National Youth Employment Coalition: Information Center


Alternative Education Options: A Descriptive Study of California Continuation High Schools (April 2008)
	By: Jorge Ruiz de Velasco, Gregory Austin, Don Dixon, Joseph Johnson, Milbrey McLaughlin, Lynne Perez This issue brief summarizes initial findings from a year-long descriptive study of continuation high schools in California. It is the first in a series of reports from the on-going *California Alternative Education Research Project* conducted jointly by the John W. Gardner Center at Stanford University, the National Center for Urban School Transformation at San Diego State University, and WestEd.

Cities in Crisis: A Special Analytic Report on High School Graduation (April 2008)
	This report takes a geographically-informed approach to the issue of high school completion. Specifically, we examine graduation rates in the school districts serving the nation's 50 most-populous cities as well as the larger metropolitan areas in which they are situated. Results show that graduation rates are considerably lower in the nation's largest cities than they are in the average urban locale. Further, extreme disparities emerge in a number of the country's largest metropolitan areas, where students served by suburban systems may be twice as likely as their urban peers to graduate from high school. (April 1, 2008) Author: Christopher B. Swanson, Ph.D., Director, Editorial Projects in Education Research Center

Improving Transition to Higher Education for Out-of-School Youth: A Forum co-sponsored by NYEC - March 14, 2008
	This forum, co-sponsored by the American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) and the National Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC), highlighted factors influencing the success of youth programs that provide support for formerly out-of-school youth as they complete their high school studies and transition to postsecondary education and employment.

Lost in Transition: Building a Better Path from School to College and Careers - 2008
	The nation's work force will be in jeopardy unless all high school students are better prepared for college study and today's highly skilled workplace, a new SREB report says. Many high schools in SREB states focus primarily on students who plan to enroll in four-year colleges, overlooking the students who will enter community colleges, technical schools or the job market. As a result, many students are dropping out of high school and are on a lifetime path to low-wage jobs or unemployment, notes Lost in Transition: Building a Better Path from School to College and Careers. The report recommends actions SREB states can take to encourage all students to prepare for the challenges ahead. It is based on discussions by nearly 500 state leaders at forums sponsored by SREB and the League for Innovation in the Community College.

Piloting a Searchable Database of Dropout Prevention Programs in Nine Low-Income Urban School Districts in the Northeast and Islands Region - March 2008
	By: Athi Myint-U, Lydia O'Donnell, David Osher, Anthony Petrosino, Ann Stueve While there is evidence that some dropout prevention programs have positive effects, the degree to which districts in the region are using evidence-based programs has not been documented. This report details a pilot project to generate and share knowledge by building a searchable database of dropout prevention programs and policies.

Avoidable Losses: High-Stakes Accountability & the Dropout Crisis
	In the state of Texas, whose standardized, high-stakes test-based accountability system became the model for the nation's most comprehensive federal education policy, more than 135,000 youth are lost from the state's high schools every year. Dropout rates are highest for African American and Latino youth, more than 60% for the students we followed. Findings from this study, which included analysis of the accountability policy in operation in high-poverty high schools in a major urban district, analysis of student-level data for more than 271,000 students in that district over a seven-year period under this policy, and extensive ethnographic analysis of life in schools under the policy, show that the state's high-stakes accountability system has a direct impact on the severity of the dropout problem. The study carries great significance for national education policy because its findings show that disaggregation of student scores by race does not lead to greater equity, but in fact puts our most vulnerable youth, the poor, the English language learners, and African American and Latino children, at risk of being pushed out of their schools so the school ratings can show "measurable improvement." High-stakes, test-based accountability leads not to equitable educational possibilities for youth, but to avoidable losses of these students from our schools. Authors: Linda McSpadden McNeil, Eileen Coppola, Judy Radigan, Rice University; Julian Vasquez Heilig, University of Texas-Austin

Dead Ends: The Need For More Pathways to Graduation for Overage, Under-credited Students in New York City - Dec. 2007
	This brief examines the ability of the Office of Multiple Pathways to Graduation (OMPG) schools to meet the instructional needs of English Language Learners (ELLs), students with special education needs, students who are older with few or no credits, and students who are pregnant or parenting. 12/10/2007

Career and Technical Education's Role in Dropout Prevention and Recovery (2007)
	This issue brief will explore the critical role that career and technical education (CTE) plays in dropout prevention and recovery. High quality career and technical education can help more students persist in and complete high school by preparing them for the postsecondary education and training that will be critical to future economic successes; by increasing student engagement; by building positive relationships; and by providing innovative delivery methods. Includes vignettes of programs or schools in Midwest City, Oklahoma; Miami, Florida; and Cincinnati, Ohio. --Retrieved Nov. 2007

America's Cradle to Prison Pipeline Report (2007)
	This CDF report documents America's Cradle to Prison Pipeline, an urgent national crisis at the intersection of poverty and race that puts Black boys at a one in three lifetime risk of going to jail, and Latino boys at a one in six lifetime risk of the same fate. Tens of thousands of children and teens are sucked into the Pipeline each year. Available in English and Spanish. November, 2007 Summary Report: 37 pages Full Report: 234 pages

NYEC & CLASP NCLB Recommendations - Sept. 2007
	On September 11, NYEC and the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) issued "Recommendations to Improve No Child Left Behind for Struggling Students and Disconnected Youth" by Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatt, Linda Harris, Mala Thakur, and Jonathan Larsen. Every day, an estimated 2,500 students across the nation drop out of high school. While the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has succeeded in bringing to light the disparities that exist in our education system, it has failed to shine a light and provide solutions to the pressing problem of high school dropouts. These recommendations--by CLASP and the National Youth Employment Coalition--focus on how the resources in NCLB can be used to ensure that these youth have access to systems, support, and funding to attain a viable education that prepares them for future learning opportunities and the world of work. 8 pages.

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