Agency:	MSDE	Writer:		
Client:		Producer:		
Project:	News from the Board	Director:		
Title:	October 31, 2012	Art Director:		
Subject:		Medium:		
Job #:		Contact:		
Code #:		Draft:		

VIDEO 		AUDIO	
			
SOT FULL CAROLYN WOOD '12 @ 1ST MARKCOVER WITH HS FILETAPESLATE - NEWS FROM THE BOARD		(nat full)
'It's my pleasure to share with you this afternoon some information concerning the performance of Maryland's high school students...'	
NAT FULL - STUDENTS		(nat full)
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HOLDING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS VIDEOSLATE - OCTOBER 31, 2012		(narrator track)
overall, the graduation rate improved.	
		the latest figures available --	
		for 20-11 --	
FREEZE AND INSERT GRAPHICGRADUATION RATE          2011 - 82.82%     UP .85%          2010 - 81.97%SOURCE: MD DEPT. OF EDUCATION		show the graduation rate bumped up nearly a point.	
		now almost 83-percent -- from 82-percent in 20-10.	
NAT FULL		(nat full)
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HOLDING VIDEO		(narrator track)
data broken into subgroups reveal some success --	
GRADUATION RATE 2011 - 76.09%    AFRICAN AMERICAN 2010 - 74.02%SOURCE: MD DEPT. OF EDUCATION		african american students improved by two points -- up to 76-percent  -- from 74-percent the year prior. 	
NAT FULL 		(nat full)
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GRADUATION RATE 2011 - 71.77%    HISPANIC 2010 - 73.44%SOURCE: MD DEPT. OF EDUCATION		(narrator track)
and they reveal room for improvement.	
		the percentage of hispanic graduates dropped about a point-and-a-half -- to about 72-percent in 2011.	
SOT DONNA STATON '30 @ 1ST MARK		(sot donna staton)
'Do we have any charts or anything to show us why students are dropping out?	
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS		(nat full)
'tba'	
HOLDING VIDEO		(narrator track)
the dropout rate -- 	
		as one might expect with an improving graduation rate -- 	
		declined as well.	
FREEZE AND HOLD GRAPHICDROPOUT RATE:       2011 - 11.22%       2010 - 11.93 %SOURCE - MD DEPT. OF EDUCATION		11.22 percent of seniors in maryland did not graduate in 2011 --	
		down from nearly 12 percent in 2010.	
		but it sparked a major discussion.	
SOT CAROLYN WOODS '30 @ 2ND MARK		(sot carolyn woods)
'Well, i'm going to turn to my colleagues in instruction if I may and see if they'd like to weigh in on that?	
BACKTIME BELOW		(narrator track)
robert murphy of the division of instruction explains how the state views dropout totals.	
SOT ROBERT MURPHY '30 @ 4TH MARK (:10) CG - ROBERT MURPHY         SPECIALIST, SCHOOL COMPLETION         & ALTERNATIVE PROGRAMS(USE CUTS HERE --)		(sot robert murphy)
'So when I look at the reports that we produce annually -- it looks like students are dropping out primarily for three reasons. There's a lack of interest which is normally the largest group -- 	
SOT ROBERT MURPHY (:05 '30 @ 5TH MARKCOVER BOTTOM W/CUT SHOT		(sot robert murphy)
'The second reason is whereabouts unknown, quite frankly, we don't know where these kids are.'	
SOT ROBERT MURPHY '30 @ 6TH MARKCOVER W/CUT SHOT JAMES @ END OF SOT HERE		(sot robert murphy)
'And then the last one is academic and so the student is behind, and so they withdraw because they're behind...'	
		(Donna) 'When it comes to lack of interest, is that something that we just assign as a reason or is that based on an exit interview -- what about that?	
		(Robert) 'uh, traditionally, the process is that there should be an interview conducted, but sometimes kids don't do it, parents don't do it --	
SOT JAMES DEGRAFFENREIDT '30 @ 7TH MARK		(sot james degraffenreidt)
'And how do you discern a difference between lack of interest and academics?	
SOT ROBERT MURPHY '30 @ 8TH MARK		(sot robert murphy)
'I think as far as the definitions are concerned, even from our standpoint, they're a little murky, and how the schools interpret them is a little murky...'	
SOT DONNA STATON		(sot donna staton)
'Do you have any sense whether at the local level, they have a better handle on reasons why students are dropping out?	
		(Robert) 'um, I would suggest that they do... um...'	
SOT ROBERT MURPHY '32 @ 1ST MARKCUT SHOT DONNA '33 @ 1ST MARK		(sot robert murphy)
'... at the end of the day, we don't necessarily touch kids. And I've gone all over the state -- one of the things I consistently hear from kids is 'nobody cares.'	
SOT ROBERT MURPHY '33 @ 2ND MARK		(sot robert murphy)
'I think one of the challenges for me is really dropout INTERVENTION.'	
SOT LILLIAN LOWERY '34 @ 1ST MARKCG - LILLIAN LOWERY         MD SCHOOLS SUP'T.COVER W/'34 @ 2ND MARK - CUT SHOT ROBERT		(sot lillian lowery)
'It falls under the category of 'what gets measured gets done?' So we've been talking about it. And now through the work that Robert Murphy and his team are doing, we're actually trying to formulate ways of capturing these data? The second piece is - with the ESEA flexibility waiver?	
SOT LILLIAN LOWERY '35 @ 1ST MARK		(sot lillian lowery)
'We've got to now account for those students in ways that we haven't before...'	
BOARD CUTS		(narrator track)
of the dropout designations - 'whereabouts unknown'  particularly rankles one board member.	
SOT IVAN WALKS '37 @ 2ND MARKCG - IVAN WALKS         MD BOARD OF EDUCATION		(sot ivan walks)
'if this was someone that we really cared about there would be a category called 'investigation ongoing' or 'missing person' report filed, just so we know that it's not okay for these persons to just disappear...'	
SOT MADHU SIDHU '38 @ 1ST MARKCG - MADHU SIDHU         MD BOARD OF EDUCATION		(sot madhu sidhu)
'Intervention right away, when you talk about the younger kids, you know they're not interested, they get -- I think we can catch a whole lot of them right where they are -- in pre-k -- k...' (quick oq)	
NAT FULL - FILE HIGH SCHOOLERS		(nat full)
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CUT SHOT		(narrator track)
the board heard positive news regarding the high school assessments.	
`FREEZE & GRAPHICHIGH SCHOOL ASSESSMENTS59,608 - 90% MET               EXAM REQUIREMENTS5,669     9.6 % - BRIDGE PLANSOURCE: MD DEPT. OF EDUCATION		the end-of-course tests in english, algebra/data analysis, and biology proved no block to graduation.	
		most students passed tests; about 57-hundred required the bridge plan -- a project-based test of their skills.	
		the government test will be added again next year.	
SLATE - MSDE TV		(NARRATOR TRACK)
THIS HAS BEEN NEWS FROM THE BOARD, WITH MSDE TV.	
FADE TO BLACK		(MUSIC FULL & FADE)