EHE News
AT&T grant combats high school dropout crisis
Two Columbus City Schools to benefit from Ohio State program
View the AT&T video, which features faculty James L. Moore III, Colette Dollarhide, EHE Dean Cheryl Achterberg, Columbus City Schools Superintendent Gene Harris, AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson, graduate students of the Counselor Education program, and students in the high schools. (If you have issues viewing the video, please download the latest version of Adobe Flash Player.)
On December 10, 2008, AT&T Inc. announced a four-year, $380,000 grant awarded to the College of Education and Human Ecology's Student Success Centers as part of the AT&T High School Success program to combat the nation's high school dropout crisis.
With the grant, Associate Professor James L. Moore III and Visiting Assistant Professor Colette Dollarhide, School of Physical Activity and Educational Services, will co-direct program services at Student Success Centers at Linden-McKinley High School and South High School, both Columbus City Schools. The Student Success Centers focus on serving high-risk ninth graders with specialized mentoring, intensive counseling services, career/college advisement, and academic and study skills training.
Graduate students in the College of Education and Human Ecology's Counselor Education program will work with the ninth-grade high school students under the direction of Moore and Dollarhide using research-based programs to encourage scholastic development and increase graduation rates. The graduate students will benefit as they fulfill the field experience requirements for their school counseling master's degrees. The ninth graders will gain through the targeted intervention documented to yield academic success, higher test scores, and improved behavior.
By year three of the program, the grant will permit the graduate students to be serving as many as 100 students at each school.
"We value our partnership with Ohio State and AT&T," said Dr. Gene T. Harris, superintendent and CEO of Columbus Public Schools. "The many caring adult mentors and counselors with the Student Success Centers are helping students improve their success in high school and preparing them with the skills needed to continue academic and career achievement after their high school years."
"AT&T believes private investment to help stem the high school dropout rate is critically important," said Tom Pelto, president, AT&T Ohio. "We're committed to supporting the great work of educators and our local communities to help kids succeed by preparing them for the global economy. We are lending a hand to build and expand these programs and look forward to working with Ohio State and the Columbus schools to help build a brighter future for our youth."
"AT&T has long been one of the university's firmest friends," said Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee. "This strategic gift advances Ohio State's mission to strengthen our communities and improve our schools. Further, this partnership enriches the academic work of our faculty and students. I am grateful to AT&T for its generosity and the good work that it makes possible."
The program outcomes Ohio State's Student Success Centers seek to achieve are:
- Increase high school graduation rates
- Increase rates of on-time promotion to the next grade
- Increase credit accumulation and completion of core courses
- Improve grades and test scores
- Reduce behavior and disciplinary problems
The grant is part of the company's signature initiative, AT&T Aspire, which was announced earlier this year and helps address high school success and workforce readiness.
About AT&T
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company. Its subsidiaries and affiliates, AT&T operating companies, are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. In 2008, AT&T again ranked No. 1 on Fortune magazine's World's Most Admired Telecommunications Company list and No. 1 on America's Most Admired Telecommunications Company list. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com.
AT&T Contact: Caryn Candisky, (216) 822-4548, caryn.b.candisky@att.com
OSU Contact: Andrea Bowlin, (614) 292-6515, abowlin@ehe.osu.edu
xhtml | css | 508 © 2008 The Ohio State University - College of Education and Human Ecology. All Rights Reserved.
If you have trouble accessing this page and need to request an alternate format, contact the webmaster.
