Early Learning Workgroup

Charge:  Expand and enhance early learning services in areas of high crime, predominately Zone 1.  In addition, add an overlay of mental health support to existing services. 

Recommendation 1: 
Add 25 more childcare centers for coaching services in Zone 1.

Outcome:  Each year, at least 1000 children will benefit from the newly supported centers.

Recommendation 2:
Provide five early intervention mental health specialists who will support and create social/emotional curricula for all ELC centers in Zone 1. 

Outcome:  Increased use of interactive strategies that promote social and emotional development in young children.

Recommendation 3: 
Increase parent engagement in their child's education in the newly identified Zone 1 centers. Network of churches with the I CARE program will participate; two family activities per year; parental involvement in early learning lays groundwork for future role in child's education.

Outcome:  Positive interaction between parents and providers creates overall healthier results for families.

Recommendation 4: 
Use a rigorous evaluation and accountability system. Data sharing agreements already in place; informed consent obtained; data will be analyzed and shared with stakeholders.

Outcome:  Measurable progress with input from all of the stakeholders at regular intervals.

Net results from high quality early learning:

• Short term studies find children from low-income families demonstrate:
  • Increased Achievement Test Scores
  • Decreased Grade Retention
  • Decreased Special Education
• Long term studies also find:
  • Increased High School Graduation
  • Decreased Crime & Delinquency
    

Expected Annual Cost of Early Learning Workgroup Recommendations:  $2,000,000

Overarching Goal:  All children who enter DCPS should be served by early learning centers, not daycare. 

Truancy & Dropouts Workgroup

Charge:  Last year in Duval County, approximately 2,800 students dropped out of school while approximately 7,000 students missed 20+ days.  Workgroup members were asked to review successful truancy-reduction programs and evaluate existing programs aimed at dropout prevention. 

Recommendation 1: 
Hire and deploy 30 additional Attendance Social Workers.

Outcome:  Truant behavior is an early indicator of economic, social, and/or emotional distress.  Targeted interventions would benefit students and families of truants who are in need of services.  The additional Attendance Social Workers will allow DCPS to reallocate current resources to reduce overall case loads.  Currently, 10 staff members serve approximately 16 schools each.  With our recommendation, staff levels will allow approximately four schools per Attendance Social Worker with additional staff assigned to schools with more chronic truancy.

Recommendation 1B:   
Identification, alignment and coordination of community resources to support elimination of truancy.  Add two full-time social workers to coordinate and apply services to truant students and their families.

Outcome:  Stakeholders and community resources aligned to better serve DCPS schools and families of truant students.

Recommendation 1C:  
Development of a Community Action Truancy Team.  SAO is the lead agency.

Outcome:  Stakeholders and community resources meet biweekly throughout the year to address truancy at an individual and family level.

Recommendation 2:  
Expand successful middle-school dropout prevention program (Achievers for Life) in five at-risk schools in 2008, with additional schools added over the next four years.

Outcome:  Preliminary results at pilot programs in Arlington show impressive improvements in both GPA and attendance, with a 40 percent improvement in attendance being especially noteworthy.  By 2011, Achievers for Life will serve 17 middle schools. More than 16,000 students identified as high risk for dropping out will be redirected towards graduation. In addition, an estimated 5,150 families will receive services and support.  

Recommendation 2B:  
Expand successful transition program from elementary to middle school. The Community Foundation's Making the Move has demonstrated that supported students during this critical transition have better outcomes in attendance, behavior and academic performance.

Outcome:  Results at Kirby-Smith's program are striking:  80 percent of students participated in Making the Move before entering 6th grade.  Discipline referrals dropped 73 percent in the first year alone and have continued to drop.  6500 students will be served in years 3-5 of the program, or 80 percent of all incoming 6th graders at participating middle schools.

Recommendation 2C:  
Evaluate Making the Move pilot at Terry Parker. Ninth grade is one of our last opportunities to turn around students who are at-risk of dropping out.  Currently, 13 of DCPS 18 high schools have graduation rates of 50 percent or less.

Outcome:  The Community Foundation is piloting Making the Move at Terry Parker High School this spring.  If the outcomes are consistent with the success rate at the middle school level, this work group will recommend immediate replication and expansion at other high risk high schools. 

Estimated Initial Annual Cost or Truancy & Dropout Workgroup Recommendations:  $2,860,000
  NOTE:  No dollars are calculated for the  PILOT program at Terry Parker.

Overarching Goal:  The value of preventing a student from dropping out has been quantified as $200,000 per student for our community and $270,000 for the student in lifetime earnings.  We want to see truancy reduced by 50 percent in the next four years and dropouts reduced by the same amount.

School Relevancy Workgroup

Charge:  Find strategies that make classroom learning more engaging, effective and flexible for students with a wide range of abilities, interests and backgrounds. 

Recommendation 1: 
Expand Accelerated Learning Centers to an additional 14 high schools.  The centers assist students in either catching up to their grade level or in credit recovery.  The centers provide access to instructional software while being supported by teachers. 

Outcome:  In FY 2006-2007, 9 percent of students were 2 to 6 years older than their grade level classmates and were designated as "high risk for dropping out."  Accelerated Learning Centers allow students to create a flexible path to graduation without the associated difficulties of being older than their peers.

Recommendation 2: 
Implement strategies for teacher retention and recruitment. Three programs:  financial support for alternative certification, Florida Future Educators of America programs in area high schools, and a community outreach effort to solicit in-kind donations as recruitment tools. 

Recommendation 3:  
Hire five full-time college advisors to identify and coach eligible seniors for The Jacksonville Commitment. 

Outcome:  The Jacksonville Commitment is a citywide partnership among Duval's four colleges aimed at increasing the number of students from low-income families participating in post secondary education. 

Expected Annual Cost of School Relevancy Workgroup Recommendations:  $1,454,500

Overarching Goal:  Access to opportunities to finish high school and compete for college scholarships.  In addition, provide flexibility and relevant education to all students, including those who choose to work immediately after high school.

School Security Workgroup

Charge:  Duval County public schools should be the safest places in our community.

Recommendation 1: 
Bring Full Service Schools (FSS) to complete operating capacity. Current waitlists for services exist at six of seven FSS sites and a five-month delay for students to see a therapist is not uncommon.  An estimated twelve new full-time therapists are required to eliminate the current backlog.

Outcome:  FSS schools currently serve 28,000 students annually and have proven effective in reducing student conduct violations and recidivism.   School student surveys reflect students feel safer in schools with FSS services.  

Recommendation 2: 
Implement the Safe Student in Schools (SSIS) in all area middle and high schools. SSIS targets early intervention with at-risk students before serious conduct violations or criminal activity occurs.  NOTE:  In 2006-2007, the number of school infractions reported was the highest in 15 years.

Outcome:  SSIS is currently under consideration by DCPS and JSO for implementation in 2008-2009.  JSO notes that a similar program (Monitoring At-Risk Students) produced an annual decline in serious student conduct violations until 2004, when the program was suspended.

Recommendation 3: 
Reduce out- of-school suspensions.  In school year 2005-2006, Duval county out-of-school suspensions were double to quadruple those of other urban Florida counties.  In-school rates are also high by comparison. 

Outcome:  Studies show that students are best served within a structured school environment with access to services and professional staff.  Reducing out-of-school suspension will allow social service workers to identify at-risk students and work to decrease infractions.  NOTE:  Property crime increases in areas where high schools utilize out-of-school suspension as a dominant disciplinary tool. 

Recommendation 4: 
Accelerate the implementation of Student Crime Stoppers program in all middle and high schools. 

Outcome:  At no cost to the community, Crime Stoppers allows students to anonymously report criminal activity on their campus. At the national level, resulting arrests are often immediate and effective.

Recommendation 5: 
Expand non-fee based after-school programs with academic enrichment in targeted areas.  Currently, an estimated 25 percent of low-income students are served in supported, high-quality after-school programs.

Outcome:  After-school programs have the greatest impact upon crime, student achievement and attendance when they are offered in the five-day a week model.  Currently, these types of programs are available in eight of the 27 middle schools.  NOTE:  Most juvenile crime occurs in the hours between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Expected Annual Cost of School Security Workgroup Recommendations:  $3,570,000
Note:  No money attached for SSIS currently.

Overarching Goal:  Providing safe, academic services during and after school hours

 

Charge: Work closely with DCPS to outline a policy that would effectively decrease or eliminate OOSS and ISS.  In addition, review the role and efficacy of Duval County's Truancy Centers.

Recommendation 1:
Undertake an expedited but thorough review of Duval's policies and practices on OOSS, ISS and student behavior management.  Compare to other counties with similar student populations.

Outcome:   Implementation of a systemic policy to reduce ISS and OOSS.  Substantial training will be necessary for school leaders, teachers and staff to implement alternative methods for discipline and student management.

Cost:  $60,000

Recommendation 2:
A.  Re-align resources by using four existing Truancy Centers to serve all students serving OOSS for 3-10 days. 
B.  Utilize ISS for students suspended 1-2 days.  ISS would be served at the student's assigned school. 
C.  Create a fifth PILOT OOSS Center with a Public/Private partnership model. 

Outcome:  Students will no longer serve OOSS and will remain in a school setting with the following assets and responsibilities:
   Certified Teacher(s)
   E-Learning + Daily Assignments
   Assessment and Counseling
   Parental Engagement
   Community Service

Cost: TBD