Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014 - 3

EDUCATION WEEK JUNE 5, 2014
Diplomas Count > www.edweek.org/go/dc14
n

At Da Vinci Science High School in Los
Angeles, senior Rafael Rodriguez tries to raise
his heart rate for an experiment in an anatomy,
physiology, and disease class. The school
emphasizes teaching students to "fail productively."

DIGITAL EDITION

David Walter Banks for Education Week

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INSIDE
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6 DATA: Engagement Landscape

10
14

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Spurring Student Success:
It's More Than Academics

An Age-Old Problem Gets New Attention

H
arnessing Peer Power to Navigate College

Motivating Students With Tuition, Cash

California School Draws Lessons

From Failure

20 At San Ysidro High, 'Community' Is Key
22

Measuring Motivation

he nationwide push toward greater school accountability and common standards
has generated a chorus of calls for raising the level of academic rigor in U.S. schools.
More recently, though, has come the realization that academics alone may not be
enough: Students have to want to come to school, work hard, and graduate on time.
And they have to feel capable of achieving their academic goals. The trick for educators is to
figure out how to make that happen.
The new attention to cultivating character traits such as persistence, grit, and self-control in

students also reflects the emergence of new knowledge. As a result of the work of researchers
G
raduation Rate Breaks 80 Percent
such as Stanford University's Carol S. Dweck, Angela L. Duckworth of the University of
Pennsylvania, and others, more educators-and researchers-have come to believe that
strategies for motivating students are within reach.
TABLE: Graduation in the United States

At Da Vinci Science High School in Los Angeles, for example, educators are emphasizing
"productive failure"-the idea that students benefit from failing and then learning to recover as they
work hard to master the concepts that eluded them. (See article, Page 17.)
DATA: Graduation Gaps
Elsewhere, schools and foundations are testing other levers to keep students on track in school:
*The New York City-based Posse Foundation assembles peer groups to support urban, college-bound
students as they make the often-difficult transition from high school to college and then graduation.
(See article, Page 10.)
*The promise of a college scholarship is the carrot being dangled in front of students in Kalamazoo,
Mich.; Syracuse, N.Y.; Oklahoma, and other locations. (See article, Page 14.)
*And, at California's San Ysidro High School, educators have crafted a curriculum that taps into local
cultural resources and focuses on community service. (See article, Page 20.)
Also worth noting this year is a change in the statistical core of the Diplomas Count report. For the first
ON THE COVER (Clockwise from left) Rafael Rodriguez does
time, the original graduation-rate analysis will not be based on the Cumulative Promotion Index, or cpi,
the calculation method pioneered by Christopher B. Swanson, the vice president of Editorial Projects in
pull-ups as part of the same heart-rate experiment at Da Vinci.
Photo by David Walter Bank for Education Week
Education, Education Week's parent company.
Because of a delay in the release of the federal data on which the analysis is based, Diplomas Count
Senior Francisco Merida cuts polycarbonate with a router
2014 instead draws on a recent study from the National Center for Education Statistics, the U.S.
to attach to a robot during an engineering class at Da Vinci.
Department of Education's statistical arm, that uses similar methodology to present national and
Photo by David Walter Bank for Education Week
state graduation rates for the high school class of 2012.
The new federal analysis finds that, for the first time in the nation's history, more than eight in
San Ysidro High School graduate Jennifer Sanchez takes
10 students are completing high school with a diploma. The national graduation rate rose to 81
a blood-pressure reading on a patient at the San Ysidro
percent in 2012, from 78 percent two years earlier.
Health Center just outside of San Diego. Ms. Sanchez
Still, of the 3.8 million students who entered 9th grade in fall 2008, about 760,000 did not
was introduced to the clinic and the health-care field through
graduate on time.
the medical-pathway program at her high school.
And while hefty divides continue to separate white and Asian students from their AfricanAmerican, Latino, and American Indian peers, there is a bright spot: The gains at the naPhoto by Sandy Huffaker for Education Week
tional level were largely driven by improvements among Hispanic and African-American
-THE EDITORS
students.

RESEARCH CENTER
24

This report's coverage of school climate and student engagement is supported in part by grants from the Atlantic
Philanthropies, the NoVo Foundation, the Raikes Foundation, and the California Endowment. Education Week
retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage. The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation provides
support for Diplomas Count.

Copyright ©2014 by Editorial Projects in Education Inc. All rights reserved. No part of
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Diplomas Count - June 5, 2014

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