GradNation Initiative Will Pay for Ideas To Boost High School Graduation Rates
America's
Promise Alliance and Pearson
want some ideas to
improve the United States' high school graduation rate — and they're
willing to
pay $600,000 for them.
The partnership between the alliance and the
educational
technology company is inaugurating the GradNation
State Activation initiative in
which it will award $200,000 to three state organizations that have the
best
proposals to boost the national high school graduation rate up to 90
percent
from its 2013 rate of 81.4 percent. According to the recently released Building
a Grad Nation report, some states are graduating less than 70
percent of their
high school students.
The organizations selected for the grants will be
expected to
come up with proposals that will positively impact young people on their
path
to graduation and beyond by facilitating collaboration among entities in
their
states, leveraging assets and developing programs that can be replicated
and
scaled.
In addition, America's Promise, an alliance of
organizations,
communities and individuals working toward the goal of 90-percent high
school
graduation by 2020, will launch a national learning network for the
grant
winners and other organizations.
The deadline for grant applications is July 31. For
more about
the GradNation State Activation initiative, go to americaspromise.org.
"We are focused on creating the conditions under
which every
young person in America has a chance to reach his or her full
potential," said
America's Promise President & CEO John Gomperts. "The partnership
between
Pearson and America's Promise Alliance will engage students as key
partners in
the effort to provide many more young people with the support they
need."
About the Author
Michael Hart is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and the former executive editor of THE Journal.