Every Child a Graduate Presented by Susan Frost, Executive Director Scott Joftus, Policy Director

The Alliance for Excellent Education Huge numbers of students are failing to graduate from high school on time. The problem is especially severe in some urban districts. GRADUATION RATE BY DISTRICT AND RACE District Graduation Rate African- American Graduation Rate Latino Graduation Rate White Graduation Rate Ranking of District by 1993 Population Boston82%85%68%87%50 Cleveland City28%29%26%23%38 Dade County (Miami)57%55% 70%4 Denver County53%55%36%79%53 Houston52%55%42%84%6 Indianapolis39%44%INSNA85 Los Angeles Unified56% 48%81%2 New York City55%42%45%80%1 INS=Insufficient student count for calculating graduation rate; NA=Data not available Source: Jay Greene, High School Graduation Rates in the United States, November 2001

The Alliance for Excellent Education Of those who fail to graduate with their peers, what is the ultimate result? Almost half neither complete high school nor receive a GED About a quarter ultimately graduate from high school About a quarter receive a GED

The Alliance for Excellent Education By 2002, 10 states were withholding diplomas based on exit exams By 2008, 24 states will do so High-stakes exams typically affect minority students disproportionately If nothing changes, the drop out rate is likely to increase in coming years. Source: State High School Exit Exams: A Baseline Report. Center on Education Policy, August 2002

The Alliance for Excellent Education A bad education is a million-dollar mistake. Annual Earnings 1999 Average Earnings for Men Average Earnings for Women High School Dropout$25,035$17,015 High School Graduate$33,184$23,061 Some College$39,221$27,757 College Associate Degree$41,638$30,919 College Graduate with BA$52,985$37,993 Professional$100,000$59,904 Source: Digest of Education Statistics, 2001, Table 382

The Alliance for Excellent Education Impersonal learning environments that fail to emphasize high standards What are the causes of the failure? Low literacy levels among adolescents Under-prepared teachers for poor and minority students Inadequate planning and support for students

The Alliance for Excellent Education These students represent two-thirds of all drop outs. Low literacy levels among adolescents 26 percent of eighth graders and 23 percent of twelfth graders read below basic levels. Extrapolating, 6 million students in grades 6 through 12 are reading below basic levels.

The Alliance for Excellent Education Poor quality of teachers for poor and minority students Source: Craig Jerald and Richard Ingersoll. All Talk, No Action: Putting an End to Out- of-Field Teaching. The Education Trust, August 2002

The Alliance for Excellent Education 40 percent of high school youth and nearly 50 percent of middle school youth report feeling disengaged from school Rates higher for adolescents attending urban schools Most of these students do not have a meaningful relationship with an adult and do not receive high- quality support services Inadequate planning and support for students Source: Peter Scales. Boxed in and Bored: How Middle Schools Continue to Fail Young Adolescents – and What Good Middle Schools Do Right, Search Institute, 1996

The Alliance for Excellent Education Impersonal learning environments that fail to emphasize high standards Over the last 50 years, school enrollments have increased five-fold on average and even more in low-income neighborhoods. Approximately 70 percent of American high school students attend schools with enrollments of 1,000 or more students, and nearly 50 percent of high school students attend schools in which the student population is over 1,500. Source: U.S. Department of Education,

The Alliance for Excellent Education In Texas, 53 high schools with large concentrations of poor students are among the highest achieving (top 25 percent) in the state. Source: Alliance analysis of data from The Education Trust: Dispelling the Myth – Online. Of these 53 schools, 48 have fewer than 600 students.

The Alliance for Excellent Education A Framework for an Excellent Education for All Middle and High School Students THE ALLIANCE CALLS FOR:

The Alliance for Excellent Education Adolescent Literacy Initiative Teacher and Principal Quality Initiative College Preparation Initiative Small Learning Communities Initiative Framework for an Excellent Education

The Alliance for Excellent Education ADOLESCENT LITERACY INITIATIVE Every high-needs middle and high school will have a literacy specialist who trains teachers across every subject area to improve literacy skills of students. Teachers learn to identify reading problems and ensure that students receive extra help.

The Alliance for Excellent Education TEACHER AND PRINCIPAL QUALITY INITIATIVE Provide incentives to educators to work in high-needs schools, mentoring for new teachers, and ongoing professional development for all teachers and principals.

The Alliance for Excellent Education COLLEGE PREPARATION INITIATIVE Students must have a clear plan that assesses their needs and identifies coursework, additional learning opportunities, and necessary health and social services.

The Alliance for Excellent Education SMALL LEARNING COMMUNITIES INITIATIVE Small schools personalize and contextualize students’ educational experience and facilitate the implementation of other effective strategies.

The Alliance for Excellent Education Add an additional $162 billion to federal, state, and local tax receipts An investment in the Framework for an Excellent Education will pay for itself. Reducing the numbers of adults in the lowest literacy levels by two-thirds would: Increase the U.S. gross domestic product by $463 billion Source: Anthony Carnavale and Donna Desrochers. The Missing Middle: Aligning Education and the Knowledge Economy, Educational Testing Service, U.S. Department of Education, 2002

The Alliance for Excellent Education The Framework for an Excellent Education seeks to harness Americans’ belief that every student deserves access to a high-quality education and should graduate from high school prepared for college and/or a meaningful career.