Ideas on How to Resolve the Achievement Gap

By Beverly Ho-A-Yun Popek

List of programs and ideas I'd support to lower the dropout rate and increase student achievement.

Here are some programs that I would like to support and implement to lower the dropout rate and increase student achievement:

a. Consistent high standards for all students. For students that can't perform, there needs to be specialized tutoring and other programs to assist students.

b. Keeping the hard to hire schools in communities which get impacted by seniority every year, I would like to work with UESF on various ideas one how to respect the seniority system, yet understand and resolve the critical issue that every year the same schools are impacted by a significant turnover of teachers. This does not allow these schools an ability to gain any footing to progress or provide families a secure and stable education system

c. Providing cultural contexts and showing pathways and careers starting in elementary school. This can be especially customized to African American, Latino, and Pacific Islander Students.

d. Allowing schools to become the "center of communities" that will host services in which community based organizations will provide to assist and enhance families and student health and well-being. This can be especially customized to African American, Latino, and Pacific Islander Families.

e. Restorative justice policies and alternatives to suspensions and expulsions. There are many programs that have shown success. We need to adapt these best practices and implement these policies and programs in the SFUSD.

f. Expansion of credit recovery programs for students. Every student that would like to graduate on time should be given opportunities to do this.

g. Increasing programs offered by third parties to provide students insight to careers and paths beyond high school. Students need to see what opportunities they may have after high school.

h. Proactive engagement plan to address common patterns that lead to dropouts.

i. Wake up calls + examine and see if wake up calls to students would work in our city. New York City had this program with some success. We can have a corporation or foundation sponsor a pilot program.