1. Nearly 7,000 high school students drop out each day. Alliance for Excellent Education

2. Nationally, more than 1/3 of African American and Latino students who enter ninth grade will not complete high school with their peers in 4 years. www.edtrust.org

3. The Education Trust reports that many new hires are deficient in basic writing (72%), mathematics (54%) and reading comprehension skills (38%). Casner-Litto et al.

4. Until the final decades of the 20 th century, the US had the best high school graduation rate in the world. By 2006 it had slipped to 18 th out of 26 industrialized countries. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2010

5. In PA, 22% of ninth graders fail to graduate from high school within 4 years. PDE Ensuring Success for All High School Graduates

6. One half of all first year college students enroll in one or more remedial courses. The College Board

7. Nearly four out of every five students required to take remedial courses in college had a high school GPA of 3.0 or higher. Strong American Schools, 2008

8. Only 12 percent of the students enrolled in remedial college reading courses eventually earn a degree. Strong American Schools, 2008

9. Only 15.9% of all students who graduated in 2009 had access to an advanced placement course that helped them earn a score of 3 or higher (3= predicted college success). The College Board

10. About half of all high school dropouts can be predicted by 6 th grade. Balfanz and Herzog

11. 1 in every 5 students in the US is an English language learner. Office of English Language Acquisition

12. The population of English language learners in the commonwealth has grown 110% in the past 10 years. Office of English Language Acquisition

13. In the United States about 30% of future dropouts present with risk factors by 9 th grade. – Failing grades in reading and math – Poor attendance – Behavioral infractions

14. Complex skills required to live and thrive in a 21 st century global environment: – Learning and Innovation skills – The 4C’s: Critical Thinking, Creativity, Collaboration, Complex Communication – Information, media and technology skills Partnership for 21 st Century Learning

15. It is estimated that 93 million U.S. adults have Basic and Below Basic literacy skills. National Coalition for Literacy

16. 35 percent of all U.S. students are scoring “below basic” on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in math with even higher proportions of Hispanic, African American, and low-income students scoring “below basic.” (NAEP) (NCES, 2002, Math Assessment)