Spring Break
DCPS develops strategies to increase student achievement
Brittany Hutson/Contributing writer
Issue date: 10/19/08 Section: Student Life
The life of 18-year-old Zataunia Heard, a freshman at Trinity College, changed nearly 19 months ago when she discovered that she was pregnant as a senior at McKinley Technology High School in northeast D.C.
"Pregnancy was the last thing on my mind so I don't know why it happened," said Heard, looking away and allowing herself to drift back to that moment. "I knew I didn't want to keep the baby. It was like how could I?"
Heard was scared to go back to McKinley because everyone there knew her as the good girl, she recalled. "I was thinking about what everybody was going to say and think," she said. "But I wanted to go back because I couldn't go to another school and my mother wasn't going to let me dropout."
Heard's story is hardly an isolated one in the District of Columbia. The D.C. Department of Health Statistics shows that in 2005, the District had 64.4 pregnancies per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19. Ward 8 had the highest reported births to teen moms in 2006, according to Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. The Ward reported 211 births to 15 to 19-year-old mothers. Ward 7 followed with a reported number of 198.
According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, less than half of mothers (40 percent) who have a child before the age of 18 graduate from high school. Statistics like these become the motivation behind bills like the Getting Retention and Diplomas Up Among Today's Enrolled Students Act, also known as The GRADUATES Act.
The bill was introduced to the Senate on August 1, 2007 by Senators Harry Reid (D-AR), Patty Murray (D-WA) and Mark Pryor (D-NV). It strives to create a $500 million secondary school innovation fund to support partnerships that would implement innovative strategies in secondary schools to increase student achievement and prepare at-risk students for posts-secondary education and the workforce.
Possible strategies can consist of career and technical education programs, career academies, early college and dual enrollment, creating more personalized and engaging learning communities, expanding the school day and improving learning capabilities in rural schools. The bill is currently at a standstill.
"Pregnancy was the last thing on my mind so I don't know why it happened," said Heard, looking away and allowing herself to drift back to that moment. "I knew I didn't want to keep the baby. It was like how could I?"
Heard was scared to go back to McKinley because everyone there knew her as the good girl, she recalled. "I was thinking about what everybody was going to say and think," she said. "But I wanted to go back because I couldn't go to another school and my mother wasn't going to let me dropout."
Heard's story is hardly an isolated one in the District of Columbia. The D.C. Department of Health Statistics shows that in 2005, the District had 64.4 pregnancies per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19. Ward 8 had the highest reported births to teen moms in 2006, according to Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. The Ward reported 211 births to 15 to 19-year-old mothers. Ward 7 followed with a reported number of 198.
According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, less than half of mothers (40 percent) who have a child before the age of 18 graduate from high school. Statistics like these become the motivation behind bills like the Getting Retention and Diplomas Up Among Today's Enrolled Students Act, also known as The GRADUATES Act.
The bill was introduced to the Senate on August 1, 2007 by Senators Harry Reid (D-AR), Patty Murray (D-WA) and Mark Pryor (D-NV). It strives to create a $500 million secondary school innovation fund to support partnerships that would implement innovative strategies in secondary schools to increase student achievement and prepare at-risk students for posts-secondary education and the workforce.
Possible strategies can consist of career and technical education programs, career academies, early college and dual enrollment, creating more personalized and engaging learning communities, expanding the school day and improving learning capabilities in rural schools. The bill is currently at a standstill.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
KnowMoreSayMore
KnowMoreSayMore
posted 10/20/08 @ 2:11 PM EST
Efforts like the GRADUATES Act are great - but they don't address the root issues.
As many as two-thirds of adolescents who become pregnant were sexually or physically abused some time in their lives. (Continued…)
kitty3075
kitty
posted 11/04/09 @ 6:20 AM EST
Teachers will be subject to revamped evaluations based in part on the new teaching and learning framework, which will deploy a corps of "master teachers" to join principals in assessing instructors. (Continued…)
Post a Comment