SUSD’s Digital Advantage Program Continues to Make Strides

The Sunnyside Unified School District revealed this past Friday that about 500 freshman in the district will be rewarded with a free laptop thanks to satisfying the requirements necessary as part of the district’s Digital Advantage program.

Just a little background on the topic – Digital Advantage is part of the district’s Project Graduation.  Project Graduation aims to prevent dropouts and increase graduation rates in the district through providing certain incentives for student’s to stay in school and apply themselves a bit more.

The Digital Advantage is the brainchild of Superintendent Dr. Manuel Isquierdo that rewards students for achieving the ‘four A’s’: Academics, Attendence, Activity and Attitude.  Students who meet a minimum set of requirements in those four categories are eligible for a free laptop.  The requirements are as follows, according to the SUSD website:

• A 95% or better attendence rate
• No more than four absences, no unexcused absences and attendence on the first day of class
• Maintain a 2.5 GPA or higher
• Participate in at one least extracurricular activity
• Good citizenship as seen by having no out-of-school-suspensions.

More details on the program can be found on the SUSD website.

The project arose after a study conducted by John Hopkins University labeled the district as a graduation factory due to it’s dismal 63% graduation rate in 2007.  Research from such studies has shown that the freshman year is the most important as far as keeping young students on track, hence the projects focus on rewarding incoming or established freshmen.

This year alone, the project has given out 1,005 laptops to freshmen and 339 to upperclassmen for a total of 1,344 for the 2009-10 school year. 

Now, I’m not one to rely on non sequitors, but since the program’s inception in 2008 the numbers almost speak for themselves. 

SUSD is the home to most students South Tucson, housing a 87% Hispanic demographic, of which about 33% are ESL learners.  The district’s program is serving not just to up the ante as far as graduation numbers, but to bridge a gap in the digital divide between the computer savvy Americans and the often less-than-fortunate minorities who would otherwise not get a chance like this.

• SUSD set a goal to have the 556 seniors who were on track to graduate in the fall of 2007 graduate in May 2008. In fact, 598 students graduated. Through credit recovery courses, students who were not classified as seniors were able to gain the needed credits to graduate.

 

• Single-period absences for freshmen in spring 2008 were reduced by 67 percent as compared to the second semester of the previous year.

 

• Approximately 20 percent of students in grades 10, 11, and 12 – 456 of 2,863 – earned a 3.5 GPA or higher in 2008-09, which represents a 17 percent increase from the previous year.

 

• SUSD had a record-size graduating class of 715 in 2009, up from 598 graduates in 2008.

 

Not only is the program giving these laptops, but they are creating a network for which to utilize them on campuses, integrating online study halls, wireless internet access on campus, etc.  I wish I had such luxaries during my high school years.

Kudos to the district and Dr. Isquierdo for nipping this in the butt and providing one of the most impressive turnarounds I have heard of from a school district in some time.