a staff member in charge of efforts to increase the state鈥檚 average scores on the SAT.

David Spence, the president of the Southern Regional Education Board, based in Atlanta, said that even if all the graduation coaches do is encourage students to graduate, that鈥檚 more than schools had before.

鈥淚 think there is value in just symbolism,鈥� he said.

Still, he said, the coaches should inspire co-workers as well as struggling students. 鈥淭he key thing that has to happen,鈥� he said, 鈥渋s that completion is everybody鈥檚 business.鈥�