Shane Duh, left, Justina ChongTim and Ronson Pua, working in Waianae High School's library on Friday, are among the students who value the Freshman Success Academy, which aims to combat high dropout rates and attendance problems.
Waianae helps
freshmen focusA school program is cutting
the dropout rate and raising grades
Freshmen used to just fade into the bushes at the back of Waianae High School.
Roughly a third of them would fail and have to repeat ninth grade. Many of those ultimately dropped out.
"Historically, out of an average of 500 incoming freshmen, at least 165 to 170 didn't make it to 10th grade," said Principal JoAnn Kumasaka. "We lose so many freshmen. And it's not just at Waianae High School."
This year, that dismal trend is starting to turn around.
Instead of letting its latest crop of ninth-graders melt into anonymity on this crowded, sun-baked campus, the school corralled them into a "Freshman Success Academy." A low fence separates the academy from the rest of the campus. Ninth-graders cannot leave the area. Upperclassmen are kept out.
The school-within-a-school helps the staff keep better track of its youngest students. Students get a double dose of English and math to bring them up to speed. Freshmen are grouped into teams and stay with the same classmates all day, forging personal connections and even friendships with teachers.
The academy is part of the "Talent Development" model designed by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore to transform large high schools plagued by problems with student attendance, discipline, test scores and dropouts.
As the first year of the experiment comes to a close at this Leeward school, things are looking up for Waianae's Class of 2007. From 80 percent to 85 percent of these first-time freshmen are expected to be promoted to 10th grade, up from 66 percent in recent years, Kumasaka said.
More freshmen are showing up for class, rather than "roaming the campus or hiding in the bushes," she said. Fewer are being sent to the office. Referrals for bad behavior plummeted to 139 this year from 405 in the last school year. Grades have improved, with more ninth-graders making the honor roll.
"There were more freshmen on the principals' list than juniors or seniors in the first term," said Asa Yamashita, a teacher and reading coach. "Usually in the freshman year, they are just trying to figure out whether they're coming to school. That was a big turnaround. A lot of students who would have dropped out by Christmastime are still in school."
Ninth grade is considered a make-or-break year by many educators. As students move up from intermediate school, they can get lost in large, impersonal high schools. Many can't handle the tougher course work and are held back. They tend to act up or drift away, sometimes for good.
Nationally, the transition between ninth and 10th grade has become "the largest leak in the education pipeline," according to a Boston College study released this year, "The Education Pipeline in the United States, 1970-2000." Researchers found the attrition rate for students between the two grades has doubled since the mid-1980s, to more than 11 percent in 2001 from less than 5 percent.
In other words, 11 percent of ninth-graders in U.S. public schools didn't show up on the rolls for 10th grade. The researchers pegged the rate at a high of 23.8 percent in Florida, with Hawaii at 15.9 percent.
The problem tends to be worse in schools serving disadvantaged youth. Poverty plagues Waianae, and nearly a quarter of the 1,900 students at Waianae High receive special education, mostly for "specific learning disabilities." Some freshmen arrive years behind academically.
Fourteen-year-old Shane Duh thinks he would have been a prime candidate to fail ninth grade without the academy.
"I really thought I was going to flunk, but the teachers kept helping me and now I'm passing my classes," he said. "Over here, I felt closer to my teachers. It's the closest I got to a teacher, even back to elementary school."
His classmate, Justina ChongTim, has always been a good student, but said the academy has helped her focus.
"We can actually concentrate in class," said ChongTim, who has her sights set on being the first in her family to graduate from college. "The students get the help they need. Our teachers call our parents. Not like in intermediate school. They had no contact with my family."
She believes the personal attention the academy provides could have made a difference for her brothers. One of her younger brothers has just learned he'll have to repeat seventh grade; an older brother was held back in 10th grade, she said.
JoAnn Kumasaka: Referrals for bad behavior have dropped, Waianae High principal says.
The academy isn't universally popular. Some students chafe at the restrictions, from uniform T-shirts to the segregation from upperclassmen."We feel locked up," groused freshman Foncy Suiaunoa, pulling a tortoise-shell comb through her waist-length hair.
"When you come to high school, you look forward to meeting a lot of people," her classmate Sheena Perreira agreed. "Because we're back here, we cannot meet nobody."
Rather than taking six year-long courses, Talent Development freshmen take eight courses, four a semester. Each class meets for about 80 minutes at a time. Students start off with intensive courses designed to get them ready for high school: Strategic Reading, Transition to Advanced Math and Freshman Seminar, which combines social and study skills with career guidance. In the second half of the year, they tackle courses such as algebra.
The other Hawaii public school that is pioneering the Talent Development model, Campbell High School in Ewa Beach, has enjoyed similar results as Waianae. Flossie Steffany, principal of its ninth-grade academy, lauds the program's comprehensive nature in addressing freshmen failure rates.
"This program has worked for us," she said.
"It's really the double dosing of the English and the math that makes the difference," said Laurie Katagiri-Hoshino, Campbell's curriculum coordinator. "That and the fact that students are in teams. They get support continuously from teachers."
Administrators at both schools pursued several grants to fund the program, which cost Waianae $180,000 in materials alone, Kumasaka said. Her school also redeployed staff and school funds, and increased class size to make it work.
"The teacher's day is the same length, but students have a longer school day," said Russ Woolsey, Waianae's registrar. "The kids are getting five more hours of class each week."
Teachers called parents personally when the school year started to introduce them to the academy and invite them to an open house, and saw parental attendance shoot up as a result. Teachers stay in touch with families via personal planners issued to each student.
"What I like is the support from the parents," said team leader Kathy Yamamoto, who is in her ninth year teaching ninth grade. "I've never had so much interaction with parents. It re-sparked my interest in teaching."
The program includes incentives. Students are rewarded with certificates and "mystery field trips" when they meet standards for academics, attendance and behavior. And their team leaders try to cook up activities to keep their side of the campus interesting.
It has been a taxing year for the staff. A low point came during spring break with an electrical fire that has left four classrooms still blackened and empty, but also prompted a flurry of donations.
"I'm emotionally exhausted," Yamamoto said. "It's been a hectic year for us."
On Monday, the freshmen will have their own year-end ceremony to symbolically welcome them to the next step in the Talent Development model: academies arranged along career paths for upperclassmen.
"Hopefully, we made a difference," Yamamoto said. "We see small steps. We'll know at graduation three years from now if it worked out -- if they're graduating with their class and have a post-high school plan."
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Recipe for success
Freshman Success Academy is designed to ease the transition to high school and break the cycle of failure among ninth-graders. Here are highlights of Waianae High School's program, a model created by Johns Hopkins University:>> School-within-a-school: The freshman academy is self-contained on one section of the campus, with its own administrative and teaching staff, fostering personal bonds.
>> Interdisciplinary teams: Roughly 170 students are grouped with teams of four teachers, who work together to ensure the success of each student.
>> Double dose of English and math: Ninth-graders receive 80 minutes of math and English instruction daily.
>> Freshman Seminar: This course gives students information they need to succeed in high school, including social and study skills, computer literacy and career guidance.
>> Family and community partnerships: Teachers communicate regularly with parents. They also reward students with "mystery field trips" and other incentives.
Encouraging results
Results for the 2003-2004 Freshman Success Academy at Waianae High School:Promotion to 10th grade:
80 percent to 85 percent for freshmen in the academy
66 percent of freshmen in previous yearsDaily attendance:
91 percent to 92 percent for Freshman Academy
87 percent the previous yearDiscipline:
139 office referrals for Freshman Academy
405 office referrals the previous year
