Business Proposal

Every day, there is a student across the nation that is dropping out of school due to unforeseen circumstances and it is a problem in our society today. All students need to have an education so they have a successful future but that cannot happen if we do not find out what the true problem is and figure out how to fix it before it is too late. Everyone wonders why there is so much unemployment rate or why there are people incarcerated and I believe that is due to them not having the education that they need to have the job that they are looking for that can keep them out of trouble and be successful.

Problem Statement

The overall graduation rate in my local area is at an all-time low of 78%. It shows that students are not focusing on graduation and are distracted by other things outside of school. Whether they come from different backgrounds or have trouble learning and feel that it is a need to dropout because of it, it is detrimental to not only those students who decide that school is not for them but also the economy because high school graduates are important to the economy. There is an opportunity to turn the dropout rate if there people who are willing to help invest in the high risk students that are in need of help and to show them that someone does care about their future.

Data and Research Findings

As I have done major research, I have learned through the staff and students that they know there is a major issue in the system and there is a major disconnect between both staff and students. The school administrators know that Math and English are the main subjects that are prevent students from graduating and they are trying to figure out a different route on how they would go about making sure that all of their students are able to pass those subjects in time for graduation. They have started having people come on campus after school to help students that needed help in certain subjects and tutor them daily which comes out of the schools separate funding that they have. They do plan to raise their graduation rate to 90% in the next 5 years as their goal.

As I have talked to the students, they seemed as though they were having a tough time understanding what was going on in class, or at least a most of them were. Some of the students said that they were getting help from their teachers while others were not which is where the disconnection is between the teacher and the student. I’m sure the teachers think that the students are failing on purpose but in all reality, the students do not comprehend the work that is being given and when they ask for help, most of the time they don’t receive it. These students would like to see change in their school when it comes to their curriculum and making sure that their teachers get the proper training that they need to help them to become successful. Comment by WES WALTER: Delete word. Comment by WES WALTER: Is it the curriculum or is it that they are advancing through lowering classes without having grasped the fundamental foundations that would allow them to succeed?

Proposed Solution

There are three proposed solutions that I have considered to be the top within the charts; they are After School/ Out of School Opportunities, Mentoring, and Educational Technology.

After School/ Out of School Opportunities:

When it comes to these types of programs, there are a lot of good that come out of this. When students attend these types of programs daily throughout their high school years had proven to graduate more often than average students who are having a hard time making it on their own. The students who had also decided to attend after school programs were more than likely to attend college once they graduated high school because they were able to get the help that they needed there to become successful which also made them not want to dropout from school so it helped to continue their education. The only con about this program is that not all students have access to these programs whether it is not in the local area or they don’t have transportation to get to and from the program.

Mentoring:

Most students need a mentor while getting through high school because their peers can be so cruel at times so having someone that can help build their self-esteem can help lay the foundation for the rest of their life and can help them focus more on school more and what needs to be done in order to graduate. They also tend not to want to skip school or get in trouble because they have someone who actually cares about them and with that it helps to improve their grades. The con about mentoring is that they come and go and there may be that one that the student only trusts and if something bad happens to that mentor then there is no telling where the mind of that student will go.

Educational Technology:

Students love using the internet these days so why not use both technology and education together to make the classroom more interesting? Teachers these days are using smartboards in their classrooms that are interactive whiteboards that does not have to deal with chalk or markers. They have started to go away from hard copy books and go with digital books instead in which they can find online on their school website using their login information. The cons about using technology is that the students will get too comfortable using it to the point that they will use it as a crutch for other homework assignments so when test time comes around, they will most likely fail because they were relying on technology to help them with their homework, i.e. Math, instead of taking the time in writing the equations out by hand.

Stakeholder Analysis and Benefits

In the organization set up different individual plays different roles for the smooth running and operation. These divisions of roles assist in avoiding power grid impact (Goodpaster, 2012). In an organization when change is to be implemented or is introduced the members have different ways of responding to them. Response to change in an organization will depend on how it will affect the employees’ salaries, morale, and the direct value to the employee. This research was done in a local high school in California that analyzes reasons why different group or individuals will react to a new challenge in the organization. The research analyzes how the organization will respond on how to improve on the school dropouts. The school is made up of 150 employees. In this research, I compiled on how the group of 150 employees will react to high school dropout in most Ontario high schools. Comment by WES WALTER: Choppy word structure here. Read exactly as written and revise to clarify meaning.

In the research the employees took a relaxed mode when asked their take on the relation to the improvement on school dropout issue. The higher the role in the high school the higher their perception on improvement on school dropout. That is from the head teacher to the lowest. The principal is more positive at ++8 and it slows down has the superiority diminishes to subordinate staffs. This is caused by the fact that in an organization, the superior roles will have to provide reasons for the general failure or success in organization. Additionally, the lower levels of the organization have to answer to the top most superiority authority. As the chain of authority reduces the lesser the concern with responsibility duties. This is explained on the spread sheet of the research; in the school, the head of the departments are never answerable for school dropout level hence the most negative appeal. In the column of head of the department, it is a 1 higher than other levels. The head of department show attitude to change because most of their children are school dropouts.

The deputy principal and teachers who have the role to ensure disciplinary matters in general and in class level can be consulted for the solutions. They offer facts based on the direct student relation on the discipline issues. In the research data analysis teachers who interact with students shows +1 and Deputy Principal +3. The subordinate staff will offer the best solutions as they are specialized in many issues linking organizational duties. On the far end the head of department can pose a major barrier to implementation of plans. Subordinate group have more of a role to play in which they stand between the school and the students who drop out. They play two roles of parenting and maintain their job this can be a double standard. The role played in the improvement in school dropout must be done collectively.

Implementation Methods

There are several ways to implement a successful graduation rate within all high schools across the nation, which are:

1. Prediction: Identifying who are the possible dropouts

2. Intervention: Aiding the vulnerable students

3. Prevention: Altering the issues that faculties governor

4. Recover: Both prevention & intervention does not work

5. Time & Cost

Prediction:

Statistics: Kids who maybe deprived, associates of certain nonage group, knows little English, has learning disabilities, move often and who are overage for their grade.

Domestic household: One parent home, have a parent who did not finish high school, or have older relatives who did not finish high school.

Mature accountabilities: Adolescents who take on mature people such as a parental, or working a full-time job.

Educational experiences: Dropouts have struggled academically: Low grades and low test scores.

Intervention:

Class presence was observed every day while parents were telephoned day-to-day if their student was cutting class. Achievement for Latino through Academic Success counselors connects with the teachers of the students so they are able to get some type of information about what that student is doing is class and how their performance has been and if they have been turning in their homework in a timely manner and would relay this information to the parents so they would have a clear understanding what their child is going through at school. Comment by WES WALTER: Delete extra space here.

Prevention:

The new students that are changing over from middle school to high school are not used to being in a large school and tend to be more intellectually and informally challenging and not all students are up for the task and feel that it is too much for them. If students were to take all of their core classes in a certain part of the campus, then it can definitely help these students fear of not wanting to drop out and help them overcome their challenges.

Recovery:

If prevention and intervention does not work, the next best thing would be that the student would need to use an alternative route for school in order for them to make up their credits so they can be on track to graduate. Not all students are able to focus at the main school that they are assigned to and fall behind so with that being said, they tend to transfer to an alternative school to catch up with their peers so they can get back on track to graduate and transfer back to their main school so they can graduate with their peers.

Time & Cost Comment by WES WALTER: Okay, but what is the estimated cost to actually search the records (cost of man hours) and then to implement the solutions proposed!

It could take at least a year or two to start the process. There are 3,600 students that attend this specific high school and it will be a while for staff to search through each record to identify which student might be at risk for dropping out. As far as funding goes, it will vary on how the school sees fit and how they want to allocate those funds within the school which are given to them by the State and Local Property Taxes.

Reference

Goodpaster, K. E. (2012). Business ethics and stakeholder analysis. Business ethics quarterly, 1(01), 53-73.

Grimble, R., & Wellard, K. (1997). Stakeholder methodologies in natural resource management: a review of principles, contexts, experiences and opportunities. Agricultural systems, 55(2), 173-193.

Interviews with organizational employees on 11/09/16

Interviews with organizational students on 11/09/16

Larson and Rumberger 1995, Gándara et al. (1998). ALAS: Achievement for Latinos through Academic Success

What is your average graduation rate? Causing the graduation rate- Math Causing the graduation rate- English Do you have a plan to grow the rate? 0.78 0.4 0.5 0.9 How is school going for you? Are you having difficulty learning what you are being taught? Are you getting any help from your teachers? Do you believe that the school should change the way they teach their curriculum? 0.8 0.5 0.6 1 Mentoring Professional Development Educational Technology After School/Out of School Opportunities Career and Technology Education 0.62 0.53 0.55000000000000004 0.63 0.5 Graduation rate for School Graduation rate for District Graduation rate for County Graduation rate for State 0.78 0.49 0.34 0.43