VIRGINIA DROPOUT PREVENTION SUMMIT OCTOBER 28, 2008 CIVIC ENTERPRISES, LLC

 Each year, almost ONE THIRD of all public high school students million -- fail to graduate with their class. That’s one student every 29 seconds.  ABOUT HALF of African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans in public schools fail to graduate.  There are nearly 2,000 HIGH SCHOOLS with low graduation rates, concentrated in about 50 large cities and in 15 primarily southern and southwestern states. SILENT EPIDEMIC: BY THE NUMBERS

“I was one of the lucky ones. I graduated while others didn’t. It shouldn’t be about luck. All kids need a fair chance from the very beginning. It’s not just about graduating, although that is an important goal, it is about graduating ready and giving kids what they need from the very beginning—support, compassion, and commitment” National Summit on America’s Silent Epidemic MAY 2007 ONE DROPOUT’S VOICE: JYNELL HARRIS

DROPPING OUT: DRAMATIC CONSEQUENCES  Dropouts more likely than High School Graduates to be:  Unemployed  Living in Poverty  Receiving Welfare  In Prison  On Death Row  Unhealthy  Parent Children Who Dropout  Be Absent from the Civic Lives of Their Communities  High school dropouts on average earn about $1 MILLION LESS over their lifetimes than those who graduate from college.  Dropouts are FOUR TIMES LESS LIKELY TO VOLUNTEER, and TWICE LESS LIKELY TO VOTE than college graduates, and represent ONLY 3 PERCENT OF ACTIVELY ENGAGED CITIZENS in America today

WHO THEY ARE: STUDENTS IN EVERY SCHOOL  Big dreams, ambition to graduate, some college  88% had passing grades, with 62% having Cs and above  58% dropped out with just two years or less to complete high school  66% would have worked harder if expectations were higher  70% were confident they could have graduated  81% recognized graduating was vital to their success

REASONS FOR LEAVING SCHOOL: TOP FIVE FACTORS DROPOUTS IDENTIFY

 Early alarm bells can identify with nearly 70 PERCENT CERTAINTY a student in the third grade who will go on to drop out from high school – attendance is a key predictor.  Students want STRONG ADULT-STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS, one-on-one attention and parents more engaged in schools.  Only 47 percent of dropouts said they or their parents were even CONTACTED BY THE SCHOOL when they were absent; less than half after they dropped out. KEY FINDINGS: WHAT STUDENT VOICES TEACH

DROPOUTS TAKE OWNERSHIP OF DECISION

DROPOUTS SPEAK: IMPROVING STUDENT’S CHANCES

The Silent Epidemic Civic Enterprises LLC Engaged For Success SERVICE LEARNING AS A TOOL FOR HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT PREVENTION  74% of African Americans, 70% of Hispanics, and 64% of all students said that service-learning could have a big effect on keeping dropouts in school  82% of students who participate in service-learning say their feelings about attending high school became more positive as a result of service learning  More than 75% of all students agree that service-learning classes are more interesting  77% of students in service-learning programs said that service-learning had a big effect on motivating them to work hard  Our research shows that service-learning can play a major role in keeping students engaged in school and on track to graduate

POLICY PATHWAYS: IN SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES  Create EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS  Engage parents in school by having them work with their children on INDIVIDUALIZED GRADUATION PLANS  Mobilize ADULT ADVOCATES, especially parents  Utilize SERVICE LEARNING to engage students in academic areas where they’re struggling  Offer DIFFERENT schools/classroom experiences for different students, with a challenging and engaging curriculum  Examine COMPULSORY SCHOOL AGE REQUIREMENTS under state laws

The Silent Epidemic Civic Enterprises LLC ECONOMIC IMPACT OF DROPOUTS: VIRGINIA  More than 29,000 students did not graduate from Virginia’s high schools in 2008; costing the state $7.6 billion in lost revenue over their lifetimes.  Virginia would save about $397 million in health care costs if each class of dropouts had earned their diplomas.  About $6.5 billion would be added to Virginia’s economy by 2020 if minority students graduated at the same rate as white students.  Virginia spends almost $92 million a year in community college remediation classes because students are not graduating with the right academic skills.  Virginia would save $179 million in reduced crime prevention spending and increased earnings each year if the male high school graduation rate increased by just 5 percent.

 Parents see two separate school systems in America  Debunks the myth that parents with lower income, less education, and with children in lower performing schools are less likely to engage in their child’s education.  Parents share high aspirations for their children with over 90 % of African American and Hispanic parents viewing college as very important for their children, compared to 78% of white parents  Only 15% of parents of students in low-performing schools feel school is challenging students compared to 58% of high- performing school parents Parents Report: One Dream, Two Realities

The Silent Epidemic Civic Enterprises LLC One Dream, Two Realities: THE WAY FORWARD  Prompt notification to parents of academic or other problems  Earlier contact with parents in 8 th and 9 th grades on what constitutes success  More information about requirements for graduation and college admission  Single point of contact, homework hotlines and flexible times for parent/teacher conferences  Teachers should incorporate families into homework assignments  Parents should help schools and communities develop plans to increase graduation rates

The Silent Epidemic Civic Enterprises LLC Graduation Nation: A GUIDEBOOK TO HELP COMMUNITIES TACKLE THE DROPOUT CRISIS  The goal of Graduation Nation is to give you and your community the tools you need to:  Understand the dimensions of the dropout challenge  Develop an effective plan to combat high dropout rates  Build strong partnerships to make lasting change happen  Rally your community to end the dropout crisis  Graduation Nation contains research-based guidance for addressing the dropout crisis in your community, along with ready-to-print tools and links to additional online resources.  The guidebook is divided into four parts:  Rallying Your Community to End the Dropout Crisis  Understanding Your Community’s Dropout Crisis  Solutions for Comprehensively Addressing Your Community’s Dropout Crisis  Moving Forward to Create Lasting Change

“When more than one million students a year drop out of high school, it’s more than a problem, it’s a catastrophe. Our economic and national security are at risk when we fail to educate the leaders and the workforce of the future. It’s time for a national ‘call to arms’ because we cannot afford to let nearly one- third of our kids fail.” GENERAL COLIN POWELL