“You do not know how

important it is to have

a high school diploma

until you don’t have one.”

— Former out-of-school youth

Turning It Around:

A Collective Effort to

Understand and Resolve

Philadelphia’s Dropout Crisis

oday and every day, in neighborhoods andcommunities throughout

Philadelphia, young people aremaking decisions that will changetheir lives forever.

Some will decide to stay in school,graduate, and prepare themselvesfor college and careers.

Others, who left school without a diploma, will summon thecourage to seek out educationalprograms they hope will helpthem to complete high school or earn a GED.

But far too many will consider their circumstances, conclude thatschooling cannot meet their needsor that they cannot succeed inschool, and begin to travel a rockyroad of disengagement leadingeventually to a point of no return,where they will drop out and notcome back.

It is a road too often taken, thatdiverges from self-sufficiencytoward dependency, from activecitizenship to a life at the marginsof society, from a future of brightpromise to a struggle for dignityand survival.

Each year, more than 8,200young Philadelphians take thistragic path.

That’s enough to:

◆ fill six average-sized Philadelphiahigh schools;

◆ occupy more than 250 highschool classrooms; or

◆ pack the Palestra.

On average, 46 young peopleevery school day—that’s sevenevery hour of every school day—stop attending school. And foreach one, there are consequences,economic and social, that theycannot now begin to understand.

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I. Introduction:

A Context for Change

“I just regret that I wasn’t

doing good for myself, that

I just stopped going to

school. It makes me feel

some type of regret…”

—Jamila

Nor is the loss limited to their personal prospects. It is also catastrophic for our city, and for all of us as citizens.

Based on projections fromresearch, over their lifetimesthose 8,200+ dropouts representa loss of more than two billiondollars in income that could havepurchased goods and servicesand fueled our regional economy,and costs to society of another500 million dollars in lost tax revenues that could have helpedto support essential services andto improve the quality of life forour citizens. Not to mention thesocial and emotional toll it takeson communities, parents, and the youth themselves.

There is no blinking at theselosses.

Yet, while we can never fullyrecover the promise and produc-tivity of youth lost in years past,we can commit ourselves to thecreation of new and accessiblepathways that will help manymore young people in the futureto return to school, to their fami-lies, and to a city that needs andwants them back

Fortunately, some of that work is already underway.

2

Numerous studies demonstratethat increasing graduationrates will produce major posi-tive impacts in many areas ofour social and economic lives.

◆ A national study by economistCecilia Rouse at PrincetonUniversity shows that over alifetime, an 18-year-old whograduates earns $260,000more than a person without ahigh school diploma, and con-tributes $60,000 more in fed-eral and state income taxes.

◆ If all Americans who receivepublic assistance and aredropouts had instead earned a high school diploma, thesavings in federal welfarespending would range from$7.9 to $10.8 billion eachyear, according to an analysisby Jane Waldfogel at the

Columbia University School of Social Work. This helps tounderscore the importance of both education and work on the road to self-sufficiency.

◆ A study by Enrico Moretti atthe University of California at Berkeley found that a onepercent increase nationally inhigh school completion ratesof men 20- to 60-years-oldwould have saved the UnitedStates as much as $1.4 billionannually in reduced costsfrom crime.

In addition to foregoing thosefinancial resources, we are alsolosing the incalculable civic benefits of thousands of youngpeople taking their rightfulplace in the city’s social andeconomic mainstream.

A Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Dropout Problem

Each year, more than 8,200 young

Philadelphians drop out of school.

That’s enough to pack the Palestra.

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Young people who drop out of school or may soon do so are not a single, homogenousgroup. They exhibit a wide arrayof characteristics, including howclose or far they are from gradu-ation, based on the number ofcredits they have accumulated;their attendance patterns; theirrisk factors for dropping out;and their involvement in citysocial service agencies.

Many of these young peoplewant to learn; they do not fitcommon stereotypes of idletroublemakers; and they careabout their futures. We knowfrom analyses of data and fromthe youth themselves that manydesire an education to fulfillspecific aspirations. In a surveydone by the Eastern PennsylvaniaOrganizing Project, when 100out-of-school youth were askedwhether they wanted to return

to some type of school, 88%said that they did.

Invisible in some respects,young out-of-school men andwomen maintain ties to ourfamilies, attend our churches,and live in our neighborhoodsand on our streets. They vary in age and come from all races,religions, and ethnic groups.

School Dropouts Are Not Who You Might Think

“Later on down the line you are

really going to have nothing…

to fall back on as far as taking

care of yourself and your family…”

—Joseph

Stemming the Tide Is Within Our Reach

Philadelphia is uniquely situatedto fight the dropout crisis. Wehave brought in the best scholarsto explore the problem and havecreated a broad-based leadershipcoalition to begin framing howthe city can proceed.

To address this complex chal-lenge we need a set of compre-hensive, interconnected strategiesthat revolutionize policy and prac-tice. They include:

◆ Developing and implementingeffective cross-system supportsfor students and schools, includ-ing early intervention strategiesto prevent truancy and subse-quent dropping out, reachingout to students who have leftschool, and reconnecting youthto quality educational pathways.

◆ Providing necessary supports forpopulations of youth most at riskof dropping out, including youthoffenders returning to communi-ties, pregnant and parentingteens, and foster care youth.

◆ Galvanizing resources and political support to do what weknow works for young people asearly as possible and ongoingthroughout their educationalcareers.

◆ Engaging the business commu-nity so students can understandthat what they do in the class-room has direct relevance totheir livelihood.

◆ Providing tools and supports toparents and educators so thatthey can encourage children’seducational success.

◆ Integrating the voices of youngpeople as agents of change toteach us more about what works.

The Philadelphia Youth Councilcreated a subcommittee in 2003to focus specifically on out-of-school youth. This decision waslargely based on the develop-ment of a Blueprint for Out of School Youth, led by YouthEmpower ment Services. In 2004,with financial contributions fromthree national philanthropies—the Carnegie Corporation ofNew York, the Bill and MelindaGates Foundation, and theCharles Stewart Mott Foundation—and major support locally fromthe William Penn Foundation,the Council established thePhiladel phia Youth TransitionsCollabora tive (the Collaborative)to lead citywide efforts on behalfof disconnected and at-riskyoung people.

This Collaborative, comprised ofrepresentatives from the SchoolDistrict of Philadelphia, city gov-ernment, community organiza-tions, and champions of youthsand parents, has been workingfor the last 18 months to set thestage for reform. The Collabora -tive has prepared this report as an advocacy agenda; developedand analyzed data presented inother reports such as UnfulfilledPromise: The Dimensions andCharacteristics of Philadelphia’sDropout Crisis, 2000–2005; identified cross-system strategiesdesigned to increase graduationrates; sought the voices andviews of young people; andbegun planning a citywide cam-paign to meet the needs ofpotential and actual dropouts.

Significant steps have alreadybeen taken. We now have longitu-dinal data that allow middle schoolstaff to identify as early as sixthgrade those students most at riskof dropping out. These data willenable us to expand the currentwork of the School District and thePhiladephia Education Fund tobuild effective interventions at theschool level to keep students ontrack for a successful transition tohigh school.

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“If there's one thing that is certain, it's that the graduation

rate is climbing...but whether it's 55 percent or 68 percent,

it is still too damn low.”—School District of Philadelphia Chief

Executive Officer Paul Vallas, Philadelphia Inquirer, June 21, 2006.

Also, a literacy toolkit was devel-oped and is currently being pilot-ed by the Center for Literacy tohelp educators address the specif-ic needs of high school youthswith low literacy skills. Appropriateliteracy services for dropouts andpotential dropouts are currentlybeing mapped.

Furthermore, recent reform initia-tives from the School District ofPhiladelphia include research-based policies and programsproven to keep students inschool. The district is working tooffer more high-quality alternativeprograms specifically designedfor young people at risk of drop-ping out, and to provide the mostvulnerable groups of studentswith highly qualified teachers whoexpect all students to succeed and graduate.

But eradicating the dropout prob-lem is too complex for schools—or even broad cross-sections oforganizations and agencies—to solve by themselves.

When more than 8,200 young people vanish from our educationsystem in any given year, we haveto acknowledge that we are facing a collective crisis. We must make a “U-turn” in our thinking, ouractions, our beliefs, and our will, to give students another shot atschool and at life.

To help make these changes possible, the Collaborative and its partners are launching a majorcampaign—Project U-Turn—toencourage individuals, organiza-tions, and leaders to take strate-gic actions that will lead to feweryouth leaving school withoutgraduating.

It is time for Philadelphia to commit to universal high schoolgraduation and to extend thiscommitment to those at risk ofdropping out or who have alreadyleft school. We must provide our

most vulnerable youth with hopeand opportunity, better alterna-tives, more effective interventions,and encouragement to live up totheir full potential.

The payoff for reclaiming a futureand potentially saving the lives of more than 8,200 young peopleeach year—beyond the recoveryof $2 billion in social costs anduntapped earnings—-could notbe more worthwhile.

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In working to achieve the ultimategoal of all students graduating fromhigh school well prepared for fur-ther education and the workforce,the Collaborative has developed aseries of benchmarks for holdingitself, public officials, and the com-munity accountable.

◆ The Collaborative will work to lever-age and integrate resources acrosssectors, develop and advocate for a shared policy agenda, andincrease stakeholder involvementin out-of-school youth issues. Overthe coming year, $2 million in new and existing resources will be leveraged towards this agendaand three key policy targets willbe achieved.

◆ The Collaborative will study thecomposition of graduating classesand take steps to ensure signifi-cant progress for students from all backgrounds and variousstages of credit accumulation.Specifically, in support of theSchool Reform Commission’sDeclaration of Education, theCollaborative aims to reduce the number of dropouts by 25%, or more than 2,000 students, by the 2010–2011School Year.

◆ The Collaborative will pay particu-lar attention to youth at the high-est risk of dropping out (e.g.,youth returning from delinquentplacement, in foster care, andpregnant and parenting teens),reducing the number of thesehardest to serve youth who drop out by at least 10% over the next two years.

◆ The Collaborative will monitor thenumber of high-quality opportuni-ties created in alternative diploma-track programs as part of the district’s high school reform effort.Its goal is to increase the numberof high-quality alternative educa-tional opportunities available tostruggling students and out-of-school youth to at least 5,000, up from the current 2,800, by the2008–2009 school year.

Each year, the Collaborative willmeasure progress toward thesebenchmarks, identifying how far the city has come and how muchfarther it needs to travel. Theseprogress reports will be presentedto a high-level group of citywidepolicymakers, which will help tohold the Collaborative and the city accountable for progress.

Holding Us All Accountable for Progress

n order to identify the best strategy forreclaiming Philadelphia’s

dropout population, we have to get beyond generalized num-bers and perceptions. We needa fine-grained picture of who ourdrop outs are and a clear imageof successful new approaches to help them resume and complete their education.

In Philadelphia, perhaps more thanin any of the nation’s other urbancenters, we have a proven trackrecord that demonstrates ourcapacity and drive to performthose essential analyses. TheUniversity of Pennsylvania housesa wealth of information, in theform of the Kids Integrated DataSystem (KIDS). Most of the city’spublic agencies—including theSchool District of Philadelphia, theDepartment of Human Services,and Family Court—contribute data to KIDS, which is available to people conducting researchand formulating policy and pro-grams to advance the well-beingof Philadelphia’s children.

Researchers from the Universityof Pennsylvania and The JohnsHopkins University, working with the Philadelphia YouthTransitions Collaborative, havedeveloped specific profiles of Philadelphia’s struggling students and out-of-school youth that surpass reports at the national level, as well asanalyses in any other city orregion. Those data appear in the companion research reportby Ruth Curran Neild and Robert Balfanz, titled UnfulfilledPromise: The Dimensions andCharacteristics of Philadelphia’sDropout Crisis, 2000–2005. Thefollowing pages summarize keyfindings from this research andsuggest a series of actions, dis-cussed in Section III of this report.

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II. Summary of Research

“I felt like it was hard.

I couldn’t deal with

the work.”

—Cornelius

1. How many young people aredropping out in Philadelphia?Far too many. Based on theNeild and Balfanz study, 8,278students in grades 6–12 droppedout during the course of the2003–2004 school year alone.Roughly 60% are male, andabout two-thirds were in ninthor tenth grade when they leftschool. In addition, another5,188 young people were techni-cally enrolled but were absentfrom school more than half thetime. Look ing over time, cohortanalyses of the Classes of 2000through 2005 suggest thatabout 30,000 students whobegan ninth grade in Philadel -phia’s public high schools leftwithout earning a diploma.

In recent years, six-year graduationrates for students in Philadelphiapublic schools range from 54% to58%. On average, approximately40% of Latino males earned a high school diploma within sixyears, while about half of AfricanAmerican and White males fin-ished high school and 65% ofAsian did so. Among females,about half of Latinos graduated, as did 65% of African Americansand Whites, and 75% of Asians.

2. Why do young people dropout? Academic failure is a criti-cal factor. Based on the Neildand Balfanz analyses, we knowthat many dropouts are farbehind in credits needed tograduate from high school. In fact, about one-third of the dropouts would need atleast three more years of suc-cessful course completion toearn a diploma.

While important, academic failureis not the only explanation. Inaddition to being academicallychallenged, Philadelphia dropoutsreported in surveys and focusgroups that they believed thatteachers, counselors, and otheradults in the school were not inter-ested in them. Some were boredby coursework that they consid-ered irrelevant to their interestsand needs. School climate andsafety were also consistently citedas reasons for dropping out.

3. What role do non-school issuesplay in dropping out?According to the Neild andBalfanz report, young peoplewith life issues that lead themto involvement in social servicesystems drop out at especiallyhigh rates. For example, basedon analyses of the 2003–2004school year, fully 90% of thestudents experiencing a stay in a delinquent placementfacility during their high schoolyears ultimately dropped out,as did 70% of students with afoster care placement or whohad a substantiated case ofabuse or neglect during thehigh school years. Further -more, 70% of young womenwho gave birth within fouryears of starting high schoolalso dropped out. These num-bers indicate that the schoolsand the social service agencieshave a strong, shared interest in developing coordinatedapproaches that address theneeds of these disconnectedyoung people.

7

“The crowd I was hanging out with is the crowd going nowhere

in life… and the crowd that I needed to hang around, they are

probably still in school doing what they need to do…“ —Shauna

4. When do young people drop out? The majority ofPhiladelphia youth who willdrop out earn few or no creditsin ninth grade and fail to getpromoted to tenth grade. Theyrepeat ninth grade, and againpass few if any courses. Over-age and far from graduation,they stop attending school,sometimes even before reach-ing the age of 17, when theycan legally drop out.

This generalized view masks con-siderable variation as to whenyoung people drop out. Data sug-gest that many young people drop out, return one or more times,then drop out for good. Giventhat, and the fact that many youthwho leave school have prior histo-ries of low attendance, droppingout should be viewed more as a process than as an event.

Therefore, it may be more usefulto identify the time periods whenpredictors of dropping out materi-alize, rather than when studentsstop attending school. In fact,research conducted by RobertBalfanz and Liza Herzog of thePhiladelphia Education Funddetermined that four powerfuldropout predictors—attendingschool 80% or less of the time,getting poor marks for behavior,failing math, or failing English—areevident as early as the sixth grade in approximately 40% of studentswho do not graduate.

Neild and Balfanz group studentswho fall off the graduation trackinto three general categories:

a. At-risk eighth-graders whomissed at least five weeks ofschool and/or failed mathand/or English had a 75%chance of dropping out.

b. At-risk ninth-graders who werenot academically at-risk in theeighth grade but who missedmore than seven weeks ofschool during ninth grade,and/or earned fewer than twocredits during ninth grade,and/or were not promoted to tenth grade on time had a75% chance of dropping out.

c. An additional 20% of youth who dropped out emerged from ninth grade without beingacademically at-risk, but subse-quently fell off track. It is muchmore difficult to predict thisgroup of young people, indicat-ing that the issues may be muchmore individualized for youth atthis level.

According to Neild and Balfanz,the young people who were identified as at-risk eighthgraders or at-risk ninth gradersmade up 80% of the studentswho dropped out.

8

“I always had on my mind (that) I won’t quit…because I am

planning on trying to set up for school again—until I get it right.”

—Joseph

“I went from barely going to

[high school], to attending

[the community-based educa-

tion program] here every day.

Now I am at Community

[College of Philadelphia]…

Most people go from good

to bad, but it was reverse for

me. And I am happy for it to

happen like that.”—Jason

5. What works to keep studentsin school, and to recover thosewho have left? Several research-based effective practices haveemerged. These include:

◆ Building community-wideapproaches that involve schools,social service agencies, employ-ers, and young people and theirfamilies, recognizing that pre-venting students from droppingout is too large a task for any sin-gle stakeholder.

◆ Identifying risk factors for dropping out as early as sixthgrade, and tailoring interven-tions to address students’ chal-lenges before they becomeinsurmountable.

◆ Using innovative approaches to learning that use real-worldexperiences, while maintaininghigh expectations and academ-ic rigor.

◆ Placing a major focus on over-coming literacy deficits.

◆ Improving the safety of ourschools and communities.

◆ Reaching out to young peoplewho have stopped attending orhave left school entirely to deter-mine what can be done to bringthem back.

◆ Encouraging young people toenvision a successful future forthemselves and promoting real-istic options for attaining goals.

9

“This is really hard to talk about.

I didn’t really make it to high

school because of my behavior.

The last grade that I really

completed was the eighth…

I never really told nobody that,

so I really do not know anything

about high school…”—Jamila

ecause we know a greatdeal about the educa-tional and social service

profiles of these young people,we can design specific strate-gies that will promote success.Research conducted in Phila -delphia and lessons from yearsof working with out-of-schoolyouth provide insight into whereand how to focus support and

investments. We are realistic about the chal-lenges ahead: building public willto address the issues; identifying,organizing, targeting, and aligningavailable resources to create moreoptions and fill gaps in service;better supporting those who sup-port young people; and holdingourselves accountable for progress.

10

To secure citywide sup-port for attacking theschool dropout crisis,major foundations anddozens of organizationsand agencies are launch-ing Project U-Turn, acitywide campaign seek-ing involvement of youngpeople and the commit-ment of civic, business,education, and politicalleaders, as well as par-ents and other key stake-holders. Project U-Turn isdesigned to help shiftthe debate from a focuson the problem to anexamination of solutionsand resources. Specifi -cally, Project U-Turn willwork to ensure that weall consider, count, col-laborate, connect, and

change so that everyPhiladelphia youth gradu-ates from high schoolready for college, work,and life. These are the“Five C’s” of Project U-Turn:

◆ The entire communitymust consider theimportance of highschool graduation tostudents and to thebest long-term inter-ests of Philadelphians.

◆ The “invisibility” of stu-dents who fail in schoolmust end. All our youngpeople must be count-ed and timely reportsshould be released thatidentify the progressmade and the goals still unattained.

◆ Schools, communities,families, social serviceagencies, and youththemselves need to collaborate to supportstudent success, to turnaround public attitudestowards out-of-schoolyouth, and to addressproblems that drivechildren and youth out of school.

◆ Schools andcommunitiesmust becomesafer andmore adeptat addressing

the varied needs of students. We must beable to reach out and to connect with studentsas soon as they show anysigns of educational risk.

◆ Policies, practice, andresources must supportand provide incentivesfor change that encour-age schools to find,hold, and graduate asmany kids as possible.

Project U-Turn: A Catalyst for Accountability and Coordinated Action

The “Five C’s” were developed by Philadelphia Citizens for Childrenand Youth through the work of Philadelphia’s Youth TransitionsCollaborative and published by PCCY in The Dropout Crisis: An Invisible Epidemic, 2006.

III. Recommendations:

A City-Wide Action Agenda

Investments for Change

These goals will require sustainedefforts and a set of strategic invest-ments from key stakeholdersthroughout the city.

A. Strategic Investments Required:

T H E P U B L I C S E C T O R

All public agencies must worktogether to create a seamless sys-tem of high-quality options, effec-tive interventions, and targetedsupports that can help thousandsof young people earn their diplo-mas. The Collaborative has identi-fied three key action objectives,which, if achieved over the nextfew years, will have a profoundeffect on reducing the number of dropouts in the city. For each of the three, we have specifiedactivities and some of the keyagencies responsible for makingthem happen.

1. Develop and implement aneffective cross-system strategyto support students andschools. Young people havereported feeling that adults in their schools did not showmuch interest in them, andmade few if any attempts tocontact them once they leftschool. Therefore, concertedefforts should be made to reachout to at-risk youth and discon-nected youth to keep them inschool and to re-engage themin educational programming.Strategies might include:

◆ Acting to provide support foryouth who present early evi-dence of being at risk of leaving school.

◆ Placing social workers in middleand high schools that have beenidentified as having the most dif-ficulty in promoting students.

◆ Creating an Office of Educa -tional Support within the city’ssocial service system, particularlyworking with the Department ofHuman Services.

◆ Encouraging city social servicesystems, especially the Depart -ment of Human Services, to work with the School District and provider agencies to changeprocedures so that school time is not lost when students changedelinquent and dependentplacements and schools.

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“Solving the dropout problem is a significant challenge but an

absolute necessity. It is critical for each young person, his or her

family, and for the community that each young person gets the

skills and abilities that will permit him or her to have a successful

future. This requires all young people to take responsibility for

finishing school—but with the benefits of supports, work oppor-

tunities, and learning experiences that meet their needs”

—Pedro Ramos, Managing Director, City of Philadelphia

◆ Ensuring, as part of upgradingthe truancy system, that appro-priate school personnel follow upwith students who have stoppedattending or left school.

◆ Identifying resources and per-sonnel to contact students,encourage them to return totheir home schools, and/or con-nect them to alternative appro-priate educational opportunities.

◆ Engaging supportive and caringadult mentors who can connectwith struggling but receptive stu-dents and out-of-school youth.

◆ Creating incentives to buildcapacity and support cross-agency cooperation and data sharing.

2. Provide necessary supports topopulations of youth most atrisk of dropping out, includingyouth offenders returning tocommunities, pregnant and par-enting teens, and foster careyouth. The data indicate clearlythat youth with involvement insocial service systems are at agreatly elevated risk of droppingout. Thus, a stronger partnershipbetween the School District ofPhiladelphia (SDP) and the city’ssocial service system, includingthe Depart ment of HumanServices and the PhiladelphiaJuvenile Probation Department,has the potential to improveoutcomes for youth, and also tomake the actions of all institu-tions more effective and effi-cient. Investments include:

a) Building supports for youthoffenders returning to theircommunities. Young peopleseeking successful communityreintegration as they return from delinquent placement facemany challenges. Too often, theacademic and occupational pro-grams they participate in whilein placement are inconsistentwith SDP expectations. Andbecause community support has been inadequate, recidivismrates have been far too high.Current efforts, including theReintegration Initiative, haveshown promise. Additionalprogress can be made by:

◆ Mapping and assessing curricular offerings at juvenileplacement sites and other non-SDP educational programsto promote a standards-basedapproach that aligns with SDPrequirements and maximizescredit transfer.

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“I got involved in this [digital media] program through the truancy court…

The case manager referred me here. I wasn’t too sure. Then they came out

to the house. They told me about the program [and] I went through the

whole orientation process…I went all 18 weeks, graduated, got the rewards

at the end of the program…Now I am trying to get A+ certified.”—Jason

◆ Encouraging DHS, Family Court,and their partners to strengthenoccupational offerings andestablishing pilot programmingat delinquent placement facilitiesand E3 Centers, as recommend-ed by recent assessments.

◆ Expanding the capacity and pro-gramming of E3 Centers so theycan serve more youth returningfrom delinquent placement facili-ties, offer occupational skillstraining that is aligned with offer-ings at the delinquent placementfacilities, and offer credit-bearingacademic course work.

◆ Increasing the academic andsocial supports available to students within the schools, toensure a smoother transitionback.

◆ Ensuring that students whoseeducation is disrupted by delinquent placement haveopportunities to expedite thecompletion of work missed toavoid repeating semesters orentire grades.

b) Assisting pregnant and par-enting teens in continuingtheir education. Such teensneed extra support to com-plete their high school educa-tion while handling responsi-bilities as moms and dads. Forthis group, extra barriers tostaying on course to gradua-tion must be overcome, fromparental leave to childcare.Public agencies can addressthese issues by:

◆ Utilizing schools, health careproviders, and communityorganizations to identify andreach out to pregnant and parenting teens to assess andrespond to their needs, connectthem to school, and facilitatetheir educational success.

◆ Expanding access to and utiliza-tion of teen parenting programs,like the ELECT/Cradle to Class -room program, that assist chil-dren who are raising children and thereby advance the healthdevelopment of two generations.

◆ Revising district policy to extendteen parental leave from the current one month to six weeks.

◆ Researching expansion of technology to provide in-homestudy while students are onparental leave.

◆ Allowing pregnant teens to submit the paperwork necessaryto apply for childcare subsidiesbefore their babies are born.

◆ Expand the subsidized child careprogram to provide for the chil-dren of parents who have notgraduated and are under 25.

13

c) Expanding support for fostercare youth. Many youthinvolved in the foster care system make frequent movesfrom family to family. This alsocan mean changing schools, to the potential detriment of the teens’ academic, social, and emotional well-being.Further more, youth who age out of the foster care systemmust be self-sufficient, or theyrisk ending up on the street.Public agencies can addressthese issues by:

◆ Building on the lessons of modelprograms such as the AchievingIndependence Center and oth-ers, which employ innovativeapproaches to meeting theneeds of youth who are agingout of foster care.

◆ Ensuring that when a young person leaves the dependencysystem someone follows up to encourage and ensure theycontinue in school.

◆ Counting and reporting on theeducational progress of youth in care and the educational status of youth when they ageout of care.

◆ Working to change proceduresso that school time is not lostwhen students change depend-ent placements and schools.

3. Significantly increase the num-ber of student placements inhigh-quality alternative educa-tional programs from the2,800 spaces currently avail-able to at least 5,000, andensure that these programsare integral components of theSchool District’s high schoolreform plans. Over the nextfew years the School Districthas committed to expandingand creating new learningopportunities that help addressthe individual learning anddevelopmental needs of cur-rent or potential dropouts.These efforts should include:

◆ Creating more slots and improv-ing services within the District’saccelerated high schools andredesigning and expandingEducational Options, theDistrict’s non-school-hour alternative program.

◆ Building new models that focuson the unique needs of older,under-credentialed studentsand out-of-school youth toaccelerate credit acquisitionresponsibly.

◆ Designing and instituting programming that builds ondual enrollment, Gateway toCollege, and similar approach-es for youth who are within two years of graduation.

◆ Simplifying the re-enrollmentprocess.

◆ Creating effective strategies toconnect youth in educationalprogramming with needed socialsupports.

◆ Building on the experience andlessons learned from community-based E3 Centers and accelerat-ed schools and their programsfor out-of-school youth to inform the School District’shigh school reform strategy.

◆ Establishing protocols to determine appropriate educa-tional placements for returningout-of-school youth.

◆ Developing quality assuranceindicators that apply to all educational programming,whether offered through theSchool District of Philadelphia,community providers, or public agencies.

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It is important to ensure that when foster care youth

leave the dependency system someone follows up

to encourage and ensure they continue in school.

B. Strategic Investments Required:

E L E C T E D O F F I C I A L S A N D

O T H E R P O L I C Y M A K E R S

Policymakers must play multipleroles in stemming the dropout crisis. We urge elected officialsand other policymakers to:

◆ Create incentives for greatercooperation and improvementby using the bully pulpit to drawattention to the problem ofyouth dropouts.

◆ Support the development of aneducation system that retainsstudents and recaptures youngpeople who have left.

◆ Monitor how far and how fastthe city is moving to ensure that every young person earns a diploma.

◆ Support the establishment of a unique student identifierand help to expand capacity to collect quality data.

◆ Remove disincentives and devel-op incentives for re-enrollmentand keeping students in school.

◆ Increase support for high schoolreform and dual enrollment,both of which promote successfor disconnected youths by stim-ulating rigorous and innovativepedagogies.

◆ Support community-based,cross-sector approaches to re-engaging struggling studentsand out-of-school youth.

To coalesce public support and toshatter common misconceptionsabout young people and thenature of the dropout problem,we also urge public officials touse every available opportunity—every relevant piece of legislation,every town meeting, and everyspeech—to speak to the impor-tance of this issue.

15

C. Strategic Investments Required:

THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY

Philadelphia’s business communityhas a vested interest in the city’spublic schools that goes beyondcorporate responsibility. It canbuild more effective pathways bywhich students who drop out ofschool can gain work experienceand resume their education at key intervals—before high schoolgraduation, between high schooland postsecondary school, andduring college. We urge businessleaders to:

◆ Participate in forums to articu-late the skills and knowledgerequired in the workplace, so that future employees areknowledgeable, responsible,and highly skilled graduates.

◆ Advocate among colleagues and elected officials to build collective responsibility for trans-forming policy and practice.

◆ Hire young people through initiatives like WorkReadyPhiladelphia, and provide workand mentoring experiences thatpromote academic achievementand increase future employabilityand earnings.

◆ Use their influence on behalf ofdisconnected youth in Philadel -phia, by persuading elected andappointed officials at the local,state, and national levels of thevalue of funding flexible, high-quality educational options andvital social services.

◆ Focus current and future invest-ments on strategic priorities thatare research-based and proveneffective in decreasing dropoutrates and increasing the num-bers of high school graduates.

◆ Support citywide strategies thatencourage disconnected youthto learn and earn.

◆ Participate in the developmentand implementation of newmodels that blend work andlearning.

◆ Assist in the development of industry pipeline models that offer youth the ability toenhance their skills throughouthigh school.

◆ Bring teachers and administra-tors to the workplace, and get employees excited aboutdemonstrating the skills youngpeople need for economic success in the 21st century.

16

“The region's economy is more knowledge-based than ever

before. Industries that require highly educated and skilled

workers now make up 43% of Greater Philadelphia's total

employment. An educated workforce is a requirement for

regional growth and a successful community.”

—Mark S. Schweiker, President & CEO

Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce

D. Strategic Investments Required:

PA R E N T S

Parents are vital partners in thiswork and need support. Teenagerswho stay in school benefit frompersonal connections with adults(especially their parents and teach-ers) who encourage and evenpush them to complete school.Specifically parents can:

◆ Talk to their children aboutschool.

◆ Make sure that their childrenknow that school performancematters to them.

◆ If their children display any of theindicators for risk of droppingout, bring that information to theattention of school officials andrelevant social service agencies.

◆ Volunteer to help the School

District contact young peoplewho are on the verge of drop-ping out. Sometimes a simplecall and expression of supportcan make all the difference.

◆ Learn more about the SchoolDistrict and city systems, particu-larly the availability of relevantprograms and how to negotiateaccess to them.

◆ Call 1-877-TURN-180 or visitwww.projectuturn.net for adviceand referrals that can help themhelp their children.

◆ Make their voices heard by elect-ed and appointed officials aboutthe importance of providingresources to enable young people to stay in school or to re-engage with school andcareer preparation.

17

“We need to listen and to learn.

The impact that the current

situation has on families and

communities cannot always be

measured in dollars and cents.

It can be measured in the heart-

break and tears of parents who

are struggling to get young

people back in school…This is

about what we save in terms

of young people’s lives.”

—Dolores Shaw,

Parent and

EPOP Board Member

E. Strategic Investments Required:

E D U C AT O R S

Many educators in the SchoolDistrict of Philadelphia give their all—24/7—to help youngpeople succeed. They have theirhands full simply doing their job:inspiring young people to reachfor and master skills and knowl-edge required for success atwork and/or college. Some additional things that educatorscan do include:

◆ Become better equipped toaddress literacy and learningproblems and recognize thewarning signs of student failure.

◆ Gain familiarity with the manysupports and networks that areavailable to help young peoplewho are at-risk of dropping out.

In addition, educators should be provided with ongoing profes-sional development and ade-quate materials, resources, andtime to help students see howtheir education is connected tofuture jobs, quality of life, andearning power.

18

Educators should be provided with ongoing professional

development and adequate materials, resources, and

time to help students see how their education is connect-

ed to future jobs, quality of life, and earning power.

F. Strategic Investments Required:

Y O U N G P E O P L E

As we improve the schools andsystems that serve these youngpeople, we also have to consultwith and be guided by their ideasabout what works. Therefore, thiseffort will be most successful whenyoung people are given a voice in planning the project’s activities.Young people need to learn moreabout what it takes to come backto school or stay in school, andwhy it is important. Other thingsthat young people can do include:

◆ Help us understand what worksand what they need to stay inschool.

◆ Talk to their peers about theimportance of staying in school.

◆ Tell each other about programsthat work.

◆ Participate in citywide events,and take action on behalf ofthemselves and their peers.

19

This effort will be most successful

when young people are given a voice

in planning the project’s activities.

G. Strategic Investments Required:

F R O M E V E R Y O N E

This report is not all-inclusive. Itwould take too many pages toidentify the role that everyonemust play. We need leaders of the faith community to speak fromtheir pulpits about the dropoutchallenge and our moral obliga-tion to maximize the opportunitiesfor young people. We need activecommunity members who areclose to young people—coaches,youth pastors, and others—tolearn the dropout warning signsand lift up young people in trou-ble. And we need philanthropiststo be partners in this endeavor.

In the next few months, Project U-Turn will be creating a leader-ship body of key stakeholders with responsibility for securingresources to support these rec-ommendations. That body willpresent more detailed informa-tion to central audiences aboutwhat they can do. In addition, this group of leaders will helpmonitor the progress and out-comes of programs and servicesfor out-of-school youth.

20

In the next few months, Project U-Turn will be

creating a leadership body of key stakeholders

with responsibility for securing resources to

support these recommendations.

his report is an attemptto present a clear pic-ture of the dropout crisis

in Philadelphia and offer recom-mendations to stem it. It setsforth the vision and commitmentof a broad range of partners who have shared their ideas, and put aside their differences,to address this crucial challenge.

It calls our city to action—tochart a new course that will allowus to save lives and build futuresfor these young people, theirfamilies, and the city.

The need for action is urgent,and will require:

◆ Unprecedented cooperationacross levels of government,agencies, schools, and neigh-borhoods.

◆ Widespread communicationwith young people—in waysthey understand, throughadults, the media, their peers,and others of influence, thatwherever they want to go inlife, earning a high schooldiploma is the first step.

◆ A second look, from the entirecommunity, at who is leavingschool and their importance to the city’s future.

◆ A fresh perspective on theSchool District of Philadelphiaand the city as more new highschools and better options foryoung people are created.

◆ Redeployment of our resources,based on what research saysworks, and continual monitor-ing of progress as prelude toinevitable adjustments.

◆ The willingness to Consider,Count, Collaborate, Connect,and Change, so that all of ouryoung people can be successful.

21

IV. Conclusion

The Youth Transitions Funders Group consists oflocal, regional, and national philanthropic organiza-tions that united in 2002 to work on behalf of at-riskyouth and young adults. In 2004, three national fun-ders from the group—the Bill and Melinda GatesFound a tion, the Carnegie Corporation of New York,and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation—awardedmatching grants for a strategic assessment of capaci-ty and potential to improve outcomes for out-of-school and other vulnerable youth. Phila delphia,along with Boston, New York, Portland (Oregon), and San Jose (California), won support because itwas among the cities demonstrating “extraordinaryleadership in committing to educating all their youngpeople, not just those in school.” The funders chosethe Philadelphia Youth Network to convene our localpartnership for this grant.

Locally, the William Penn Foundation has provided significant matching funds to extend the work ofPhiladelphia’s local partnership. The PhiladelphiaFoundation’s Fund for Children and the Samuel S. Fels Fund have provided additional funding for various elements of the project. With oversight fromthe Youth Council of the Philadelphia WorkforceInvestment Board, the Collaborat ive has made significant progress during the first grant year on a range of strategic priorities.

FOUNDING PARTNERS

Center for Literacy

Community College of Philadelphia

Department of Human Services

Eastern Pennsylvania Organizing Project

The Johns Hopkins University

Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth

Philadelphia Education Fund

The Philadelphia Juvenile Probation Department

Philadelphia Safe and Sound

Philadelphia Youth Network (managing partner)

School District of Philadelphia

University of Pennsylvania

William Penn Foundation

22

Appendix A:

About Philadelphia’s Youth Transitions Collaborative

PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS

In addition to the organizations listed on the previouspage, the following are members of the PhiladelphiaWorkforce Investment Board’s Youth Council Commit -tee on Out-of-School Youth and/or participants in theCollabora tive’s work groups and retreat.

The Bridge, a subsidiary organization of PhiladelphiaHealth Management Corporation

Cardinal Bevilacqua Community Center

City Wide Youth Leadership Agency

Congreso de Latinos Unidos

Community College of Philadelphia

Communities in Schools of Philadelphia

Delaware Valley Grantmakers

District 1199C Training & Upgrading Fund

Education Law Center

Indochinese-American Council

The Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative

Greater Philadelphia Federation of Settlements

Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition

KidZone/Foundations, Inc.

Lutheran Settlement House

Mayor’s Commission on Literacy

Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America, Inc.

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children

Philadelphia Academies, Inc.

Philadelphia Foundation

Philadelphia Health Management Corporation

Philadelphia Housing Authority

The Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Public/Private Ventures

Resources for Human Development

Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance AssociationCoalition

Temple University, Center for Social Policy &Community Development

United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania

Youth Empowerment Services

23

For more information about the Philadelphia Youth Transitions Collaborative and Project U-Turn, please contact:

Philadelphia Youth Transitions Collaborative c/o Philadelphia Youth Network714 Market St., Suite 304Philadelphia, PA 19106

info@projectUturn.net

1-877-TURN-180

www.projectUturn.net

Articles and Publications

Aron, Laudan Y. An overview of alternative educa-tion. Washington, D.C.: The Urban Institute, January2006.

Allensworth, E. M., & Easton, J. Q. The on-track indicator as a predictor of high school graduation.Chicago, IL: Consortium on Chicago SchoolResearch, 2005.

Almeida, Cheryl, Johnson, Cassius, and Steinberg,Adria. Making good on a promise: What policy -makers can do to support the educational persist-ence of dropouts. Cambridge, MA: Jobs for theFuture, April 2006.

Balfanz, Robert, & Herzog, Liza. Keeping middlegrades students on track to graduation: Initial analy-sis and implications. Philadelphia, PA: PhiladelphiaEducation Fund, May 2006.

Balfanz, Robert, and Legters, Nettie. Locating thedropout crisis. Baltimore, MD: Center for SocialOrganization of Schools, The Johns HopkinsUniversity, June 2004.

Bridgeland, John M., DiIulio, John J., and Morison,Karen Burke. The silent epidemic: Perspectives of high school dropouts. Washington, DC: CivicEnterprises, March 2006.

Brown, David, DeJesus, Edward, & Schiraldi, Vincent.Barriers and promising approaches to workforce andyouth development for young offenders. Baltimore:Annie Casey Foundation, 2001.

Connected by 25: A plan for investing in successfulfutures for foster youth. Chicago, IL: Youth TransitionFunders Group: Foster Care Work Group with TheFinance Project, 2004.

Diplomas count: An essential guide to graduationpolicy and rates. Princeton, NJ: Education Week,Volume 25, No. 41S, June 22, 2006.

Education on lockdown: The schoolhouse to jailhouse track at-a-glance. Chicago, IL: TheAdvancement Project, March 2005.

Fogg, Neeta, Harrington, Paul, and McCabe, Kevin.Youth disconnection in large cities, prepared for theU.S. Conference of Mayors. Boston: NortheasternUniversity, June 2005.

Greene, Jay P., and Winters, Marcus A. Public highschool graduation and college readiness rates:1991–2002. Education Working Paper No. 8. NewYork, NY: Manhattan Institute for Policy Research,February 2005.

Greene, Jay P. and Winters, Marcus A. Pushed out or pulled up? Exit exams and dropout rates in public high schools. Education Working Paper No. 5. New York, NY: Manhattan Institute for PolicyResearch, March 2004.

Harris, Linda. Learning from the youth opportunityexperience: Building delivery capacity in distressedcommunities. Washington, DC: Center for Law andSocial Policy, January 2006.

Harris, Linda. What’s a youngster to do? The education and labor market plight of youth in high poverty communities. Clearinghouse ReviewJournal of Poverty Law and Policy, pp. 126–34,July–August 2005.

Holzman, Michael. Public education and black malestudents: The 2006 state report card. Cambridge,MA: The Schott Foundation for Public Education,June 2006.

Hoye, J.D., and Sturgis, Chris. The alternative path-ways project: A framework for dropout reductionand recovery. Keep the Change, Inc., June 2005.

Jerald, Craig D. Identifying potential dropouts: Keylessons for building an early warning data system.Washington, D.C.: Achieve, Inc. and Jobs for theFuture, February 2006.

Martin, Nancy, and Halperin, Samuel. Whatever ittakes: How twelve communities are reconnectingout-of-school youth. Washington, DC: AmericanYouth Policy Forum, 2006.

Orfield, Gary. Dropouts in America: Confronting the graduation rate crisis. Cambridge, MA: HarvardEducation Publishing Group, 2004.

Orfield Gary, Losen, Daniel, Wald, Johanna, andSwanson, Christopher. Losing our future: Howminority youth are being left behind by the gradua-tion rate crisis. Cambridge, MA: The Civil RightsProject at Harvard University; the Urban Institute;Advocates for Children of New York; and the CivilSociety Institute, 2004.

Powerful pathways: Framing options and opportu-nities for vulnerable youth. Chicago, IL: YouthTransition Funders Group, October 2001.

Reengaging disconnected youth: Action kit formunicipal leaders. Washington, DC: NationalLeague of Cities Institute for Youth, Education, and Families, 2005.

Ruzzi, Betsy Brown, and Kraemer, Jaqueline.Academic programs in alternative education: An overview. Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education and the Economy, April 2006.

Safe passages: How philanthropy is workingtogether to help all of America’s youth connect by 25. Chicago, IL: Youth Transition Funders Group, 2006.

Steinberg, Adria, Almeida, Cheryl, Allen, Lili, andGoldberger, Sue. Four building blocks for a systemof educational opportunity: Developing pathways toand through college for urban youth. Cambridge,MA: Jobs for the Future, March 2003.

Swanson, Christoper. The real truth about gradua-tion rates: An evidence-based commentary.Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute, 2004.

VUE (voices in urban education), AnnenbergInstitute for School Reform at Brown University,Issue Number 12, “Educating Vulnerable Pupils,”Summer 2006.

Wald, Michael, and Martinez, Tia. Connected by 25:Improving the life chances of the country’s most vulnerable 14–24 year olds. Menlo Park, CA: Williamand Flora Hewlett Foundation Working Paper,November 2003.

Web Resources

Achieve: www.achieve.org

American Youth Policy Forum: www.aypf.org

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: www.gatesfoundation.org/Education/

Carnegie Corporation of NY:www.carnegie.org/sub/program/education.html

Center for Law and Social Policy: www.clasp.org

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation:www.mott.org

The Education Trust: www.edtrust.org

Forum for Youth Investment: www.forumforyouthinvestment.org

Jobs for the Future: www.jff.org

National League of Cities Institute for Youth,Education, and Families: www.nlc.org/IYEF

National Youth Employment Coalition:www.nyec.org

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children: www.papartnerships.org

Sar Levitan Center for Social Policy Studies:www.levitan.org

Teachers College, Columbia University Campaign for Educational Equity: www.tc.edu/centers/EquityCampaign/index.asp

Urban Institute: www.urban.org

U.S. Conference of Mayors: www.mayors.org

Youth Transition Funders Group: www.ytfg.org

24

Recent Articles, Publications,

and Web Resources

on Struggling Students and Out-of-School Youth

For more information about the Philadelphia Youth Transitions Collaborative and Project U-Turn, please contact:

Philadelphia Youth Transitions Collaborative c/o Philadelphia Youth Network714 Market St., Suite 304Philadelphia, PA 19106

info@projectUturn.net

1-877-TURN-180

www.projectUturn.net

Quotes in this publication have been obtained through

interviews conducted by the Philadelphia Public School

Notebook with out-of-school youth. The names have been

changed at the request of those interviewed.

Additional funding for Project U-Turn has been provided by: