HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION & THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE: Towards Ensuring that Every Young Person is Ready for College, Work & Life Karen Pittman, Executive Director

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION & THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE:

Towards Ensuring that Every Young Person is Ready for College, Work & Life

Karen Pittman, Executive DirectorThe Forum for Youth InvestmentOctober 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.


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 American DILEMMA

THE GAP BETWEENVISION 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.


Education attainment pipeline at age 26

Education attainment pipeline at age 26

Below 150% of Federal Poverty

Level* in 8 th grade

Below 150% of Federal Poverty


67% 14% 41% 11% 19%7% AA

12% BA+

Above 150% of Federal Poverty


Above 150% of Federal Poverty


89% 7% 64% 8% 45%7% AA

38% BA+

**

Complete high

school diploma

Enroll in post -

secondary

Complete credential/ license***

Complete GED

Complete post -

secondary degree

30% receive some type of post -secondary credential

* Federal Poverty Level (FPL) varies by household size. When t he subjects of this data sample were in 8 th grade in 1987, 150% of the FPL for a family of four was $17,415 in 1987 dollars.

Now, 150% of the FPL is $30,975 for a family of four.

** This data point has the greatest divergence among the 3 data sources used for this analysis. This represents a conservative number with some datasets reporting up to 85%.

Only 30% of poor 8th graders have some type of post-secondary degree by age 26 compared to more than half those living in above poverty families.


The Ready by 21 Challenge:

Changing the Odds for Youth by Changing the Way We Do Business

Change the oddsfor youth

Change the waywe do business

Change the landscapeof communities


The Ready by 21 Challenge:

Changing the Odds for Youth by Changing the Way We Do Business

Change the oddsfor youth

What can we do now to change

the waywe do business?

High School Graduation is a

powerful focal point

What are the best strategies to improve the numbers?


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?


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


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.


43% are doing well in two lifeareas 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 Well43%

Doing Poorly22%

In the Middle35%

22% are doing poorly in two lifeareas 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.


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


Do these Supports Really Make a Difference? Even in Adolescence?

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Youth with SupportiveRelationships

Youth with UnsupportiveRelationships

Ready by End of 12th Grade Not Ready

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…


… 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?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Ready by 21 Not Ready by 21

Good Young Adult Outcomes

Poor Young Adult OutcomesSOURCE: Finding Out What Matters for Youth: Testing Key Links in a Community Action Framework for Youth Development


from 4 in 10doing 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 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


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 12-17 year olds have at least 4 promises;

25% have 1 or none.


WANTED: High Quality School and Community Supports


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


Take Aim on the Big PictureHow are Young People Doing?

Pre-K0–5

School-Age6–10

Middle School11–14

High School15–18

Young Adults19–21+

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.


Civic Social Emotional Physical Vocational Cognitive

Ages

Times of Day

OutcomeAreas

???

Every Age, Every Setting Counts

Morning . . . Night

20+

.

.

.

0 School AfterSchool

At its best, school only fills a portion of developmental space


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 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


Harmful Minimal Optimal

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 conflict Opportunities 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, conflict Concordance, coordination, and synergy among family, school, and community

Identifying Common Definitions for Quality


Putting Dropout Reduction Strategies in Context

Reduce the Dropout Rate: The 10-Point Plan1. Support accurate graduation and dropout data2. Establish early warning systems to support struggling students3. 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.


What it Takes

Goals & Data

Stakeholders

Coordinated Improvement Strategies

Aligned Policies & Resources

Public Demand

Youth & Family engagement


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.


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?


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 peoplein 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?

The Forum for Youth Investment www.forumfyi.org

Documents

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION & THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE: Towards Ensuring that Every Young Person is Ready for College, Work & Life Karen Pittman, Executive Director