By Leonard Burrello
More and more students need to make up credits to stay on course toward graduation. The failure to accumulate the credits, especially early in one's academic career, provides the best picture of a potential dropout. And we all know what lacking a high school diploma means in terms of job opportunities and earning power. We found a credit recovery program at Crown Point High School in Indiana that goes beyond the obvious. Here the program is also about redemption. Such programs offer a second chance for the school¡ªand its teachers¡ªto re-engage students who have lost their bond with their classmates, coursework, and mentors, but most importantly, their own future. This program is about discipline. It's about character. It's about persistence. And it's about directing students down a path toward post-school success. Forum director Leonard Burrello spent a day with CRL director Jonathan Haas discussing Crown Point's program philosophy and student orientation process. With a rock solid, technology-driven virtual curriculum covering five subject areas, Haas describes how the CRL carries out its mission from interventions and the referral process, to data collection and student monitoring and counseling. And Haas reviews the software applications that allow CRL programs to flourish.
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