Story Photos
 R.A Long High School Principal Andrew Frost walks through the cafeteria, where he often visits student during the lunch period. Greg Ebersole / The Daily News
|
Frost takes tough approach to improving R.A. Long High graduation rates
Friday, May 30, 2008 9:19 AM PDT
By Carrie Pederson
Printable version
E-mail this articleStudents at R.A. Long High School don’t get away with dawdling to class when Principal Andrew Frost is in the hallway.
“Let’s go. Get to class,” he often calls out at students filing through the hallways.
Frost isn’t just trying to get kids to class on time. He’s trying to get them to graduate on time, too.
Frost, who is finishing up his first year heading up a school with notoriously high dropout rates, says he has tightened discipline, hired an on-time graduation coordinator and emphasized getting freshman off to a good start.
R.A. Long loses about 12 percent of its students every year. With a 55 percent graduate on-time rate, it has one of the lowest on-time graduation rates in the state. The state average is 68 percent.
The Longview district’s goal is to have 85 percent of seniors graduate on time by 2014 to comply with federal No Child Left Behind Act guidelines. R.A. Long would need to improve its graduation rate 5 percent each year to meet that target.
What’s realistic? Frost thinks 70 percent to 75 percent is reachable over the next three to five years.
This year’s graduation rate was not available Friday, and Frost says it will take a while to sharply improve graduation rates.
“It might sounds funny,” he said. But “change in culture is very difficult. Change is difficult and it takes a toll on the person trying to change things.”
Frost said he’s known as a firm disciplinarian.
“(Students) see me as this guy who is like...” Frost stomped his fist on his desk.
At the beginning of the year he banned eating in the hallways, though he backed off this rule to keep students inside during bad weather. He cracked down on the controversial “grinding” dance style at school dances.
“It’s taken time to get to know the students and for them to get to know me,” he said. “As they get to know me they know I am firm, but I want them to be successful.”
For Frost, being in the hallways is a way to show students support. “Every day I talk to them. ‘How are you doing?’ I say ‘Hi,’ ” he said. “I reassure them they can do the work and they are worth the investment from the school and themselves.”
In February Frost designated the school’s Community Liaison, Breanne Skolrud, as the school’s on-time graduation coordinator, a tactic he said worked well to improve graduation rates in his former district, Everett.
“I try to help the student identify what the reason for them not passing the class might be,” said Skolrud, who checks in with struggling students and their teachers once a week and gets them help.
While it’s too early to tell whether Skolrud’s efforts are working, Frost said the staff likes the concept. He wants Skolrud’s efforts to “become part of our culture as a school.”
For him, improving graduation starts in ninth grade, Frost said.
“Freshman year is the most important year for a high school student. Many freshman make long-term decisions about graduating from high school.”
He adds: If they fail early it is difficult to get caught up so taking the time early will pay off to help these students be on track.”
Frost has encouraged freshman to take the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. Although it’s not required until they are sophomores, a great majority of freshmen did, he said.
Freshmen who fail the WASL can take classes to help them pass the test their sophomore year. Passing the reading and writing portions of the test are state graduation requirements.
“If a freshman passes the WASL, they know they have the skills to succeed in school and it will only bolster their desire to complete their high school requirements and graduate,” Frost said.
Frost is also mandating that all freshman take a standard ninth-grade English class, eliminating an alternative course in writing and literature introduced by the faculty two years ago.
Allowing students to choose between required courses “can lead them away from specific learning targets they need to be exposed to,” Frost said.
Will Woodrum, head of the English department, said the faculty introduced the alternative class to give freshmen more choice and ownership over their learning.
“I think over time Mr. Frost didn’t agree with this policy and wanted to go back to a more traditional system” using English I and II, Woodrum said.
The traditional English class is getting new textbooks and should “empower students to take control of their high school careers earlier on because their skill sets will be more advanced,” Woodrum said.
“One of our efforts is to continue to embed reading and writing practices in our core classes. Students will have more skills to read, write and communicate what they have learned,” Frost said.
“Ultimately, this will, we predict, lead to a higher on-time graduation rate for R.A. Long High School,” Woodrum said.
Next year Frost is starting “collaboration teams,” an idea from Mark Morris High School, to enable teachers to share best practices. “This is the number one way to obtain the results we desire,” he said.
Schools can’t eliminate all obstacles to graduation.
Frost says some students are from families of extreme poverty and can’t attend during the day because they are working. Some students are homeless. Some live in unhealthy or unsafe environments where it’s difficult to study and sleep.
But the small minority of students in extremely bad circumstances is not the major hurdle to overcome in improving on-time graduation rates, Frost said. More often, the more difficult battle is getting a students to believe in themselves, he said.
Frost has tried to combat a tendency among students to think a GED is an adequate substitute for a high school diploma. Not only do these students not count in the on-time graduation rate, they miss out on “ a lot of development along the way in high school from lessons and teachers. They need to grow socially and academically.”
Even though students can’t take the GED until age 16, many students enter high school already intent on getting a GED, he said, often following the example of an older sibling or relative. But it’s only a good option only for students who profoundly at-risk, he said.
The first option for student should be “to stay in school, pass classes and change their belief about their ability to learn,” Frost said.
Frost said his motto in life is to “finish strong,” and he tries to be an example for his students.
At an assembly early this year, Frost, a 14-year martial arts student, did a board-breaking demonstration for students.
“Taking a risk in front of the student body was kind of interesting,” he said. But it shows students “who I am, overcoming challenges to do something like breaking a board.”
Even when it’s difficult, “I’m doing what’s right and standing for what’s right,” he said. “Kids need to be educated to move in a productive direction in life.”
Proud Mama wrote on May 30, 2008 8:17 AM:
Jynx wrote on May 30, 2008 9:43 AM:
TDN Bad Boy wrote on May 30, 2008 10:03 AM:
greenbean wrote on May 30, 2008 11:22 AM:
The Answer wrote on May 30, 2008 11:40 AM:
Mama Duck wrote on May 30, 2008 11:43 AM:
TDN Bad Boy wrote on May 30, 2008 1:25 PM:
The Greatful Dad wrote on May 30, 2008 6:12 PM:
duck wrote on May 30, 2008 6:21 PM:
Kay English wrote on May 30, 2008 8:30 PM:
cheney119 wrote on May 30, 2008 10:49 PM:
Past Month's Most Commented Stories