Raising Their Voices: Engaging Students, Teachers, and Parents to Help End the High School Dropout Epidemic

High dropout rates continue to be a silent epidemic afflicting our nation's schools. Although some measurable progress is being made in some school districts and states to raise high school graduation rates, and federal, state, and local policies and practices are changing to meet the dropout challenge, the nation's progress is too slow and the individual, social, and economic costs continue to mount.

The success of our nation's students is up to all of us. Although the specifics of the discussions varied from city to city, with respect to reducing dropout rates, there is a consensus that teachers, students, and parents all have crucial roles to play and that together they can break through many of the barriers that are leading students to drop out of high school.