Recommendation: Student Performance

Student performance will improve and parental involvement will increase.

Recommendation

Schools and communities will provide social and health services for students and their parents at centers located in or close to schools and modeled on proven research-based examples to increase student performance and parental involvement with the schools

C. Rationale

Research and practice have shown that student performance is enhanced by parental involvement. Practice in Stark County has demonstrated that the performance of vulnerable students is improved not only by parental involvement but also by the inclusion of social support services with instruction. Several initiatives, both local and national, have been developed to provide vulnerable students with a constellation of support services at the school site or through resource persons working with the student, the student’s family and the school.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation provided a 5 year SPARK grant awarded to Sisters of Charity Foundation of Canton to work with vulnerable children ages 3-5 years old and monitoring children's progress though third grade in Canton City and Minerva Local Schools.  As part of that program, every child receives age appropriate developmental assessments and screenings to identify potential delays at program entry and periodically throughout their time in SPARK. Summary of development and individual learning plans are developed and guide SPARK parent partner home visits.  A parent partner is assigned to each SPARK family to coach and coordinate resources among family, child care, school, and other agencies. The SPARK program has been expanded to Alliance City and the Canton City and Minerva programs will continue indefinitely.

The Care Team Concept developed and implemented at Fairless Junior High School works collaboratively with teachers, public safety officials, mental health clinicians, the court system, and social service agencies to address the needs of students who are not performing adequately. Designed to help students achieve success in both social and educational spheres, the Care Team provides students and parents individual, group and community prevention, intervention and asset building support tailored to individual needs. Care Team has found a broad base of community support and is projected to be implemented in each of the 17 Stark County school districts by 2008.

Since the last assessment there has been a growing countywide consensus around the goals of the P-16 Compact Committee to increase graduation rates and the number and percent of high school graduates continuing on to post-secondary education. The goals of the P-16 Compact Committee have been adopted by several key community organizations including the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce and the United Way of Greater Stark County. Stark County has shown progress toward these goals, however, the county still lags behind the state and the nation in several key educational indicators.

In the 2006-2007 school year, 5 Stark County school districts were rated as “excellent,” 8 were rated as “effective,” and 4 were rated as “continuous improvement.” No Stark County school districts were placed on “academic watch.” This is a marked improvement from the 2000-2001 school year in which Alliance City, Canton City, and Massillon City school districts where placed on “academic watch.” The graduation rates for the 2005-2006 school year in Stark County school districts ranged from a low 73.1% for Canton City to a high of 99.8% for Jackson Local Schools. Stark County school districts, in general, have shown improvement in graduation rates since the last assessment.

Since 2000, the number of Stark County high school graduates going on to college has increased. Although Stark County has a higher graduation rate overall than does the state, a lower percentage of Stark County graduates go on to college than do Ohio graduates. In 2006, as shown in the table below, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of Stark County residents 25 years or older who have college experience and degrees is lower than in Ohio and the United States. Also, Stark County residents attend college or graduate school at a lower percentage than the state or the nation.

Table: National, State, and Stark County Education

Attainment Levels 2006

Table: Population 18 years and older attending College or Graduate School 2006

Although progress has been made and promising practices have been implemented, education remains a critical area for continued improvement.