HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION & THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE: Towards Ensuring that Every Young Person is Ready for College, Work & Life Karen Pittman, Executive Director The Forum for Youth Investment October 20, 2008

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 The American DREAM All youth can be ready. Every family and community can be supportive. Each leader can make a difference.

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 Too Few Youth are Ready. Only 4 in 10 are doing well. Too Few Families and Communities are Supportive. Fewer than 2 in 5 youth have the supports that they need. Too Few Leaders are Making a Collective Difference. The American REALITY

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 The American DILEMMA THE GAP BETWEEN VISION AND REALITY HAS TO BE CLOSED At a time when “Failure is NOT an Option” and (The Hope Foundation) “Trying Hard is NOT Good Enough” (Mark Friedman) Fragmentation. Complacency. Low Expectations.

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 Education attainment pipeline at age 26 Only 30% of poor 8 th graders have some type of post-secondary degree by age 26 compared to more than half those living in above poverty families.

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 The Ready by 21 Challenge: Changing the Odds for Youth by Changing the Way We Do Business Change the odds for youth Change the way we do business Change the landscape of communities

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 The Ready by 21 Challenge: Changing the Odds for Youth by Changing the Way We Do Business Change the odds for youth What can we do now to change the way we do business? High School Graduation is a powerful focal point What are the best strategies to improve the numbers?

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 Think Graduation & Beyond High school graduation rates are an important focal point. But there are three reasons NOT to establish high school graduation as THE END GOAL: High school graduation is no longer an adequate end goal for youth. High school graduation is no longer an adequate predictor of workforce or college readiness. Increasing high school graduation rates without addressing the educational needs of high school dropouts is only a partial solution, especially in communities and among populations with very high dropout rates.

Ready by 21™ Quality Counts Initiative WANTED: Fully Prepared, Fully Engaged Young People Are they ready?

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 New Employer Survey Finds Skills in Short Supply – Are They Really Ready to Work? – Employers ranked 20 skill areas in order of importance. The top skills fell into five categories: Professionalism/Work Ethic Teamwork/Collaboration Oral Communications Ethics/Social Responsibility Reading Comprehension

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 Employers Find These Skills in Short Supply 7 in 10 employers saw these skills as critical for entry- level high school graduates 8 in 10 as critical for two-year college graduates, more than 9 in 10 as critical for four-year graduates. Employers reported that 4 in 10 high school graduates were deficient in these areas Note: Only 1 in 4 of four-year college graduates were highly qualified.

© The Forum for Youth Investment % are doing well in two life areas and okay in one Productivity: Attend college, work steadily Health: Good health, positive health habits, healthy relationships Connectedness: Volunteer, politically active, active in religious institutions, active in community Too Few Young People are Ready Doing Well 43% Doing Poorly 22% In the Middle 35% 22% are doing poorly in two life areas and not well in any Productivity: High school diploma or less, are unemployed, on welfare Health: Poor health, bad health habits, unsupportive relationships Connectedness: Commit illegal activity once a month Researchers Gambone, Connell & Klem (2002) estimate that only 4 in 10 are doing well in their early 20s.

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 We Know What it Takes to Support Development The National Research Council reports that teens need: Physical and Psychological Safety Appropriate Structure Supportive Relationships Opportunities to Belong Positive Social Norms Support for Efficacy and Mattering Opportunities for Skill-Building Integration of Family, School and Community efforts

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 Do these Supports Really Make a Difference? Even in Adolescence? ABSOLUTELY SOURCE : Finding Out What Matters for Youth: Testing Key Links in a Community Action Framework for Youth Development Gambone and colleagues show that youth with supportive relationships as they enter high school are 5 times more likely to leave high school “ready” than those with weak relationships…

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 … and those seniors who were “ready” at the end of high school were more than 4 times as likely to be doing well as young adults. Do these Supports Make a Difference in Adulthood? SOURCE: Finding Out What Matters for Youth: Testing Key Links in a Community Action Framework for Youth Development

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 from 4 in 10 doing well to 7 in 10 doing well Providing These Supports CAN Change the Odds Gambone/Connell’s research suggests that if all young people got the supports they needed in early adolescence, the picture could change…

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 The NRC List Physical and Psychological Safety Appropriate Structure Supportive Relationships Opportunities to Belong Positive Social Norms Support for Efficacy and Mattering Opportunities for Skill-Building Integration of Family, School and Community Efforts Basic Services (implied) A Surprising Percentage of Youth Don’t Receive them… By Any Name SAFE PLACES CARING ADULTS OPPORTUNITIES TO HELP OTHERS EFFECTIVE EDUCATION HEALTHY START The Five Promises

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 One Third of 6-17 Year Olds Lack the Supports They Need 50% 37% 13% 6 – 11 Years Old 45% 30% 25% 12 – 17 Years Old According to the America’s Promise Alliance National Promises Survey, only 31% of 6-17 year olds have at least 4 of the 5 promises. 21% have 1 or none. The likelihood of having sufficient supports decreases with age: 37% of 6-11 year olds have at least 4 promises; 13% have 1 or none. Only 30% of year olds have at least 4 promises; 25% have 1 or none.

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008

WANTED: High Quality School and Community Supports

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 It Takes More than School Reform Educational Researcher Paul Hill, University of Washington, author of It Takes a City:.. the traditional boundaries between the public school system’s responsibilities and those of other community agencies are themselves part of the educational problem… Hill asks: “How can [a] community use all its assets to provide the best education for all our children?” His answer: Community education partnerships

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 Take Aim on the Big Picture How are Young People Doing? Pre-K 0–5 School- Age 6–10 Middle School 11–14 High School 15–18 Young Adults 19–21+ Ready for College LEARNING Ready for Work WORKING Ready for Life THRIVING CONNECTING LEADING High school graduation influences adulthood and is influenced by earlier progress.

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 Civic Social Emotional Physical Vocational Cognitive Ages Times of Day Outcome Areas ? ? ? Every Age, Every Setting Counts Morning... Night School After School At its best, school only fills a portion of developmental space

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 Who is Responsible for the Rest? Families Peer Groups Schools and Training Organizations Higher Education Youth-Serving Organizations CBOs (Non-Profit Service Providers and Associations) Businesses (Jobs, Internships and Apprenticeships) Faith-Based Organizations Libraries, Parks, and Recreation Departments Community-Based Health and Social Service Agencies ?

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 The NRC List Physical and Psychological Safety Appropriate Structure Supportive Relationships Opportunities to Belong Positive Social Norms Support for Efficacy and Mattering Opportunities for Skill-Building Integration of Family, School and Community Efforts Basic Services (implied) Quality Counts Everywhere SAFE PLACES CARING ADULTS OPPORTUNITIES TO HELP OTHERS EFFECTIVE EDUCATION HEALTHY START The Five Promises

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 HarmfulMinimalOptimal Physical and Psychological Safety Physical and health dangers, fear, feeling of insecurity, sexual and physical harassment, verbal abuse. Safe and health-promoting facilities; practice that increases safe peer group interaction and decreases unsafe or confrontational peer interactions. Appropriate Structure Chaotic, disorganized, laissez-faire, rigid, overcontrolled, autocratic. Limit setting, clear and consistent rules and expectations, firm-enough control, continuity and predictability, clear boundaries, and age-appropriate monitoring. Supportive Relationships Cold, distant, overcontrolling, ambiguous support, untrustworthy, focused on winning, inattentive, unresponsive, rejecting Warmth, closeness, connectedness, good communications, caring, support, guidance, secure attachment, responsiveness Opportunities to Belong Exclusion, marginalization, intergroup conflictOpportunities for meaningful inclusion, regardless of one’s gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disabilities; social inclusion, social engagement and integration; opportunities for socio-cultural identity formation; support for cultural and bicultural competence. Positive Social Norms Normless, anomie, laissez-faire practices, antisocial and amoral norms, norms that encourage violence, reckless behavior consumerism, poor health practices; conformity Rules of behavior, expectations, injunctions, ways of doing things, values and morals, obligations for service Support for Efficacy and Mattering Unchallenging, overcontrolling, disempowering, disabling. Practices that undermine includes motivation and desire to learn, such a excessive focus on current relative performance level rather than improvement Youth-based, empowerment practices that support autonomy, making a real difference in one’s community, and being taken seriously. Practice that is enabling, responsibility granting, meaningful challenges. Practice that focus on improvement rather than on relative current levels Opportunities for Skill Building Practice that promotes bad physical habits and habits of mind; practice that undermines school and learning. Opportunities to learn physical, intellectual, psychological, emotional, and social skills; exposure to intentional learning experiences; opportunities to learn cultural. Integration of Family, School & CommunityEfforts Discordance, lack of communication, conflictConcordance, coordination, and synergy among family, school, and community Identifying Common Definitions for Quality

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 Putting Dropout Reduction Strategies in Context Reduce the Dropout Rate: The 10-Point Plan 1.Support accurate graduation and dropout data 2.Establish early warning systems to support struggling students 3.Provide adult advocates and student supports. 4.Support parent engagement and individualized graduation plans. 5.Establish a rigorous college and work preparatory curriculum for high school graduation. 6.Provide supports for struggling students to meet rigorous expectations. 7.Raise compulsory school age requirements under state laws. 8.Expand college level learning opportunities in high school. 9.Focus the research and disseminate best practices. 10.Make increasing high school graduation and college and workforce readiness a national priority. Increase Opportunities, Supports and Incentives for Post-Secondary Ed and Work Identify and Leverage Community Supports for Learning and Work Preparation Address the Needs of Those Who Have Already Dropped Out Consider Strategies That Help Young People Arrive in High School Healthy, Safe and Ready To Succeed – Starting with Early Childhood.

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 What it Takes Goals & Data Stakeholders Coordinated Improvement Strategies Aligned Policies & Resources Public Demand Youth & Family engagement

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 ENGAGING ALL YOUTH POPULATIONS TOWARDS THE GOAL OF HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION AND BEYOND In light of the Ready by 21 framework, think about and discuss how and to what extent your community plan connects the issue of improving the high school graduation rate to: ALL OF THE YOUTH POPULATIONS: including younger youth (who should enter 9th grade healthy, safe and ready to succeed in high school), in-school youth who may need extra time to achieve academic success & graduate, and youth 16 to 20+ who have left school w/out diplomas. ALL OF THE OUTCOMES: beyond academic competence only, including health, social, vocational, civic and other outcomes that allow young people to be ready for post-secondary training, work and adult life responsibilities. ALL OF THE SETTINGS: in school and out, including school, community, business, family and higher education settings. ALL OF THE LEADERS: starting with young people themselves and engaging leaders from schools, community institutions & groups, business, government and parents.

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 Checking the Community Pulse For each principle (all youth, all outcomes, all settings, all leaders), ask: How important is it? How well are we currently doing? How ready are we to act differently?

© The Forum for Youth Investment 2008 What it Takes HOW MUCH DOES YOUR COMMUNITY PLAN CONNECT IMPROVING THE GRADUATION RATE TO: Young people not yet in high school – healthy, safe and ready to succeed Young people in high school, on-track for graduation, but not fully prepared or fully engaged Young people in high school, but struggling and/or at risk for not being on-track for graduation Young people who are not in school/ have already disengaged from school ALL YOUTH ? ALL OUTCOMES? ALL SETTINGS? ALL LEADERS? How do community plans address & affect: Does our vision include all of the youth populations that need opportunities and supports in school, outside of school and beyond high school? If not, how should we change it? What else do we want to know about young people that might give us an accurate understanding of the problem we are tackling and the goals we are trying to achieve? What are our key resources in schools, community institutions/organizations, families, neighborhoods and the business sector that need to be mapped (e.g. skill-building classes, jobs, apprenticeships, coaches/mentors/tutors, emotional/social supports, financial aid, transportation, health care)? What strategies are our best bets for fully addressing the needs of all populations of youth across outcomes and across settings, and for the broadest range of outcomes? Who do we need to engage and how do we need to engage them differently?

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