Grad Nation

New Resource Available to Help Reverse High School Dropout Crisis

A valuable new resource is now available for communities and organizations working to reduce high school dropout rates. Grad Nation, a first-of-its-kind research-based guidebook and toolkit commissioned by America's Promise Alliance, offers solutions and tools all communities and sectors can use to engage and support young people through high school—preparing them for college, work, and life.

With more than one million students dropping out of high school each year, Grad Nation presents a compelling case for those in schools, businesses, and communities of every size to get involved, and gives the tools needed to:

• Rally collective support to end the dropout crisis;
• Understand and communicate the dimensions of the dropout challenge in a particular region or community;
• Develop effective action strategies to improve graduation rates and prepare youth for advanced learning in and after high school through better programs and policies; and
• Build strong and lasting partnerships that involve all sectors of the community.

Authored by Robert Balfanz, Ph.D. and Joanna Honig Fox from the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University, and John M. Bridgeland and Mary McNaught of Civic Enterprises, Grad Nation is part of the Alliance's Dropout Prevention campaign, which launched in April 2008 and is sponsoring 105 Dropout Prevention Summits in all 50 states through 2010. Grad Nation brings together the nation's best evidence-based practices for keeping young people in school. The guidebook provides information on everything from making the case to your community on the need to establish "early warning" systems, to implementing effective school transformation strategies, and how to provide the most appropriate wrap-around services for students most in need.

"Just as every community is unique, so too should be their approach to addressing the dropout rate. Knowing the true depth of this crisis, we wanted to offer a variety of resources and solutions to address challenges at every level," said Marguerite W. Kondracke, president and CEO, America's Promise Alliance. "Through our Dropout Prevention campaign, we will host summits in every state, but not every city. We didn't want that to deter any community from confronting this challenge head-on and that's why we developed this toolkit. There is no silver bullet for reducing the nation's dropout rate, but we know what approaches work, and this guidebook is the first 'one stop shop' for anyone who wants to assemble the best set of approaches that will impact the problem."

"Middle grades educators have always known the importance of our work with young adolescents. Research now identifies the critical link between middle grades education and student success in high school and beyond," said Betty Edwards, executive director of National Middle School Association. "I encourage each of you to work with your school, community, high school colleagues, and district leaders to ensure all students graduate high school prepared for success. Grad Nation provides resources to advance these discussions. As a member of America's Promise Alliance, and as your association, NMSA is here to support you in this work."

Grad Nation is a free resource for anyone who wants to get involved and reduce the nation's dropout rate. It is available as a PDF online at www.americaspromise.org/gradnation, with ready-to-print tools and templates. If you need additional information or technical assistance, organizations such as the Everyone Graduates Center, Jobs for the Future, and Data Quality Campaign are available to answer questions, and provide guidance to supplement the tools and exercises in the guidebook.