Grade: D

Indicator:

Boone County continues to have an overall disappointingly low high school completion rate and higher than state average annual dropout rate. Our committee based its grade on the high school completion rate again this year. Centralia, Southern Boone County, and Sturgeon continue to maintain graduation rates of 80% or higher, while Boone County R-IV, Columbia, and Harrisburg are in the 70% range, with Columbia at 70.8%, only one tenth of a percentage point up from last year. The overall county's graduation rate decreased .5%, and remains 5% below Missouri's average.

Baseline Analysis:

According to the KIDS COUNT in Missouri 1999 Data Book, Boone County remains one of the counties with a dropout rate of 6 percent or more, with a reported rate of 6.3% in Columbia for the 1998-99 school year. Also included among the high dropout rate counties are Jackson and Clay County in the Kansas City metro area, St. Louis City and Lincoln Counties in the St. Louis metro area, Greene County in Springfield, and Jasper County in Joplin. Many of the counties with a dropout rate of 6 percent or higher are either experiencing rapid population and/or employment growth.

Analysis of Plausible Interventions:

One significant way to improve the graduation rate and decrease the dropout rate is to look at programs and interventions that have been implemented in comparable communities and evaluate how they might be modified to serve our purposes here in Boone County. The MST (Multi-Systemic Therapy Approach) Model is one that already exists here in Columbia and is touted nationally by Attorney General Janet Reno. Start-up funding for such a model would be an ideal way for Boone County to assist schools with high school completion rates in the 70th percentile.

Also, much involvement and active participation must occur from the student community in order to see results. The old "we know what's best for you" approach has not proven to be effective. We cannot possibly begin to get at the root of this problem without seeking students' input and valuing their opinions when offered.

The ENTIRE community shares the responsibility for our high school dropout problem. Community awareness must be raised and a passion restores for our youth, with special attention being paid to students with disabilities and minority students, who are at even greater risk for dropping out of school for academic, social, and behavioral reasons.

Progress Statement:

Our committee has made little progress in this past year to improve Boone County's dropout rate. One of our constant obstacles continues to be a general lack of concern throughout our county. This prevents us from following through to completion many of our strategies.

Goal:

To increase Boone County's high school graduation rate to 80 percent by the year 2004.

• Continue to seek funding for a pilot MST program in Boone County.

• Merge with two of the other health report card teams (Teenage Pregnancy and Substance Abuse and Prevention) for a more collaborative approach to the related factors that contribute to the dropout rate.

• Develop a more coordinated effort with our Adult Basic Education Program and the Career Center to emphasize alternatives for non-college bound students.

• Continue the relationship between the PEAK Project and our committee to report successes and develop a cooperative network for planning.

• Find ways to work more closely with Centralia, Southern Boone County, and Sturgeon Schools to publicize their good efforts and graduation rates and learn from them in order to model their work on this issue.