2007-08 ILLINOIS HIGH SCHOOL DROP OUT MAPS
http://www.tutormentorexchange.net/images/PDF/hsdropoutmaps.pdf
This set of maps shows how the high school drop out problem is spread throughout Illinois, but more severe in the urban areas like Chicago.  These maps were created by the Regional Education Laboratory at  Learning Point Associates. 

BUILDING A GRAD NATION REPORT
https://www.americaspromise.org/building-grad-nation-report
This report has been produced every year since 2015 and earlier. It shows "detailed progress toward the GradNation goal of a national on-time graduation rate of 90 percent by 2020."  Use in  your own community to support your own drop out  prevention and workforce development strategies. 

6 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT RATES
https://www.theedadvocate.org/6-reasons-why-you-should-care-about-high-school-dropout-rates/
This is article on The Edvocate site by Matthew Lynch.  Also read previous article titled, HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT RATES: A CRISIS?, found at http://www.theedadvocate.org/high-school-dropout-rates-a-crisis/

AMERICAN GRADUATE - LET'S MAKE IT HAPPEN
https://www.cpb.org/americangraduate/
From the web site: "American Graduate: Let’s Make it Happen is public media’s long-term commitment to supporting community-based solutions to help keep youth on the track to a high school diploma and beyond. Supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), more than 128 public radio and television stations have joined forces with more than 1,700 partners and at-risk schools across 48 states and one territory."

AMERICAN GRADUATE CHAMPIONS (WTTW CHICAGO)
http://americangraduate.wttw.com/main/
From the web site: "Through the American Graduate Champion series WTTW leverages the power and reach of public media to highlight organizations and individual champions that are working to improve educational outcomes for youth, keeping them on the path to high school graduation and future success." Browse the site to see stories and look for ways others can get involved.

CENTER FOR BEST PRACTICES EDUCATION - NATIONAL GOVERNOR'S ASSOCIATION
https://www.nga.org/Educateforopportunity/
From the web site: "The NGA Center for Best Practices Education Division provides information, research, policy analysis, technical assistance and resource development for governors and their staff in the areas of early childhood, K-12 and postsecondary education. The division focuses on helping governors develop effective policy and support its implementation in the areas of: early education, readiness and quality; the Common Core State Standards, Science Technology Engineering and Math and related assessments; teacher and leader effectiveness; competency-based learning; charter schools; data and accountability; and postsecondary (higher education and workforce training) access, success, productivity, accountability, and affordability. The division also works on policy issues related to bridging the system divides among the early childhood, K-12, postsecondary and workforce systems." 

COLLEGE COMPLETION RATES - STATE DATA
http://completecollege.org/data-dashboard/
From the web site: "Established in 2009, Complete College America is a national nonprofit with a single mission: to work with states to significantly increase the number of Americans with quality career certificates or college degrees and to close attainment gaps for traditionally underrepresented populations." This link points to a page where you can "Click your state to see a snapshot of its progress and student success data." 

CONSEQUENCES OF DROPPING OUT OF SCHOOL (PDF)
click here
This 2009 report provides additional evidence of the high cost to individuals and society of the high school drop out crisis. The report was prepared by Andrew Sum, Ishwar Khatiwada and Joseph McLaughlin With Sheila Palma, from the Center for Labor Market Studies,  Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts

COUNCIL OF THE GREAT CITY SCHOOLS - RESEARCH PAGE
https://www.cgcs.org/domain/9
From the web site: "The Council of the Great City Schools brings together the nation’s largest urban public school systems in a coalition dedicated to the improvement of education for children in the inner cities. The Council and its member school districts work to help our schoolchildren meet the highest standards and become successful and productive members of society.   This link points to the Council's research page.

CUTTING SCHOOL DROP-OUT RATE, 2008 OECD REPORT
click here
The high school drop out problem is not just a US problem. Read this report that shows how the problem is being addressed in Europe.

DISCONNECTED YOUTH - ISSUELAB BY CANDID RESOURCE CENTER
https://www.issuelab.org/resource/disconnected-youth-special-collection-archived.html
From the web site: "In a far-reaching effort to help disconnected youth, nonprofits, foundations, and government agencies across the U.S. are providing support in the form of shelters, job training, mentorship, college prep, job placement, and mental and reproductive health services. But in order to achieve success it is clear that these efforts require greater alignment and coordination. This special collection gathers the many lessons being learned in the field; lessons about the challenges in meeting the needs of disconnected youth and the promise of both new and more proven approaches."

DOLLAR VALUE OF SAVING A HIGH-RISK YOUTH
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1077214#PaperDownload
In 1995, Mark Cohen, Vanderbilt University Law Professor, calculated that the monetary value of "saving" one high-risk youth was between $1.7 million and $2.3 million, based on costs to crime victims and the criminal justice system, the costs to society of heavy drug abuse and the economic impact of dropping out of high school.  Using new data, Professor Cohen and City University of New York criminal justice professor Alex Piquero have updated this information.  The report can be downloaded as a PDF from the link above.

DROP OUT STATISTICS BY STATE
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/coi
This National Center for Education Statistics site shows public high school drop out rates across the country.

EVERYONE GRADUATES CENTER AT JOHNS HOPKINS
http://www.every1graduates.org/
From the web site: "The mission of the Everyone Graduates Center is to develop and disseminate the know-how required to enable all students to graduate from high school prepared for college, career, and civic life. Through a systematic and comprehensive approach, EGC combines analysis of the causes, location, and consequences of the nation’s dropout crisis with the development of tools and models designed to keep all students on the path to high school graduation, and capacity building efforts to enable states, communities, school districts, and schools to provide all their students with the supports they need to succeed. The Everyone Graduate Center seeks to identify the barriers that stand in the way of all students graduating from high school prepared for adult success, to develop strategic solutions to overcome the barriers, and to build local capacity to implement and sustain them."

LISTENING TO LATINAS - BARRIERS TO HS GRADUATION
https://nwlc.org/resources/listening-latinas-barriers-high-school-graduation/
This report on the Women's National Law Center web site shows obstacles that Hispanic girls face that causes a high percent to drop out before finishing high school. Mentoring is proposed as one solution.

LOCATING THE DROPOUT CRISIS (PDF) 2004
https://web.archive.org/web/20160312092032/http://www.csos.jhu.edu/crespar/techReports/report70.pdf
This report's Executive Summary begins with "Imagine a nation in which all students, from Benton Harbor to Watts, from Akron to Baltimore, from Chicago’s South side to rural South Carolina, routinely graduate from high school ready and prepared to succeed in college or advanced post-secondary training. Imagine the social and economic implications of being able to say to any child, in any locale in the United States, “you will be provided with a high school that will educate you, challenge you, care for you, support you, and graduate you ready to compete and succeed in the world.”  Still a problem in 2020. 

NATIONAL DROP OUT PREVENTION CENTER
http://dropoutprevention.org/effective-strategies/
From the web site: "Since 1986, the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network (NDPC/N) has conducted and analyzed research; sponsored workshops and national conferences; and collaborated with researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to further the mission of reducing America’s dropout rate by meeting the needs of youth in at-risk situations, including students with disabilities." 

NATIONAL YOUTH EMPLOYMENT COALITION
https://nyec.org/aboutus/
From the web site: "he National Youth Employment Coalition improves the lives of the 5.5 million young people who are out of school and out of work. We do this by improving the effectiveness of the organizations, and the systems, that serve these "opportunity youth." We collect, study, and support the implementation of best practices, all with a strong equity focus."

PATHWAYS TO PROSPERITY – 2010 PDF
https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/10/02/pathways-prosperity-seeks-redefine-american-education-system
Pathways to Prosperity Seeks to Redefine American Education System: This article posted on the Harvard School of Education web site talks about a Pathways to Prosperity conference held at Cisco's headquarters in Silicon Valley. This "Pathways to Prosperity" report (pdf) was published in 2011. http://www.sawdc.com/media/5959/pathways_to_prosperity_feb2011.pdf  

PHILADELPHIA YOUTH NETWORK - A COLLECTIVE IMPACT MODEL
https://www.pyninc.org/our-initiatives/our-approach/
From the web site:  "The Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN) is an intermediary organization dedicated to connecting systems and leveraging resources to increase the number of opportunities for youth. PYN has been working for nearly two decades with communities to create coordinated systems which promote the attainment of academic achievement, economic opportunity and personal success. We manage and support large-scale cross-sector initiatives while developing targeted programs to expand access to services for underserved young people."

QUANTUM OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM - 2009 AND 2014
https://www.blueprintsprograms.org/eisenhower-quantum-opportunities-program/
From the web site: "Eisenhower Quantum was implemented between 2009 and 2014 across 5 sites in the U.S. and evaluated by Curtis et al. (2015, 2016). The randomized controlled trial followed 300 at-risk 9th grade students (N= 60 per site) over all 4 years of high school and focused on assessing the program’s impact on 5 measures of academic success (four at post test and one at 1-year post intervention): high school GPA, on-time high school graduation, college acceptance, college enrollment, and persistence in college for one academic year."

QUANTUM OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM: A BRIEF ON THE QOP PILOT PROGRAM (1995)
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED385621
From the report: "The Quantum Opportunities Program (called "QOP") is an innovative four-year, year-round pilot program that provided learning opportunities, development opportunities, service opportunities and summer jobs to small groups of youth from families receiving public assistance.  A brief summary of the report can also be found at https://web.archive.org/web/20101228151550/http://www.aypf.org/publications/compendium/C1S37.pdf

Through this four-year pilot program and a rigorous evaluation, we learned that it is possible to make a quantum difference in the lives of these youths. We learned that it takes a critical mass of service, support, nurturing, incentives, creativity, caring, compassion, and especially patience. And, we learned that the impacts on young people gain strength over time. This is an important lesson for policymakers, who customarily seek immediate feedback about program success or failure. Premature examination would have labeled this program a failure."

This report has been part of the Tutor/Mentor Connection library since we received it in 1995. It demonstrates what's possible when a core group of people make a deep commitment to young people, and are well supported by donors who share that commitment.

READY BY 21 - A CALL TO ACTION
http://www.readyby21.org/what-ready-21
From the web site: "Ready by 21® is a set of innovative strategies developed by the Forum for Youth Investment that helps communities improve the odds that all children and youth will be ready for college, work and life."

RECONNECTING YOUTH PROJECT - EVIDENCE GAP MAP
https://reconnectingyouth.mdrc.org/
From the website: "The Reconnecting Youth Project aims to systematically understand what programs and practices are  operating in the United States to support these young people, often referred to as 'disconnected youth' or 'opportunity youth'.  The site hosts a "Compendium of Programs", which is a searchable database that provides summary information about 78 programs serving young people who are disconnected.  It also hosts an "Evidence Gap Map' which is a collection of 60 studies about programs serving young people who are disconnected."

REDUCING HIGH SCHOOL DROP OUT RATE THROUGH EMPLOYER STUDENT/MENTOR PROGRAM
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED376406
This 1994 report still includes ideas that can be used to support youth tutoring and/or mentoring programs that engage business volunteers and aim to help keep youth in school and moving toward jobs and careers

ROCA - DISRUPTS CYCLE OF INCARCERATION AND POVERTY (BOSTON)
https://rocainc.org/how-we-do-it/our-intervention-model/
From the web site: "Roca's mission is to disrupt the cycle of incarceration and poverty by helping young people transform their lives.  Roca's Theory of Change is that young people, when re-engaged through positive and intensive relationships, can change their behaviors and develop life, education, and employment skills to disrupt the cycles of poverty and incarceration."

SCHOOL TO PRISON PIPELINE - ACLU WEB SITE
https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/school-prison-pipeline/school-prison-pipeline?redirect=feature/school-prison-pipeline
From the web site: "The ACLU is committed to challenging the "school to prison pipeline," a disturbing national trend wherein children are funneled out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems. Many of these children have learning disabilities or histories of poverty, abuse or neglect, and would benefit from additional educational and counseling services. Instead, they are isolated, punished and pushed out."  This is one of many issue areas the ACLU focuses on. Visit the web site to learn more.

THE EISENHOWER FOUNDATION - REPLICATING, EVALUATING AND COMMUNICATING WHAT WORKS RESTORING AMERICA’S PROMISE
http://www.eisenhowerfoundation.org/replicating
From the web site: "The Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation is the international, nonprofit continuation of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (the Kerner Riot Commission, after the big city riots of the 1960s) and the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence (the National Violence Commission, after the assassinations of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and Senator Robert Kennedy). The Foundation identifies, funds, evaluates, builds the capacities of and replicates multiple solution ventures for the inner city, the truly disadvantaged, children, youth and families. Through national policy reports, the Foundation communicates what works (and what doesn't) to citizens, media and decision makers. The Foundation also runs a strategic communications school for nonprofit organization staff and youth to help change political will and create action."

THE HIGH SCHOOL DROP-OUT EPIDEMIC VS BENEFITS OF COLLEGE EDUCATION
http://www.collegescholarships.org/blog/2013/03/24/solving-the-high-school-drop-out-epidemic/
This article provides a list of resources for learning more about the dropout crisis and for getting involved in actions that help youth move to college and careers.

THE MIDDLE SCHOOL ARCHIVE PROJECT - DALLAS, TX
https://schooltimecapsule.blogspot.com/
From the web site: "The best dropout prevention is for students to focus on their own story, their own future. The School Archive Project does that with a 10-year time-capsule and class-reunion plan designed to provide students one record of their story combined with a physical connection to their future. The goal is to help students visualize their story and better understand their natural ability to make the differences they want in their own lives through work.The best dropout prevention is for students to focus on their own story, their own future. The School Archive Project does that with a 10-year time-capsule and class-reunion plan designed to provide students one record of their story combined with a physical connection to their future. The goal is to help students visualize their story and better understand their natural ability to make the differences they want in their own lives through work.