WESTBROOK – No one disputes that Westbrook schools have a problem. The high dropout rate, low test scores and C grade rating from the state’s 2013 report card for all school districts in the state have left residents and school officials trying to figure out how things can improve.

Now, members of the Westbrook Children’s Project, a collaboration among community members, school officials and the United Way of Greater Portland, have been analyzing data from both the country, state and previous school years in Westbrook that could hold the answers to better test scores, attendance and overall achievement for students from cradle to career.

“The ultimate goal of the Children’s Project is when students graduate they are prepared for success. That’s the greatest goal,” said Katie Camplin, the grant writer and community outreach coordinator for Westbrook schools. “The steps along the way are to make them feel safe and supported and make sure they have a place to go to after school and to get them prepared for college.”

This school year kicked off in late August with three main goals: raise achievement, enhance citizenship and expand capacity. The goals are meant to align with the “cradle-to-career” philosophy of finding and addressing problem areas at a younger age and finding anchor points within the community to help students become successful. These would include mentoring programs, internships or community outreach projects.

Marc Gousse, superintendent of Westbrook schools, said connecting students to their community at a younger age has led to higher student success rates later in life, and familiarizes them with different careers, some requiring college degrees and others needing a high school diploma.

“The Westbrook Children’s Project is meant to be aligned with programming and resources we offer in schools and the community,” said Gousse. “We are talking to business and community leaders about how those resources can best support schools. Resources are not dollars and cents, it’s things like in-kind volunteering, come in and do a project.”

But the project goes beyond that, making sure each child is healthy, safe and supported, prepared for school and ready to graduate.

Camplin said information on how to reach these goals lies in the data the Children’s Project team has been collecting for the past few months, including attendance records, at-risk behaviors, test scores and extracurricular activities.

Starting with a compare

-and-contrast report looking at other schools with similar demographics, such as in Lewiston, Bangor and Biddeford, and using previous years’ data collected in Westbrook, Camplin and others begin to form more in-depth questions. For example, if a student isn’t enrolled in extracurriculars, which indicates a drive to succeed, why? Can they not afford to join? Do they not have transportation? How can the school help?

One of the main questions the project aims to answer is how to find strong community connections.

Gousse said when students are motivated by their own interests, they are more apt to succeed. That success overflows to the schools through higher test scores and fewer dropouts. In turn, this can help improve the community by having a more prepared workforce, more leaders and even bring new businesses into the community.

“The first thing a business asks when they are looking to move to an area is, ‘How are the schools?’” Gousse said.

Gousse said in the future, the school may look at having the students choose pathways, much like majors, or expanding on the internship program within the school.

After asking the questions and reviewing the data, the Children’s Project will look at information from partner programs, like STRIVE, the organization behind “cradle to career,” which linked Westbrook to a school in Cincinnati to find out how that school is overcoming similar issues.

These findings could help the Children’s Project come up with ideas for new programs to help drive students toward success, Camplin said.

Camplin said the initiative is “proactive” by focusing on whether elementary-age children are hitting certain targets set by the school and the state. Addressing learning problems at a younger age has the greatest return on educational investment, and helps students graduate on time without scrambling in the last few semesters to make up classes they previously failed or could not take.

Another change coming to the curriculum is life skills, topics such as financial literacy, learning how to pay bills and dressing for an interview.

“The whole social piece needs to be expanded to prepare them for interviews, how to dress, how to network. A lot of businesses said they’ve had challenges with people who are lacking that piece,” said Gousse.

There have been some upsides in the data being collected now. Gousse said of the 140 or more Westbrook High School graduates who started college last fall, “pretty close to all of them” finished the year and many of them did not require any remedial courses.

But, Gousse said, he doesn’t want to “hang his hat” on just one year of data. The project will continue to collect data and acquire a broader pool of information to assess what is working, or hasn’t worked, for a sustained period of time.

Camplin said she hopes to have a report ready by November to initiate more changes to the student learning experience.