Peer Learning Network StrategiestoImproveAttendance: GetSchooled&NYC

October 12, 2011

Agenda
Welcome, Agenda & Hopes for Webinar (15 min) Get Schooled (15-20 min)
Carol Rava Treat

New York City (30-40 min)

Leslie Cornfeld

Handout for Older Teens (10

min)
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Introductions Name Title & Organization City and State One thing you hope to learn in 1 sentence !!

ATTENDANCE WORKS WEBINAR OCT 12, 2011

Our Mission
We aim to motivate and inspire young people through the use of media, technology and popular culture.

Our ultimate goal is to improve high school graduation rates and college success rates.

A Powerful Approach

National Content / Programming (on-air, online, & on the ground)

School Based Engagement Strategies

Reach & Results

Combining engagement and media strategies to affect outcomes

High Levels of Youth Engagement Get Schooled has engaged over 1 million people in the last year The Get MotivatED Challenge had 280,000 people participate in one of the components A recent celebrity text challenge directly engaged more than 350,000 Broad Media Reach Improved Student Outcomes Schools partnering with Get Schooled have seen significant increases in attendance and course passage rates Winning school in the Spring 2011 Attendance Challenge posted 7% attendance increase and sustained it!

Initial focus on two milestones that matter for educational success

Attendance
Underscore attendance as a critical predictor of high school graduation rates Dramatically increase awareness of low attendance rates Create demand for better attendance data collection Improve attendance within Get Schooled network schools Create a blueprint of best practices based on our work within the network

College Affordability
Underscore importance of early FAFSA completion as a predictor for college success Improve early FAFSA completion nationally Improve early FAFSA completion among community college students and low-income high school seniors inside and outside of the network

Attendance is a key predictor of high school graduation

Studies show that attendance is one of the most significant predictors of student achievement and dropping out. Students with more than 20 absences in any given year have only a 19 percent chance of graduating.
Cities And States With Low Graduation Rates Post High Absenteeism Rates In New York City a third of students are absent for a month or more In Baltimore, 41.9% of high school students missed a month or more of school days In the state of Florida, 15% of high school students are out 21 or more days each year In Milwaukee, 74% of students had five or more unexcused absences in a semester In DeKalb County Georgia, 41% of high school students missed five days or more each year

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A different approach to engagement

Competition Everyonerises toachallenge andplaysbetter whenfaced withastronger opponent.

PopCulture Nicki,Trey, Carmelo,and Homerallmay haveasmuch influenceasa parent,peeror principal.

Technology Directto mobile,twitter, Facebook we needtogoto wherekidsare.

Incentives Alittle recognitionfor kidsandadults goesalongway andcanhelp reinforceyour goals.

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Competition motivates
Students love competition and friendly challenges can help everyone improve and tracking progress real-time brings a much-loved gaming element.

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Pop culture excites

Connecting to youth using pop culture singers, actors, movie/tv characters, recognizes the variety of influences in their lives, and helps ensure that youth are surrounded by the education messages that will motivate them.

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Technology connects
Get Schooled uses media both to expand reach exponentially with strategic use of social media tactics and far-reaching traditional efforts (PSAs, web banners, etc.) and to activate target audiences to engage with GS in measurable ways

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Incentives recognize
Rewards and Incentives that Engage and Excite
Scholarships Movie passes Retail gift cards T-shirts, hats, notebooks Teacher supply funds Field trip funds Trophies Celebrity shout-outs Texting opportunity with celebrities Celebrity-driven events Whole-school recognition by inperson celebrity Localized press/blog outreach TV/Radio opportunities

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Outcomes matter most

GShascleargoals(issueawareness,brandawareness,engagementand outcomes),andtrackseveryactivationtogaugeprogressandimpact.
50% 25%

108%

75%

0%

ENGAGEOMETER

100%

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Impact to-date
GSDashboard amonthlyviewofyeartodateandlifetimeperformance.

Early lessons learned inform strategy moving forward

Surround youth with messages everywhere they go

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Always have clear call to action PSAs alone dont work!

Let youth drive the conversation

Give them instant feedback its the Polaroid culture

Be creative motivation doesnt need to cost

Q&A
(Clickonhandicon,orwrite questions)

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Q&A

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Handout for Parents of Older Students

Brief Background How might you use this handout in your work? What would help you use it?
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Contact: Hedy Chang hedy@attendanceworks.org Cecilia Leong cecelia@attendanceworks.org

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