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How relationships can determine graduation rate by Edward Garcia, Vice-President of Children & Youth Services, and Zeeleena Wise, Éxito Coordinator The Importance of Relationships Éxito means success in Spanish. Éxito creates pathways to success for students by nurturing relationships with them, their families, and with faculty and administrators at Edison High School. Research has shown that after-school programs encourage relationship building also encourage students to believe in themselves as they feel supported by a network of adults. The relationships they form within the program, whether with instructors, coordinators, or case managers, are often the most positive and rewarding in their lives. These relationships provide vital resources for overcoming personal and educational barriers. The Primary Client Management Component: Éxito in the Home
Many students enter our program with a feeling of powerlessness: that “life happens” irrespective of their wishes, needs or choices. They find it difficult to connect the lessons they receive in school and with the daily realities they face at home. Our program is aligned with strong home-based services that act as a support for students and families, as well as the school’s often overworked and under resourced social services department. PCMs assess our students’ needs and connect them to appropriate referrals in supportive services. They also motivate the students to make progress toward their educational and employment goals. PCMs also meet regularly with other Éxito staff and coordinators in order to communicate a student’s needs and progress. They remain with referred students and families throughout their participation in the program, as well as assisting them with the transition to future pursuits. We have found that students in our program that work with PCMs exhibit markedly higher educational performance.
Éxito and the Wider Community: Creating Opportunities for Success
Éxito students benefit from exposure to a variety of choices. Encouragement and support from local businesses have helped to instill confidence in students’ ability to achieve. Students are linked to the broader Philadelphia community through multiple channels. Corporate supporters such as PECO, Comcast, and Wachovia have provided our students with both summer jobs and material resources for their entrepreneurship learning. Local leaders have offered employment and internship opportunities and have shared their experience as guest speakers, project evaluators, and program consultants. Students receive constructive critical feedback regarding their efforts and learn directly from those who have achieved success in the students’ desired fields. Students also interact through service learning--volunteering at food pantries, neighborhood clean-ups and other activities instill a sense of responsibility and duty to their communities. Career Exploration: Multiple Pathways to Success Éxito has evolved significantly over the past few years. First introduced as a dual academic/entrepreneurship program, we have expanded to meet evolving student needs. We evaluate our program continuously to improve service delivery. Students told us through surveys in 2008 they wanted more control of their futures and career pathways. When varied our program offerings and breadth of real world experiences we saw a significant increase in program retention and educational motivation.
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Through our current approach, we expose students to a wider diversity of career choices through Project-based Learning (PBL). Every project is student-driven, while also incorporating literacy, numeracy, cooperation and other academic and life skills. The driving idea behind student led and carefully constructed PBL is that if students are motivated and engaged in projects that incorporate academics, 21st Century skill building and real world employment experiences then the learning and comprehension in all three areas is increased. Éxito has given students the opportunity to explore careers in Photojournalism, Culinary Skills, Graphic Arts, Sciences and Entrepreneurship through our project-based learning curricula and has led to many students pursuing post secondary goals directly related to those experiences.. Our Accomplishments Our students can boast of a number of accomplishments last year. Students who struggled academically at the beginning of our program improved their grades and school attendance. Independent research conducted by research For Action on the Exito program found that 67% of the Exito 9th graders who had high risk factors in eighth grade passed math while only 33% of the comparison group with similar risk factors passed Math in Ninth grade. For attendance the Exito program also had significant results. The research showed that Exito students who had PCMs attended school an average of 7 additional days in ninth grade than students who did not attend the program. In addition, many students who entered the program while involved in the criminal justice system were able to receive the social services needed to successfully transition out of their legal troubles. During the summer, Éxito students earned the chance to participate in the Summer Workready Program, which provided them with paid work experiences in banking, entrepreneurship, gardening, culinary arts, visual art, and photojournalism. These experiences reinforced the math and literacy lessons learned during the school year while also giving them the vital workplace skills that they will need after they have earned their degrees. 41 Éxito students completed projects representative of their chosen subjects, including a newsletter, a recipe book, a community garden and a mural. Each six week project was taught by a professional, under whose guidance students engaged confidently in hands on, cooperation based activities. Students worked diligently to complete their final projects and were proud of their accomplishments. At the conclusion of the WorkReady Program, Éxito students won several of PYN’s Citywide Competitions, taking first and third places for Culinary Arts and Mechanics, respectively.
View Research For Action's full findings for Éxito
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