Dropout Prevention & Recovery

Hartford, Conn., Mayor Pedro E. Segarra will be among the speakers who will discuss local efforts to ensure more young children are prepared for success by aligning early care and education programs with K-12 education systems.  The webinar will take place Mon., April 30, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
Register for the webinar

The YEF Institute sponsored a recent hour-long webinar on "Reengagement Centers: Key Element in a City Strategy to Recover Dropouts."  Speakers discussed the development of reengagement centers as an important part of a municipal agenda to increase high school graduation rates and ensure that every student is prepared for college and a career.
Register for the free recording | PowerPoint slides

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has announced a $130 million city initiative to support education and employment training for young black and Latino males who are disproportionately likely to be among the city's dropout, incarcerated or jobless populations. 

Mayors’ education advisors from 45 of the nation’s largest cities gathered in Denver recently for a meeting of the YEF Institute's Education Policy Advisors Network (EPAN).  EPAN members discussed new developments in education policy and emerging opportunities to shore up the birth-to-career educational pipeline in their communities.

Cross-system teams from six cities convened in Hartford, Conn. in April 2011 to deepen city strategies to reengage disconnected youth — 16-24 year-olds who are out of school and out of work, including many who are “aging out” of public care systems. The YEF Institute organized the meeting as part of its Municipal Leadership for Disconnected Youth initiative, which is made possible by the support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.  

Expanding Options: City Roles in Creating High School Alternatives for Struggling Students highlights municipal strategies to help reduce dropout rates by expanding the range of options for students who are unlikely to reach their full potential in traditional high school settings.  
Expanding Options: City Roles in Creating High School Alternatives for Struggling Students (PDF)

This searchable online database contains examples of policies that can facilitate the growth of high-quality alternatives for high school.  The Association for High School Innovation (AHSI) Policy Database is accessible to all city leaders and is designed to help them make the case for local, state and federal policy and funding changes to expand alternatives and options for students who struggle in traditional high school settings. 
AHSI policy database | AHSI policy framework | Setting the Stage for New High Schools report (PDF)
Association for High School Innovation

This report draws upon lessons learned from a YEF Institute project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in which five cities - Corpus Christi, Texas; Hartford, Conn.; Phoenix, Ariz., San Antonio, Texas; and San Jose, Calif. - increased the choices available to students who struggle in traditional high school settings or are at risk for dropping out.

This searchable online database contains examples of policies that can facilitate the growth of high-quality alternatives for high school.  
AHSI policy database | AHSI policy framework | Association for High School Innovation

The YEF Institute's first-ever report on The State of City Leadership for Children and Families identifies the nation's most cutting-edge city strategies to help children and families thrive.  
Full report (PDF) | Education chapter (PDF) | Youth in transition (PDF)

This report outlines seven key policy conditions that facilitate the expansion of alternatives and options for dropouts and other students who struggle in traditional high school settings, as well as promising collaborations among mayors, school district officials, and alternative high schools program innovators. 

This case study report highlights eight cities - Albany, N.Y., Baltimore, Boston, Corpus Christi, Texas, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose - in which municipal leaders are collaborating across public systems on behalf of disconnected youth. 

This action kit highlights steps city officials can take to help young people who are not connected to school, work, or caring adults.

More dropout prevention tools and resources

Formed in 2002, the Municipal Network on Disconnected Youth (MNDY) is a nationwide peer learning community of municipal leaders who are concerned about older (16-24) young people who are out of work, out of school, and lack strong connections to the community and caring adults.  MNDY is a resource that municipal officials may use to create and continuously improve partnerships, policies, and programs that re-engage older youth with education, employment, and their communities. 
Subscribe to the network 

Formed in May 2003, the Mayors’ Education Policy Advisors Network (EPAN) is a national network that facilitates communication among senior municipal staff who are working with mayors on key issues related to education reform and school improvement.  EPAN is only open to senior mayoral advisors from the 75 largest cities.  For more information, contact Marjorie Cohen at (202) 626-3052 or cohen@nlc.org.

The YEF Institute has received support from the Open Society Institute (OSI) to engage municipal leaders in OSI's Campaign for Black Male Achievement, a multi-issue, cross-fund strategy to address black men and boys' exclusion from economic, social, educational, and political life in the United States.  As part of the Campaign, the YEF Institute's Municipal Leadership for Black Male Achievement initiative will strengthen municipal leaders' capacity to improve outcomes for young black males in the areas of education, work and family. 

Striving to help cities reduce dropout rates and improve students' educational outcomes, the YEF Institute, along with its partners in the Association for High School Innovation (AHSI) network and with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, worked intensively with the cities of Indianapolis, Nashville, and Newark to establish new innovation-model alternative schools for students who struggle in traditional high school settings.
Association for High School Innovation | AHSI policy database | AHSI policy framework

The YEF Institute and the American Youth Policy Forum, with support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, planned a series of workshops and field trips to help local leaders learn about exemplary efforts to reach struggling students and out-of-school youth and expanding options and alternatives for high school-aged young people.  The field trips were planned as part of Phase III of the Municipal Leadership for Disconnected Youth initiative.

With support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the YEF Institute worked with six cities - Denver; Hartford, Conn.; Newark, N.J.; Orlando, Fla.; Roanoke, Va.; and St. Louis - to help municipal leaders reengage disconnected youth through cross-system collaboration.

This intensive, two-year technical assistance project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation helped the cities of Corpus Christi, Texas, Hartford, Conn., Phoenix, Ariz., San Antonio, Texas, and San Jose, Calif., expand options and alternatives for students who struggle in traditional high school settings. Lessons learned from cities' experiences are documented in a report on Expanding Options: City Roles in Creating High School Alternatives for Struggling Students.
Expanding Options report (PDF)