Mott Foundation, which published a report this week on how to best finance education for at-risk youth, said it's also important for the community to form partnerships.

The report, entitled Financing Education Options for Struggling Students and Out-of-School Youth in Michigan, also recommended that the Legislature change the new curriculum so it's less "one size fits all," called for legislative action on two bills that change the legal dropout age to 18 (HB 4042, SB 0011,) and outlined several ideas for organizing community and state involvement centered around graduating at-risk youth.

One example of a community and school partnership, which Mott is funding, is the Lansing Community College High School Diploma Completion Initiative, said Yazeed Moore, associate program officer at the Mott Foundation.

That program takes youth that have been out of school for a set amount of time and links them with their ISD and with LCC where they attend high school classes toward their diploma and college classes toward their degree.

Mr. Moore said there's something very powerful and life affirming about taking a young person who has recently been labeled a dropout and within weeks, allowing them to earn college credits and work toward finishing high school in one swoop.

He said with programs as innovative and rigorous as LCC's and others around the state, he disagrees that the new curriculum could make it harder for some students to graduate, as long as educators and the community are committed to creative ways of engaging students and of course, allowing them the time it takes to finish what they start.

"It's not about the standards we place on them," he said. "Where it gets sticky is what the tools we provide to people to meet those expectations. For example, the amount of time they take to graduate. A kid's education could be interrupted for a number of years, and in that case, shouldn't there be an opportunity to count them after five years or even six years, particularly if he or she is in an alternative education setting? I think we should count them as successful."

Read the report…

Source: Gongwer News Service, 10.24.08