By Dr. Jeffrey Kissinger, Chief Academic Officer Everyone knows when the worldwide pandemic closed schools, students and teachers were thrust into a virtual school environment. But what is less commonly known is online education existed for a long time before the pandemic, and there are a variety of rigorous standards used to evaluate quality in
At Graduation Alliance, helping high school dropouts and at-risk students get back on track to graduation is at the heart of what we do. We provide the pathway to an accredited high school diploma — a 100% online curriculum. But an effective dropout recovery program must do more than provide the pathway. We also provide
At age 20, Elizabeth withdrew from her online high school program. She’d gotten married, had other priorities, and didn’t really feel like her education was going anywhere. She worked a variety of “dead-end” jobs over the next 14 years, but her experience as a security guard for a hospital psychiatric ward inspired her to finish
When Graduation Alliance launched its ENGAGE Attendance Recovery Program in 2020, we created a resource library for our Academic Success Coaches to use with their students. This general list of resources has been a great tool for our team because it provides quick access to resources and community organizations that can help students with academic
Do you have a plan for your district’s 2022 summer school offerings for grades 9-12? Every school district has unique student needs to address, and Graduation Alliance could be a good option for summer course completion for your high school students. Two years into the pandemic, we are still seeing its effects on students. Student
Finding Students Who are Falling Through the Cracks There has been a significant focus over the past two years in the news about students who are “missing” due to the pandemic. However, the students aren’t actually missing — they’re just not showing up to class. In partnership with seven state departments of education and regional
Amanda needed support to graduate from high school. It took more than 20 years, but she finally got the support she needed to earn her diploma. “I dropped out my senior year, which was back in 1998, and I just couldn’t understand the teachers,” Amanda said. “They didn’t want to understand me. … I didn’t
Oftentimes, there are circumstances outside of your control. Zoë moved in with her grandmother during her senior year of high school but was unable to finish high school in her grandmother’s school district. She was stuck. At 20 years old, Zoë was able to finish high school online and enroll in an associate degree program
Strengthening resiliency skills is one of the best things school administrators can do for their students. Over the past two decades, researchers who study K-12 students have linked both academic performance and engagement to student resiliency (Solberg, Davis, & McLemore, 2010). Kelly Hupfeld, in her whitepaper, “Resiliency Skills and Dropout Prevention,” writes, “Finally, students who
Up to 40% of all students struggle with test anxiety, according to a 2010 study published in Educational Psychology. Test anxiety is anxiety surrounding tests or exams and can affect everyone from kindergarteners completing their first assessments to professionals taking licensing exams. What is test anxiety? The American Psychological Association categorizes test anxiety as a