We’ve come together as a district to work on our processes. As we begin the Ninth Grade Academy, we want to instill in our staff that PPM helps students.

— Michelle Everett , Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum Development

South Texas school district Harlingen CISD, determined that the best way they could initiate Process Performance Management in their district was by focusing on the current 14% failure rate for ninth graders. Our #1 priority is to graduate students that can be successful in our society, stated Harlingen High School South Principal, Dr. Joe Rodriquez, and getting them to 10th grade is half the battle.

The new Ninth Grade Academy will open school year 2013-2014 with a new group of freshmen. We have the opportunity to design a holistic program to minimize credit defi ciencies.

HARLINGEN CONSOLIDATED INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT

• Member of APQC’s North Star Community since December 2011

• Located in Harlingen, Texas

• Number of students:18,605 in 28 campuses

• Demographic info:91% Hispanic, 8% White, 1% Other

• 77% Economically disadvantaged

• 13% Limited English profi ciency

APQC EDUCATION NORTH STAR CASE STUDY

HARLINGEN CONSOLIDATED INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICTProcess Improvement for Ninth Grade Success

We need a process that will: 1. Identify the ninth grade students in need of

academic support and; 2. Provide a system of support (SOS) for

students at the Ninth Grade Campus to ensure credit(s) necessary for transition to the tenth grade.

Analyzing the process design and student data drove the team to create a Cause and Effect Diagram that would help them better understand reasons for failing 9th graders, so that their new designs for the academy could work to prevent problems, not just handling them as they occur (See Figure 1 left).

Harlingen instituted a No Repeaters policy to Figure 1

decrease their ninth grade retention rate, so theywanted to ensure the district had a well designedprocess for identifying students who needed help.

123 North Post Oak Lane, Third Floor Houston, TX 77024-7797

800-776-9676 or +1-713-681-4020 Fax +1-713-685-4611

www.apqceducation.org 7.30.2012

Harlingen used Process and Performance Management (PPM) to map their current student intervention process and determine where improvements could be made (see Figure 2 below). The new design is more user friendly, with clearly documented process maps to help

Figure 2

Yes

9th Grade Students

Promotion to 10th Grade

Implement Monitoring Process

Repeat Monitoring Process

ReviewStudent Grades

ReviewStudent Attendance

ReviewStudent Discipline

End of Year Evaluations

Y

Is Student Passing?

Excessive Absence?

Excessive Referrals?

Yes

No

No

No

Yes

Interventions

Interventions

Interventions

Is Student Passing?

Yes

No

Re-EvaluateDetermination

Re-EvaluateDetermination

Re-EvaluateDetermination

9th Grade No Repeaters Process Flow

SecondaryInterventions

Alternative Placement

Summer School

Credit Recovery

teachers and support staff reach students at risk for failing. They also needed a plan for involving parents, communicating across functional boundaries with all school and administrative staff, and monitoring student improvement.

FURTHER PPM PROJECTS FOR NINTH GRADE SUCCESS

Harlingen has other project action teams using PPM to strengthen various different processes in their new Ninth Grade Academy:

• The hiring process with a goal of a 100% certifi ed staff for the academy,

• The curriculum development process with a new project-based program that helps prepare students for college and real life,

• The transportation process with improvements to transportation management software and improving the accuracy of student data for bus routes.

DISTRICT-WIDE PPMAs Harlingen continues to turn their Ninth Grade Academy into a center for student success, they are using PPM for several planned projects and want to instill it as a district-wide policy. They have program directors who will choose 5 projects each year and will train the new Ninth Grade Academy staff on PPM during their summer professional development. Michelle Everett, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum Development states, The Ninth Grade Academy will be the catalyst for the rest of the district.