Plan for Success – Introduction
Plan for Success: Communities of Color Define Policy Priorities for High School Reform
Across the United States, parents, teachers, business owners-entire communities-share a common desire for their children to receive a quality education that prepares them for success in college, the twenty-first-century workplace, and life. Yet, an unequal education system leaves many of their dreams unrealized. Each year, thousands of students, the majority of whom are students of color and low-income students, advance through our nation's school system, but fail to receive the high-quality education they deserve. And nowhere is this education crisis more acute than in our nation's high schools, where appalling dropout rates, disproportionately high representations of students of color in low-performing schools, and persistent achievement gaps threaten the prosperity future generations could enjoy, both individually and as a nation.
Every school year, about 1.3 million high school students drop out, leaving almost one of every four freshmen without a high school diploma four years later (U.S. Department of Education 2010). While roughly 70 percent of high school students graduate on time, only 55 percent or less of African American, Latino, and American Indian students graduated on time in the class of 2007 (Swanson 2010). In addition-and contrary to the "model minority myth"-many Asian Americans also face barriers in education. For example, nearly 50 percent of Cambodians and Laotians and 40 percent of Hmong aged twenty-five and older in the United States do not have a high school diploma (Reeves and Bennett 2004). At the same time, students living in low-income families are far more likely to drop out of high school than their wealthier peers (U.S. Department of Education 2010).
Research shows that the drop-out problem is concentrated in a subset of high schools across the country that predominantly serve students of color and low-income students. Nearly 1,900 of America's approximately 16,000 high schools are considered "dropout factories"-schools where less than 60 percent of ninth graders are enrolled as twelfth graders three years later (Balfanz et al. 2010). These 12 percent of high schools produce nearly half of the nation's dropouts. Students of color make up three-quarters of the total enrollment at these high schools and are also almost six times as likely to attend them as their white peers. In fact, a national snapshot of the Class of 2008 shows that nearly 60 percent of all African American and 50 percent of all Hispanic dropouts attended one of these lowest performing schools (Alliance for Excellent Education 2010b). These staggering statistics make one thing clear: In communities across our nation, far too many students of color, Native (American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian) students, and low-income students attend schools with such poor track records; it is more common for them to leave than to graduate.
The results of these inequities in education can be seen in National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) statistics, which show that 43 percent of African American and 39 percent of Latino twelfth graders fall below basic reading levels for their grade, compared to only 19 percent of white twelfth graders (U.S. Department of Education 2009). The consequences are even more severe for English language learners (ELLs), 78 percent of whom fall below basic reading levels (U.S. Department of Education 2009).
The effects of large gaps in achievement and high dropout rates are borne by all Americans. Research suggests that dropouts are more likely than high school graduates to experience poverty, poor health, and incarceration during their adult lives (Alliance for Excellent Education 2010a), and the financial impact of the high dropout rate on our society is staggering. For every $500 of wealth that households headed by a high school dropout accumulate, households headed by high school graduates accumulate approximately $5,000. Similarly, a single high school dropout costs the nation approximately $260,000 in lost earnings, taxes, and productivity over the course of their lifetimes (Amos 2008). Economic effects of the dropout crisis are cumulative; if the high school dropouts from 2010 had graduated, their collective lifetime earnings would have added approximately $337 billion to the U.S. economy (Alliance for Excellent Education 2010a). And if high schools and colleges are able to raise the graduation rates of Latino, African American, and Native students¬ to the levels of white students by 2020, the potential increase in income across the nation would add, conservatively, more than $310 billion to the U.S. economy (Amos 2008). The societal cost savings and the increases in tax revenue and personal purchasing power that could be realized if we are able to alleviate the dropout crisis is an important consideration as we grapple with strategies for stabilizing and growing the U.S. economy.
In particular, the challenges of fewer resources and lowered expectations serve as barriers for these low-performing districts and schools that are struggling to improve their students' achievement and prepare them for college and career. The problem plaguing high schools is often defined by several factors, including inadequate human and material resources, widely varying achievement standards, and ineffective instruction, often resulting in staggering numbers of dropouts. Often, these challenges are felt most strongly in schools serving students of color-the same students who now represent the fastest growing segment of public schools and the future of the American workforce (Plotts and Sable 2010). If left unaddressed, these blatant inequities threaten to establish a permanent underclass in America, posing a serious threat to democracy and stability.
Campaign for High School Equity
Those working on issues of social justice and civil rights are aware of the critical role education equity plays in fostering a strong foundation for economic growth and civic engagement in communities nationwide. However, it is imperative that policymakers and advocates working on education understand the importance of this issue and incorporate the knowledge and perspectives of communities of color and underserved communities in the national discussion about secondary school reform.
The Campaign for High School Equity (CHSE) is a diverse coalition of national organizations primarily representing communities of color that believe that high schools should have the capacity and motivation to prepare every student for graduation, college, work, and life. CHSE's partners include the Leadership Conference 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, the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, and the Alliance for Excellent Education. These organizations have long been involved in addressing the education policy issues facing the nation. Their experiences and specialized understanding of the impact of education policy issues on students of color and underserved communities are critical to national efforts to effectively reverse the dropout crisis and close the achievement gap.
This Plan for Success outlines CHSE's collective vision for advancing the policies that are necessary if our nation is to be successful in ensuring that all young people graduate from high school ready to work, ready for college, and ready to be productive citizens. The coalition's intent is to acquaint policymakers, advocates, educators, and the general public with ideas about high school education reform that, in policy and practice, have the potential to increase high school graduation rates as well as improve the college and workforce readiness of every graduate.