By DUANE M. ELLING
In Michigan, as in much of the country, keeping young people in school -- and connecting those who’ve dropped out with new educational opportunities -- is a growing concern.
An October 2008 report,
Financing Education Options for Struggling Students and Out-of-School Youth in Michigan: Report and Recommendations for State Policy, highlights the challenges and strategies for addressing the dropout crisis in the state.
The report, funded by the Mott Foundation, was produced by the Washington DC-based
National Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC). Nancy Martin, director of Capacity Building Initiatives at NYEC, discussed the report and its findings with Mott Communications Officer Duane Elling.
Mott: How would you characterize the gap in educational options available to disconnected youth in Michigan?
Martin: Michigan has some promising models and programs for reaching struggling students and out-of-school youth, including
Mott Middle College in Genesee County,
The Kalamazoo Promise, and the several Urban High School Academies that are in place around the state.
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| Nancy Martin is director of Capacity Building Initiatives at NYEC. |
However, the state’s current offerings don’t have the capacity to meet the needs of the more than 35,000 Michigan students who fall off the track to graduation each year. Furthermore, most communities don’t offer the range of programming needed to keep all students on track or to help those who are disconnected find well-lit pathways back to education.
What is needed is a broader range of educational opportunities, enough programs and available “slots” in those programs to meet the needs of students, and the resources and public resolve to back it all up.
Mott: How are the state's current education finance policies impacting that gap?
Martin: In the 2007-08 fiscal year, Michigan appropriated just over $319 million from the State School Aid Fund to be used as “At-Risk Funds.” Those dollars are distributed to eligible districts and public school academies -- based on the number of at-risk students they serve -– and may be used for alternative education programs. While that’s a start toward meeting the need, little else is in place to encourage districts to expand education opportunities for disconnected youth.
In fact, although Michigan has shown a clear desire to improve its high schools and address the dropout crisis, there are actually some policies that make it more difficult for school districts to serve disconnected youth. For example, the state’s education funding doesn’t support adult high school completion programs for students under the age of 20. As a result, districts often don’t have age-appropriate programs for the many 16- through 19-year-olds who’ve dropped out of school.
Mott: Given the economic climate in Michigan and the country, what are the best approaches to expanding educational options for young people?
Martin: The dropout crisis is not simply “a school problem” and schools should not be expected to fix it on their own. The state needs to encourage and support collaboration between local and intermediate school districts; other youth-serving systems, such as juvenile justice, workforce development and health and human services, and community-based organizations. It needs to help those partners identify and blend various sources of funds from the public and private sectors to support struggling and disconnected students.
In essence, these times of economic downturn necessitate creative efforts to meet the needs of all youth.
Mott: How might existing programs and policies support new educational opportunities in Michigan?
Martin: The state recently launched a sophisticated data tracking system designed to more accurately monitor high school graduation and dropout rates. That information will help educators, policymakers and advocates identify the educational options that are most needed for at-risk youth.
Also important is the fact that Michigan schools can award high school credits to students based on their demonstrated competency in a given subject, rather than the amount of time spent in the classroom. A number of alternative education programs are now using that flexibility to help young people gain credit for subjects in which they’re already strong and focus their learning in other areas.
That emphasis on educational success and mobility, rather than “seat time,” can go a long way toward helping older students complete their high school education.
Other opportunities include the state’s
Shared Youth Vision Partnership, which is engaged in efforts to map existing dropout prevention and recovery resources. And the 21st Century School Fund is working to redesign high schools to provide a more personalized approach to youth education.
Mott: What are some likely outcomes if the state simply maintains the current crop of education policies and programs?
Martin: Sitting by as one-fourth of Michigan’s young people -- and in certain communities, as many as two-thirds of students -- drop out of high school will ensure continued economic woes for the state.
When young people drop out of school they, and society at large, face multiple negative consequences. Dropouts are three-and-a-half times more likely to be incarcerated than high school completers and are much more likely to rely on public assistance than their peers with high school diplomas. At the same time, dropouts contribute to the state tax rolls at about one-half the rate of high school graduates.
Michigan must recognize the lost potential in the many young people who currently leave its education system without a diploma or its equivalent, and redouble its efforts to increase high school graduation rates.