Dive Brief:

• Bill Milliken, author and founder of the nonprofit Communities In Schools, Inc., tells Ed Circuit a longer view of the dropout epidemic can help policymakers and school officials make more sense of the problem.
• He contends that "we aren't going to solve the issue if we look at it as simply an education issue," rather he believes education should be seen as a community issue and one that needs to be viewed in a more holistic way.
• Part of this holistic approach, he said, must take into account the acute wealth gap and school inequity in the U.S., as well as environmental and social-emotional circumstances facing students.

Dive Insight:

The problem of students dropping out and dropout recovery has been handled differently in various districts. In Seattle, for example, a local branch of the national nonprofit the United Way in King County, WA, launched an initiative called Reconnecting Youth Project with the goal of getting high school dropouts between 16 and 23 high school equivalency degrees. That program is partially funded by state funds allocated for dropout recovery.

One ongoing issue for many states is the question of how to best serve those former students who have passed the age cutoff for traditional programs. Typically, by the time a young person is in his or her 20s, it can be very difficult to return to school or find an equivalency program. A 2014 congressional rewrite of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act expanded the dropout recovery focus from high school-aged individuals to people up to the age of 24.

Rebekah Richards, cofounder of Graduation Alliance, told Education Dive that five strategies can help: focusing on the future, holding students and programs accountable, taking a collaborative approach, breaking down bureaucratic barriers, and securing long-term funding solutions instead of quick-fix band-aid approaches.