DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
P.O.
SUPTS. MEMO NO.152
August
3, 2007
INFORMATIONAL
|
TO: |
Division Superintendents |
|
FROM: |
Billy K. Cannaday, Jr. Superintendent of Public Instruction |
|
SUBJECT: |
Survey on Initiatives and Counseling
for Students at Risk of Dropping out of School |
The purpose of this memorandum is to
inform you that the survey referenced in
Superintendents Memorandum number, 132, dated July 6, 2007, will be available
for school divisions to complete beginning August 6, 2007. The request for this survey data is required
by Senate Joint Resolution 329. The resolution requests the Board of Education
to study high school dropout and graduation rates in the Commonwealth. A copy
of the Senate resolution may be found at: http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?071+ful+SJ329ER.
Part of the resolution states that in
conducting its study the Board of Education shall:
Ascertain
whether, by whom, and the manner in which students at risk of dropping out are
counseled to remain in school; and
Identify
local school division initiatives and efforts to retain and retrieve students
at risk of dropping out, particularly student populations with low high school
graduation rates.
To meet these requirements, the
Virginia Department of Education has prepared a survey for completion by local
school divisions. The survey will be available
for completion beginning August 6, 2007, using the Virginia Department of
Educations Single Sign-On for Web Systems (SSWS) secure data collection tool,
https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/ssws/login.page.do.
Individuals authorized to complete the survey
must obtain a Single Sign-on Web Systems (SSWS) Login from their school
division SSWS Administrator. The
administrator must provide authorized users with a SSWS Login and give users
permission to access the dropout survey application. A list of school division administrators
can be found at: https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/ssws/sswswebapp/jsp/reports.jsp?report_format=html&report_id=contactlist&applicSystemTypeId=26&applications=SSWS%20Account%20Manager
The deadline for completion of the
survey is August 24, 2007.
In the survey, you are asked to report
the following information:
Strategies
used by your school division to identify students at risk of dropping out of
school;
The programs
and services that are provided to students who are at risk of dropping out, and
to those who have dropped out and returned to school after dropping out;
The methods
of counseling that are provided to students who are at risk of dropping out and
to those who have returned to school after dropping out;
The
qualifications of staff members who are responsible for counseling students at
risk of dropping out, and those who have dropped out and returned to school;
Unique
services provided to student populations in your school division who have high
dropout rates; and
The
activities your school division conducts to retrieve students who have dropped
out in order to bring them back to school.
Questions regarding this survey may be
directed to Tabitha Grossman, high school initiatives specialist, at
804-786-1993 or Dr. Deborah Jonas,
executive director for research and strategic planning, at 804-225-2067, or via e-mail at dropoutsurvey@doe.virginia.gov.
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