A short piece in Boston’s April 9-16, 2008 freebie weekly dig entitled “80 percent of success is just showing up” cited high school dropout rates in large cities. No surprise, not showing up is a strong predictor for dropping out. Students with with high test scores yet high absence graduate at lower rates than those with low absence and low test scores. The Boston Plan for Excellence factors attendance in its newly developed Composite Learning Index (CLI), creating a risk profile for each student based upon academic and behavioral measures.
Showing up for the boring counts, too. The article included complaints about how teaching to the required MCAS test in Massachusetts has made high school more boring then ever, but the Boston Private Industry Council’s director does not think enough is being done to convince kids that a high school diploma is worth 2 million dollars over a lifetime of income. Interest helps: “’strong teacher-student trust made a difference of five days more of attendance over the year’” [there was no information on how trust was measured], the implication being improved graduation prospects.
So, unless you’ve got the talent to write a best-selling novel and strike it big, the ploddingly simple task of showing up pays off in the long run. We’re back to the hare and tortoise sculptures featured in Copley Square nearby the end of this weekend’s Boston Marathon.
