Twelfth-grade at-risk students who are failing in Public High Schools (PHS) are crying for help because they are frustrated and fearful of not graduating on time. The Education Glossary Reform defines at-risk students as those who “have a higher probability of failing academically or dropping out of school” and are “exposed to harm or danger” (At-Risk. (n.d.). The 12th-grade at-risk students run to their teachers, begging for help to graduate on time with their classmates. Teachers refer the students to their guidance counselors for assistance. The parents of the 12th-grade at-risk students are asking their children, “What are you doing?”, “Why are you failing?”, and “What is wrong with you?”
The 12th-grade at-riskstudents are then left to make hard decisions about their academic lives, which terrifies them. Why is this happening? Traditional Online Credit Recovery Programs (TOCRPs) are not addressing the time factor in raising graduation rates for our at-risk 12th-grade high school students. The Accelerated Online Credit Recovery Programs (AOCRPs) addresses explicitly the time factor that could be an addition to raising graduation rates for at-risk 12th-graders in a faster manner (Vaiana, 2017, p. 46).
An AOCRP is an identifiable and observable way to help at-risk 12th-grade high school students achieve higher on-time graduation rates (Vaiana, 2017, p. 46). Is it fair and wise to state that closing the time gap for at-risk 12th-graders to recover their lost credits would be the ultimate goal for administrators, guidance counselors, and teachers to utilize? (Vaiana, 2017, p. 46). I believe so! Educators working with at-risk 12th-grade high school students struggling to graduate can be given an additional choice of attending an Accelerated Online Credit Recovery Program (alternative school) or allowing at-risk students to continue with a Traditional Online Credit Recovery Program or dropping out of high school with no diploma (Vaiana, 2017, p. 46).
This blog addresses my bias of at-risk 12th-graders being overlooked. It promotes a solution of AOCRPs for at-risk 12th-graders planning to graduate. The AOCRP will empower all at-risk 12th-graders willing to take a leap and accelerate their learning by closing the time factor gap that prevents at-risk 12th-graders from achieving successful graduation outcomes on time with their cohorts. The idea behind implementing AOCRPs is for at-risk 12th graders to leave high school and succeed in their secondary education and personal endeavors of going to college or a trade school. What if you were an at-risk 12th grader who had nine weeks to graduate, what option will you choose: TOCRPs or AOCRPs program?
References
(The glossary of education reform. Retrieved February 5, 2022, from https: //www.edglossary.org.).
Vaiana, B. A. (2017). A quantitative study on credit recovery curricula for improving high school graduation rates. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global.
In response to your question, I would have to choose the accelerated option. My best thought is that the student has already tried the traditional option well before their senior year with graduation right around the corner. Good to know there is an alternative option for those students the traditional option did not work for!