"Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Ending the High School Dropout Epidemic", released by America’s Promise Alliance, Civic Enterprises, and the Everyone Graduates Center at John Hopkins University, outlines that we can end the dropout epidemic, even in schools from lower-income, urban and rural districts that many previously thought were hopeless.
Important progress is being made on a range of reforms, policies, and practices at all levels that will help ensure more students graduate from high school, ready for college and productive work. Although this is producing real results, including an increase in the national graduation rate, the pace is too slow.
The report recognizes this and calls for a ‘Civic Marshall Plan’ to meet the goal set by President Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan earlier this year to increase the U.S. graduation rate to 90 percent by 2020. Furthermore, the report outlines the benchmarks to ensure the attainment of those goals, and focuses on bringing dedicated people to help school districts and states accelerate improvement.