Below are resources and organizations related to this section of the Opportunity Youth Playbook.

Tools and Resources

·       Bringing Students Back to the Center: A Resource Guide for Implementing and Enhancing Re-Engagement Centers For Out-Of-School Youth (U.S. Department of Education)

·       Connecting Youth Through Multiple Pathways Slide Deck Presentation (Annie E. Casey Foundation)

·       Early Warning System High School Implementation Guide (Early Warning Systems in Education at American Institutes for Research)

·       Eduployment: Creating Opportunity Policies for America’s Youth (Youth Transitions Funders Group)

·       Essential Elements of a Comprehensive Dropout Prevention, Intervention and Reengagement System (State of Washington’s Graduation: A Team Effort)

·       Integrated Student Support Framework (State of Washington’s Graduation: A Team Effort)

·       Multiple Pathways to Graduation workgroup (Youth Transitions Funders Group)

·       Municipal Action Guide: Reconnecting Youth through Dropout Reengagement Centers (National League of Cities)

·       Reengaging Disconnected Youth Action Kit for Municipal Leaders  (National League of Cities)

·       Reengaging Youth resources (GradNation)

·       School Climate and Discipline page (U.S. Department of Education)

·       Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males (Schott Foundation for Public Education) 

·       The Graduation Effect: An Alliance Project Exploring the Economic Impact of High School Graduation Rates on Society (Alliance for Excellent Education)

Reports & Research

·       2015 Building a Grad Nation Report (GradNation)

·       A Community of Practice Approach to Support for Ninth-Graders in Urban High Schools (MDRC)

·       Back to School: exploring promising practices for re-engaging young people in secondary education(GradNation)

·       Building Better Programs for Disconnected Youth (MDRC)

·       Changing How High Schools Serve Black and Latino Young Men: A Report on New York City's Expanded Success Initiative (Research Alliance for New York City Schools)

·       Discipline Disparities Series – Briefing Papers (Discipline Disparities Research-to-Practice Collaborative)

·       Dropout Risk Factors and Exemplary Programs: A Technical Report (National Dropout Prevention Center/Network)

·       Forgotten Youth: Re-Engaging Students Through Dropout Recovery policy brief (Rennie Center Education Research and Policy)

·       Goals and Expectations for College and Career Readiness: What Should Students Know and Be Able to Do? (College and Career Readiness and Success Center)

·       Investing in Boys and Young Men of Color: The Promise and Opportunity  (Center for Law and Social Policy)

·       MDRC’s Findings on School Improvement Strategies (MDRC)

·       My Brother’s Keeper 2016 Progress Report: Two Years of Expanding Opportunity and Creating Pathways to Success  (My Brother’s Keeper)

·       Myths and Facts  (Discipline Disparities Research-to-Practice Collaborative)

·       Promising Approaches for Reducing Disciplinary Disparities in School (Discipline Disparities Research-to-Practice Collaborative)

·       Relationships, Rigor and Readiness Strategies for Improving High Schools (MDRC)

·       School Discipline Consensus Report: Strategies from the Field to Keep Students Engaged in School and Out of the Juvenile Justice System (The Council of State Governments Justice Center)

·       Success at Every Step: How 23 Programs Support Youth on the Path to College and Beyond (American Youth Policy Forum)

·       The Influence of the College Match Program on Near-Peer Adviser (MDRC)

·       Using Early Warning Data to Keep Students on Track toward College and Careers (Data Quality Campaign)

·       What Works for Disconnected Young People (MDRC)

·       Whatever It Takes: How Twelve Communities are Reconnecting Out of School Youth (American Youth Policy Forum)

·       You Can’t Fix What You Don’t Look At: Acknowledging Race in Addressing Racial Discipline Disparities (Discipline Disparities Research-to-Practice Collaborative)

Data

·       Black Male Achievement Life Outcomes Dashboard (Campaign for Black Male Achievement)

·       Interactive Map Dashboard on Black Male Grad Rates (Schott Foundation for Public Education

·       KIDSCOUNT Data Center (Annie E. Casey Foundation)  

National Organizations, Networks and Initiatives

·       The American Youth Policy Forum brings together policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to frame issues, inform policy, and create conversations about improving education and young people’s lives.

·       Alliance for Excellent Education is a Washington, DC–based national policy and advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring that all students, particularly those who are traditionally underserved, graduate from high school ready for success in college, work, and citizenship. The Alliance focuses on America’s six million most at-risk secondary school students—those in the lowest achievement quartile—who are most likely to leave school without a diploma or to graduate unprepared for a productive future.

·       Big Picture Learning has worked to put students at the center of their own learning. Today, hundreds of BPL network schools in the United States and around the world work together and in their communities to reimagine and reshape education.

·       The Center for Law and Social Policy develops and advocates for federal, state and local policies to strengthen families and create pathways to education and work.

·       The Council of State Governments Justice Center is a national nonprofit organization that serves policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels from all branches of government. Staff provides practical, nonpartisan advice and evidence-based, consensus-driven strategies to increase public safety and strengthen communities.

·       Data Quality Campaign is a national, nonprofit organization leading the effort to bring every part of the education community together to empower educators, parents, and policymakers with quality information to make decisions that ensure students excel.

·       The Dignity in Schools Campaign challenges the systemic problem of pushout in our nation's schools and advocates for the human right of every child to a quality education and to be treated with dignity. The DSC unites parents, youth, educators and advocates in a campaign to promote local and national alternatives to a culture of zero-tolerance, punishment and removal.
 

·       Diploma Plus seeks to develop, implement, and sustain, in partnership with school districts and communities, innovative educational approaches and small schools that provide rigorous and student-centered alternatives for youth who have been failed by the traditional system in order to nurture their power as learners and enable them to complete high school college- and career-ready.

·       Discipline Disparities Research-to-Practice Collaborative, a group of 26 nationally known researchers, educators, advocates, and policy analysts, came together to address the problem of disciplinary disparities. The collaborative spent nearly three years conducting a series of meetings with groups of stakeholders – advocates, educators, juvenile justice representatives, intervention agents, researchers, and policymakers–in order to increase the availability of interventions that are both practical and evidence-based, and to develop and support a policy agenda for reform to improve equity in school discipline.

·       Early Warning Systems in Education at American Institutes f or Research  offers a complete set of services including the design and implementation of early warning systems to help states, districts and schools identify students who are at-risk of missing key educational milestones and create the conditions for students to succeed. We work with clients to design and implement early warning systems along with effective interventions that improve college and career readiness for all students.

·       GradNation was launched by America’s Promise Alliance in 2010, building on 105 dropout prevention summits convened across the country to raise awareness and inspire action. GradNation is now a large and growing movement of dedicated individuals, organizations and communities working together to end America’s dropout crisis. The GradNation campaign's goal is a national average on-time high school graduation rate to 90 percent by 2020, with no school graduating fewer than 80 percent of its student’s on-time.

·       Jobs for the Future is a national nonprofit that works to ensure educational and economic opportunity for all. JFF develops innovative career pathways, educational resources, and public policies that increase college readiness and career success, and build a more highly skilled workforce.

·       College and Career Readiness and Success Center hosted at American Institutes for Research, helps states and other CCRS stakeholders better inform, align, and support efforts to ensure that all students are ready for success in college and careers.

·       The National Dropout Prevention Center/Network works to increase graduation rates through research and evidence-based solutions. Since inception, the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network has worked to improve opportunities for all young people to fully develop the academic, social, work, and healthy life skills needed to graduate from high school and lead productive live

·       The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe intervenes in and reclaims the lives of 16-18 year old high school dropouts, producing program graduates with the values, life skills, education, and self-discipline necessary to succeed as productive citizens.

·       National League of Cities’ Reengagement Network, managed by the National League of Cities, assists cities in exploring and pursuing reengagement policy and programming through a technical assistance and a variety of resources.

·       Youth Transitions Funders Group is a national network of funders that work together to support the well-being and economic success of vulnerable young people age 14 to 25. YTFG seeks to ensure that all young people have lifelong family, personal, and community connections and the opportunities and tools to succeed throughout adulthood.