High School Dropouts Targeted by CTA IFT Positive Deviance Grant: Merced Teachers Meet with School-Community to End Dropouts

Merced Union High School District teachers, administrators, school board members, and community leaders have joined forces to learn why some students succeed despite the odds. MUHSD teachers and district administrators have teamed with the California Teachers Association's Institute for Teaching (IFT) to implement an IFT grant to bring a Positive Deviance project to reduce dropouts in Merced High School. Click here for more information on Positive Deviance (PD). Teachers with school-community stakeholders met on February 26, 2009, to begin learning about the PD Approach and develop a plan of action to end student dropouts. According to MUHSD Teachers Association President Sheila Whitley, the Positive Deviance project is based on a fundamental idea: "In every high school   there are students that are practicing behaviors that are keeping them in school. In every high school there are teachers, administrators, parents and community members who are practicing behaviors that are keeping students in school." Whitley, a mathematics teacher at Merced High School, adds, "Unfortunately, school reform measures have generally ignored what is working in our schools, why students remain in school, and the educational practices that increase graduation rates." The Positive Deviance Grant is designed around the concept that the most efficient way to improve our schools and reduce the dropout rate is to use locally homegrown available, sustainable, and effective approaches. "We applied for the grant because we liked the idea that Positive Deviance is a strength-based approach," says Whitley. She believes that too often, school reform initiatives frame the dropout challenge around teacher, parent, and student deficiencies. "As a result, we have become experts on the problem, but we still know little about solutions or strategies to reduce high school dropouts." Paul Chambers, a staff member of the California Teachers Association, appreciates the approach being promoted by his organization's Institute for Teaching. "Policy makers and elected officials have created an environment where teachers are frustrated, parents are disenchanted, and issues are politicized," says Chambers. He is hopeful that the CTA IFT project will yield positive results so that this new and unique approach to school improvement can be applied throughout California.