Today, there is an education crisis in our nation’s high schools that is disproportionately affecting students of color. Thirty percent of high school students who enter the ninth grade fail to graduate with their peers. Another third do graduate, but without the skills needed to succeed in postsecondary education, which has become indispensable to earning a living wage. Graduation rates are even lower for students of color. In the 2003–04 school year, only 53.4 percent of black students, 49.3 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native students, and 57.8 percent of Hispanic students graduated on time (EPE Research Center 2007). While empirical evidence suggests that some students of Asian and Pacific Islander descent are experiencing similar achievement challenges, the extent of their suffering is obscured because current data collection methods fail to disaggregate by ethnic subgroups. Equally alarming is the fact that 70 percent of our nation’s eighth graders are not reading at grade level; that percentage is even higher for high school students of color.

A Plan for Success: Communities of Color Define Policy Priorities for High School Reform, a publication of the recently formed Campaign for High School Equity, declares that it is not too late to invest in the development of students once they reach high school. The campaign launch and briefing will illustrate the need for strategic interventions and supportive services for high school students and show how federal reform policies could help prevent high school dropouts and improve graduation, literacy, and work- and college-preparedness rates.

Members of the Campaign for High School Equity include the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, the National Council of La Raza, the National Indian Education Association, the National Urban League, and the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center. The Alliance for Excellent Education serves as the Campaign’s convener and coordinator.