One Successful Way to Help Improve High School Graduation Rates

Improving high school graduation rates, particularly in low-income and high-minority communities, continues to be a challenge.

But some improvements are being seen, particularly in schools and districts that have been smart about who they involve in their efforts to improve.

The Houston Independent School District has generated some positive press for their strategic use of high school graduation coaches like Craig Zeno, who are responsible for helping students to develop and stick to plans to earn enough credits to graduate.

Zeno is successful in part because of his passion and perseverance. Even when students seem to be sabotaging their own success, he doesn’t give up on them, continuing to encourage – and even hound – them until they do what it takes to graduate.

It likely helps, too, that Zeno understands the realities of growing up in hardscrabble neighborhoods, where many young people end up dead, in jail or on drugs. He has overcome negative influences, a tumultuous home life, and extreme poverty. And yet there he is, constantly smiling, encouraging and advocating for his students.

Craig Zeno reminds us that improvement can come – when we honestly and unselfishly share ourselves and our stories with the youth that need us most.