This document discusses the high costs of incarcerating juvenile offenders and alternatives to reducing dropout rates. It notes that incarcerating a juvenile costs $115,000 annually, while educating a student costs $8,000-$10,000. Nearly 90% of juvenile offenders are school dropouts. The document then lists common reasons students give for dropping out and suggests that online learning systems like Aplusanywhere could help at-risk students by offering independent, self-paced study of subjects like math, reading, and science.

1. © 2010 by Angie Hunt. This material may be reproduced in whole or part
for educational purposes only provided that the author is credited.

2.  the cost to taxpayers of each young person confined in a
juvenile institution amounts to approximately $115,000
per year of incarceration.
 90% of the young people who commit crimes requiring
sentencing to juvenile institutions are school dropouts.
 Louisiana, on average gives a school approximately
$8,000 to $10,000 a year per pupil.
 It costs over 10 times more to put a child in jail
than it does to teach them!!!

3.  47% said classes were not interesting
 43% missed too many days to catch up
 45% entered high school poorly prepared by their
earlier schooling
 69% said they were not motivated to work hard
 35% said they were failing
 32% said they left to get a job
 25% left to become parents
 22% left to take care of a relative
 Two-thirds said they would have tried harder if more was
expected from them.
http://www.suite101.com/content/dropouts-give-reasons-a8681#ixzz168SxadAF

4. http://www.amered.com/aec_quick_view_demo.php

5.  train teachers on the benefits and components of
the Aplusanywhere system. Aplusanywhere
(A+LS) is an online, educational learning system
that can help teach and remediate skills to lower
skilled students, overage students and students
who are absent, for any reason.
 Curriculum includes: math, language usage,
building vocabulary, reading, social studies,
science, world languages, and more…
http://www.amered.com/index.php

6.  Online, independent study.
 Proven record of helping at-risk students, and students
who have failed classes.
 Works well with special education students with
learning disabilities.
 Allows for differentiated instruction.
 Incorporates easy to understand lessons/directions and
examples that holds the student’s interest.
Great reviews from the National Dropout
Prevention Center/Network.

7.  Auto grading!!!
 Based on state standards
 Progress reports can be generated for teachers, students
and parents.
 Teachers can act as facilitator, freeing them to move
around more and address more student needs.
 Students can review lessons as many times as necessary
to master skills, allowing them to work at their own
pace.
 Program can be accessed at home, benefitting students
who may be ill.

8. successfully create an individual learning prescription
(including related activities for mastery) using the
Aplusanywhere system.
analyze student data reports generated by the
Aplusanywhere system.
create lesson plans related to the program, including
classwork/homework assignments.
collaborate on ways to introduce skills, facilitate
learning and/or brainstorm ways to incorporate system
into current curriculum.