New Publications about Out-of-School Youth
Whatever It Takes: How Twelve Communities Are Reconnecting Out-of-School Youth
The American Youth Policy Forum has just published a lengthy study (181 page pdf file) that describes dropout recovery in twelve communities in the country. The document includes some interesting statistics: An estimated 3.8 million youth age 18-24 are neither employed or in school – 15% of all young adults. Of those who fail to graduate with their peers, one-quarter eventually earn a diploma, one-quarter earn the GED, and about one-half do not earn a high school credential. Three-quarters of state prison inmates are dropouts, as are 59% of federal inmates. Dropouts are 3.5 times more likely than high school graduates to be incarcerated in their lifetime. Of all African American male dropouts in their early 30s, 52% have been imprisoned. 90% of the 11,000 youth in adult detention facilities have no more than a 9th grade education. The US would save $41.8 billion in health care costs if the 600,000 young people who dropped out in 2004 were to complete one additional year of education. Increasing the high school completion rate by 1% for all men ages 20-60 would save the United States $1.4 billion annually in reduced costs associated with crime. Dropouts cost our nation more than $260 billion dollars in lost wages, lost taxes, and lost productivity over their lifetimes.
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Helping Youth Succeed Through Out-of-School Time Programs
Companion publication to the report above, this document provides examples of practices and partnerships to provide quality out-of-school time programs for older youth. It includes recommendations for policymakers and practitioners. 56 page pdf file. .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- Briefing Paper #2 - Redirecting Youth from the School-to-Prison Pipeline: Addressing Cross-Cutting Issues in Youth Services
From the Briefing Paper Series of the Youth Transition Funders Group, this paper addresses the pipeline in which youth are pushed straight from school to juvenile detention as a result of the country’s educational reform efforts to secure its children better education. The use of exclusionary and “zero tolerance” policies and unspoken racial and ethnic biases that siphon young people of color into the pipeline erodes access to educational pathways and opportunities for many of our youth. Defines the issues and provides examples of successful programs. 22 page pdf file.
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An eighth-grade student at Pine Middle School in Reno, Nevada was booked on suspicion of attempted murder after wounding two fellow students with a 38 caliber weapon in a school hallway yesterday. A teacher at the school is credited with convincing the student to put down the pistol. While under a “Code Red” at the school, an alert in which students are locked into classrooms, into corners and under desks, many of the students were text messaging their parents.
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Dropping Out and High School Failure
The failure of many young Americans to graduate from high school is rapidly becoming a major national issue. Reporters from the Los Angeles Times spent eight months studying a Los Angeles high school and interviewing hundreds of former students and their parents, teachers, friends and siblings. They wanted to know why some many students fail high school and how high school fails them. No easy answers in this article, but a good review of the many elements of a growing national problem. ++++++++++ Teenagers Need More Sleep
Teenagers and their parents in Fairfax County, Virginia are pushing to change middle and high school start times. They say teens aren’t made to start their days so early. In recent years several school districts around the country have moved their school day to a later hour. Nine and one-half hours or more sleep a nights is recommended for a typical teenager who is also typically sleepy in the morning and more alert in the evening. Most schools operate contrary schedules. ++++++++++ School Mental Health Services in the United States, 2002-2003 This is the first national study of mental health services in a representative sample of the approximately 83,000 public elementary, middle, and high schools and their associated school districts in the United States. Findings indicate that schools are responding to the mental health needs of their students, but they also suggest that there are increasing needs for mental health services and multiple challenges faced by schools in addressing these needs. Downloadable report. ++++++++++ Indicators of School Crime and Safety, 2005 Crime and safety data from the perspectives of students, teachers, principals, and the general population. This report is a joint effort by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Center for Education Statistics. It examines crime occurring in school as well as on the way to and from school. From the report: From July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2002, there were 17 homicides and 5 suicides of school-age youth (ages 5-19) at school. Downloadable in sections. ++++++++++ Ballroom Dancing in Middle School - A Stellar Program Inspired by the 2005 documentary film, Mad Hot Ballroom, which followed fifth-graders from three schools in New York City during a 10-week program that proved dancing’s effects go far beyond learning fancy footwork, the Kansas City, Kansas school district has started Ballroom Dance Blast. The program is modeled after the NYC program and has been started with a middle school and two elementary schools. Among other, more ineffable effects including increased self esteem, the program teaches social interaction and etiquette along with dance steps. A click-on video of the KC program accompanies the article. Click here to visit the web site and learn more about Mad Hot Ballroom and to see the kids perform. Betcha you can’t watch the movie’s trailer without smiling! I want to see the movie! ++++++++++ Education for kids in juvenile justice
Kids who have not succeeded in traditional school settings are experiencing school success in a public charter high school in Washington, D.C. Numerous studies show that one of the most effective ways to help young people in juvenile justice get back on track is by advancing their educational skills. ++++++++++ Promoting Social and Emotional Health and School Readiness
The National Center for Children in Poverty has released a new publication, Spending Smarter: A Funding Guide for Policymakers and Advocates to Promote Social and Emotional Health and School Readiness. Research says that social and emotional skills and competencies are the foundation for success in school, but that many children lack these skills. The paper describes effective programs, highlights policy opportunities, and offers fiscal strategies to promote the emotional health of young children and their families. Available as an abstract, as an executive summary, and in the complete text. ++++++++++ Schools Emphasize More Fitness, Less Sports Schools districts are engaged in improving their fitness centers in am emphasis on helping young people develop the competence that leads to confidence and enjoyment of a lifetime of physical activity. Schools are teaching all kinds of skills, including rock climbing, martial arts, and fly fishing. ++++++++++ Silent Crisis: Large Number of Youths Are Not Completing High School. The nation’s dropout rates are rising in all but seven states and more students are dropping out between ninth and tenth grades.
Nationally, about 68% of students who enter 9th grade will graduate in four years.
Nearly one-third of all public high school students fail to graduate.
The country appears to be uninterested in the dropout problem and underestimates its seriousness.
Broken down by race and ethnicity, more than 75% of white and Asian students completed high school with a diploma. Graduation rates for black, American Indian and Hispanic students are closer to 50-50.
While the majority of high school dropouts manage to eventually connect with the labor force, the great majority experience long periods of unemployment.
Connect for Kids has compiled five pages of statistics and information about dropping out at the link above. ++++++++++ Women Now Earn More Than Half of the Country’s College Degrees In Minnesota last year, 57% of all college degrees awarded in the state went to women. There are more men than women age 18-24 in the country, but the national ratio of men/women on campus today is 43/57, a reversal from the late 1960s and well beyond the nearly even splits of the mid-1970’s. It may turn out that our growing dropout problem is a male dropout problem. National statistics forecast a continued decline in the percentage of males on college campuses in all races, income groups and fields of study. ++++++++++ Tennessee School Shooting A 15-year-old boy today shot and wounded two school administrators and killed a third. The administrators and a teacher disarmed the student and managed to get to the intercom system to order a lockdown. The boy acted alone and got the 22 caliber handgun he used in the shooting from home. ++++++++++ Unregulated Residential Treatment Centers Exploit Children and Families This Bazelon Center for Mental Health issue briefing urges Congress to provide critical oversight of so-called therapeutic boarding schools and residential treatment centers in the United States and abroad that prey on unwitting families whose children have serious mental health needs. Following the links in this online briefing paper take you to statements from a parent whose children was placed in two facilities, a young person who received “treatment” in such an institution, and remarks from a former program evaluator, two leading experts in children’s mental health, and an advocate. If you want to talk about this subject, Tammy Seltzer, Senior Staff Attorney at the Bazelon Center can be reached by phone at 202-467-5730 x 116, or by fax at 202-223-0409. +++++++++++
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