Dropout Prevention

Research and Reports. America’s Promise Alliance Founded in 1997, America’s Promise Alliance is a cross-sector partnership of more than 300 corporations, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, and advocacy groups that have made a top priority of ensuring that all young people graduate from high school ready for college, work and life. This comprehensive list of research and reports addresses the latest findings on educational reform measures for student success and dropout prevention.

Bridgeland, John M., John J. Dilulio, Jr., and Karen Burke Morison. The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts.Civic Enterprises, March 2006 Based on a survey of young people who left high school without graduating, this report suggests that circumstances in students’ lives and an inadequate response to those circumstances from the schools led to dropping out. This outcome rang true even when students had career aspirations that require education beyond high school and grades of a C or better. It concludes that while some students drop out because of significant academic challenges, most dropouts are students who could have, and believe they could have, succeeded in school.

Cities in Crisis: A Special Analytic Report on High School Graduation. EPE Research Center, April 1, 2008 This report, released by America"s Promise, examines graduation rates in the school districts serving the nation’s 50 most-populous metropolitan areas in the U.S. Results show that graduation rates are considerably lower in the nation"s largest cities than they are in the average urban locale. Furthermore, there are extreme disparities in a number of the country"s largest metropolitan areas, where students served by suburban systems may be twice as likely as their urban peers to graduate from high school.

Sum, Andrew, Ishwar Khatiwada, and Joseph McLaughlin. The Consequences of Dropping out of High School.Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, October 2009 Researchers at Northeastern University used census and other government data to carry out this study, which tracks the employment, workplace, parenting, and criminal justice experiences of young high school dropouts. Among other findings, the report puts the collective cost to the nation over the working life of each high school dropout at $292,000.

Webinars: Ninth Grade Transition, Dropout Prevention, Early Warning Systems, English Language Learners.National High School Center This collection of Web seminars addresses the subject of dropout prevention from a number of different perspectives. The Leading the Way to a Smooth Ninth Grade Transition webinar draws on research to contextualize the importance of the ninth grade year in terms of dropout prevention and identifies selected strategies to address these issues.