Timely middle-school help

Educational experts vary on an assortment of issues. Yet a majority clearly agree that for most American children who eventually drop out of school, the middle-school years mark a critical, downward turning point. Thus, increasing the graduation rate requires reducing the rate at which middle-school students lose decisive academic ground.

This is a particularly pressing problem in South Carolina, where nearly half of the students entering the ninth grade don't graduate from high school within four years.

That's why the Charleston County School District, in a collaborative effort with the College of Charleston and Communities in Schools, is working to transport the encouraging success of a program from one middle school to another.

As reported in Tuesday's Post and Courier, James Island Middle School's edition of the Middle Grades Acceleration Program (M-GAP) for "overage" students — children who have fallen behind the standard grade level for their ages — has delivered especially positive results. District Superintendent Nancy McGinley even hails that school's version of the program, which provides intensive instruction, tutoring and counseling, as "the Mercedes of M-GAP." The evidence supports her praise: Thirty-three of the 37 students in the program at James Island Middle made up two grades in one year.

An attempt to duplicate that success elsewhere is the next logical step. S.C. Superintendent of Education Jim Rex is helping to fund the program at North Charleston's Brentwood Middle School, one of the 16 state schools that he has designated for participation in the Palmetto Priority Schools project.

David Rawlinson, the Palmetto Priority Schools director, told our reporter the James Island Middle M-GAP program had achieved a sense of community and responsibility. As he put it: "I think we'd be remiss if we didn't investigate programs like this."

Certainly finding what works for middle-school students near the educational point of no return and applying that winning formula on a widespread basis makes sense. Writing off the economic futures of nearly half our state's children by watching them drift away from the education system doesn't.