Building a Grad Nation: 2010-2011 Annual Update

Posted by on March 27, 2011

Factory closings

A new report from Civic Enterprises, the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University, America’s Promise Alliance, and the Alliance for Excellent Education indicates that that from 2008 to 2009 (the most current data available), the number of “dropout factory” high schools decreased by 112 schools to 1,634, an annual rate of progress three times as fast as the previous period studied. By 2009, 580,000 fewer students attended a dropout factory compared to the beginning of the decade. This progress, however, has been uneven. Some states showed significant improvements, others saw more modest gains, some were stagnant, and a few regressed. For this reason, actions at the school, community, and state levels matter. The report calls for continued study of the nation’s success stories (additional case studies are included in the report) and work to develop the capacity of the districts, communities, and states that are struggling. Therefore, the authors ask that nonprofits, education associations, businesses, and foundations align their thought capital and assets with a “Civic Marshall Plan” (which it outlines) to keep students on track to graduate from high school and ready for college and work.

See the report: http://every1graduates.org/gradnation2011.html

Related: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2011/0322/Fewer-US-schools-qualify-as-dropout-factories