As the nation's eleventh largest school district, Dallas Independent School District serves more than 160,000 students who come from homes where 58 different languages are spoken. Operating with a $1 billion dollar budget, DISD employs 18,613 employees including 10,000 teachers in 220 schools.
22 Jan 2001
They Encourage Students To Take More Demanding Courses in High School
Approximately 300 volunteers from the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce have teamed with the Dallas Independent School District to encourage students to take more challenging courses in high school. The initiative has received strong support from the business community. Earlier this month, representatives from 97 companies received training and began meeting with eighth graders in 28 middle schools in the district. The visits will conclude Thursday, January 25.
The visits by Dallas Chamber of Commerce volunteers have been well-received by the students. They understand the importance of choosing the Recommended High School Program, which requires students to take 26 credits before graduation, over the Minimum High School Program which requires students to take only 24 credits before graduation.
"The more advanced graduation plan is not a problem for me," says Malerie Felix, an eighth grade student at Fred Florence Middle School. "I have always wanted to learn another language and enjoy the challenging classes. Actually, anything that will help me be a success in the future is appreciated."
The 45-minute interactive presentation by the Chamber volunteers encourages students to bring forth concerns about the level of difficulty of the Texas Scholars Program. The current class of eighth graders will be the first group of students in Dallas required to pass a new exit-level Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) with more rigorous requirements. Academic subjects to be covered on the test include algebra, geometry, biology, chemistry and physics—all of which are contained in the Texas Scholars/Recommended High School Program.
Beverly Russell, counseling specialist—Dallas Independent School District, says a favorite part of the presentation is when volunteers ask the eighth graders to plan a budget using a hypothetical $2,000 a month income. The students soon realize that money doesn't go far and that they will need better-paying jobs, and better academic skills, to meet all their "wants" and "needs."
According to Russell, the talks from the volunteers serve as the added incentive some students need to understand that the extra effort will better prepare them for the future. Once the volunteers meet with them, the students begin to see that it is better to pass an academically challenging course than to get a higher grade in a less substantial class.
"In today's technology-driven economy, students who do only what they must do to 'get by' are not prepared to enter the world of work," said Gilbert Gerst, chair of the committee that recruited volunteers for the program. "Now, more than ever before, the decisions they make in high school dictate the choices they will have in the future."