Summit Takes Aim at Dropout Rate

Nearly 300 work to increase graduation rate to 90 percent

July 28, 2009

AUGUSTA ¬– In Maine, one out five students will not graduate high school. Those 3,000 students per year are more likely to be unemployed, live in poverty, receive public assistance, be unhealthy, divorced, and single parents with children who drop out of high school themselves.

Nearly 300 educators, businessmen, community members, children’s and education advocates, legislators, and others spent two days at the Maine Dropout Prevention Summit at the University of Maine in Orono developing an action plan for raising the graduation rate in Maine to 90 percent by 2016.

“We are asking people to sign on the dotted line, to follow up, and to make this happen,” said Shelley Reed, who heads the Maine Department of Education’s dropout prevention program. “We have many great programs and services available. We need to raise awareness in the community, make sure that every piece of the system knows about the other pieces and works in unison to help students graduate from high school – whatever it takes.”

In one of the most powerful segments of the conference, students from the Alternative Education Program at Portland High School told stories about dropping out of school and what helped them to reconnect with school. They presented “Don’t Call Me a Dropout”, a 19-minute video created by the students about their experiences, and the stigma associated with being labeled a “dropout.” The students, along with others, including some from the Real School in Windham, then sat on a panel to discuss and answer questions about what works in supporting students to stay in school, or to reconnect with school after dropping out.

Education Commissioner Sue Gendron, who attended the Monday morning sessions and spoke at the event, said the work dovetails with the Department’s focus on “learner-centered” education systems.

“Sometimes the structure we have put in place is not the structure that works for the student,” she said. “We need to meet every student where he or she is. If we don’t, we’re not doing our job. When we do, we can keep a kid in school, and that’s everything.”

As part of the conference, students presented a scenario to Maine’s commissioners of education, labor, health and human services, and corrections, as well as Maine’s chief justice and first lady, and asked them what services are in place or should be in place to deal with the scenario. The exercise was designed to inform participants about existing cross-agency support and agency plans for future activities, as well as an opportunity for agencies, providers, teachers and others to dialog about future solutions.

The goal of graduating at least 90% of Maine’s high school students by 2016 is also shared by the New England Secondary School Consortium ( http://www.newenglandssc.org ), a multi-state partnership working to foster forward-thinking innovations in secondary learning across the New England region. As a member of the Consortium, Maine—along with New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont—has made a commitment to ensuring that every public high school student receives an education that prepares them for success in the colleges, careers, and communities of the 21st century.

The summit is one of 50 that have been underwritten in every state by America’s Promise Alliance, which focuses on education and supporting students in graduating from high school ready for college, work and life. TD Banknorth contributed funding to support the involvement of youth in the summit.

The Maine Department of Education organized the summit in conjunction with Maine’s Shared Youth Vision Council, an initiative of Governor John Baldacci’s Children’s Cabinet. The Council is charged with monitoring and driving the action plan developed at the summit. The Institute for the Study of Students at Risk, based at the University of Maine, Orono, assisted.

For more information on the summit and the Maine Shared Youth Vision Council, visit: http://www.maine.gov/cabinet/syv/

For more information, visit the Maine Department of Education website: http://www.maine.gov/education

Contact: Shelley Reed, dropout prevention director, 207-215-6403 | 207-624-6637 Jaci Holmes, 207-624-6669

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Summit Takes Aim at Dropout Rate