How Can Educators Stop Teens From Bailing Out On High School? Boost The Performance Of Dismal Middle Schools

According to the California Department of Education more than three out of 10 high school students in California fail to graduate. Harvard University reports that numbers are even worse for Hispanic and African-American students. Much of this disturbing problem starts in the state's poorly performing middle schools.

According to University of Cincinnati education professor H.J. Fannin, academic failure "in students at the middle grades leads to poor and increased dropout rates at the high school level."

In 2005, almost 32 percent of California elementary schools hit the statewide target score of 800 on the state's Academic Performance Index. In contrast, a little more than 20 percent of middle schools scored at or above 800, and only a paltry 12 percent of high schools hit the mark.

A University of Chicago study says that improvements in high school graduation rates may occur if students leave elementary school better prepared academically. However, the lower performance of California middle schools versus elementary schools means that the state's middle schools have acted as a brake against continued student academic improvement, paving the way for higher dropout rates in high school.

To improve middle school and reduce high school dropout rates, policymakers should examine successful middle-school models, especially charter schools.

Charters are public schools free from many of the regulations that hamstring regular public schools.

American Indian Public Charter School is the highest performing middle school in Oakland, with an impressive 2005 API score of 880. Though the student body is low-income and minority, the school is on track to surpass the scores of affluent, white middle schools in the surrounding suburbs.

American Indian has accomplished this feat by using its charter freedom to fashion an outside-the-box-academic-achievement model that works. At American Indian, students are taught all subjects by the same teacher for three consecutive years.

Principal Ben Chavis puts the school's limited resources toward paying his non-union teachers more than the union-negotiated school district salaries.

Spending three years together builds esprit de corps among the students, engendering a feeling of family.

In the classroom, the school deploys a rigorous standards-based curriculum.

Teachers use student scores on state and curriculum tests for diagnostic purposes to spot and repair student weaknesses. The school sets high academic goals for students and staff - and these goals are regularly met. An eyebrow-raising 15 out of 16 American Indian students recently qualified for the Johns Hopkins University national talent search program.

By improving the academic achievement of students dramatically and using its charter-school flexibility to offer small cash prizes to students for yearly perfect attendance, American Indian ensures that students show up to class. The school has a 99.67 percent attendance rate.

These are students who enjoy school, succeed in school and stay in school. No wonder, then, that Gov. Schwarzenegger recently labeled American Indian "an education miracle."

The dismal performance of so many California middle schools has been a key factor in the state's woeful high school dropout rate. For this reason, major change is necessary.

More middle schools need to replicate groundbreaking successful models such as American Indian Public Charter School.