The Dropout Crisis in the Northwest: Confronting the Graduation Rate Crisis in All Communities with Special Focus on American Indian and Alaska Native Students

Conference Summary

The conference presented seventeen research reports that shed light on the most recent national, state, and local trends and statistics, as well as on the challenges and possibilities specific to the states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. Among the topics discussed were the alarming trends and social costs of school dropout nationwide; socioeconomic costs of the school dropout crisis in the Northwest; effective models and interventions for improving the graduate rate; better systems of accountability at the federal, state and local levels, and legislative changes needed in order to better support the most underserved populations in the Northwest.

The conference drew more than one hundred participants from the Pacific Northwest and was made possible by generous funding from Editorial Projects in Education Research Center.  Event co-sponsors included: The Center for the Study of Leadership in American Indian Education at The Penn State University; The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF); Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MECha) at the University of Oregon; and the University of Washington's College of Education, The Diversity Research Institute, The Institute for the Study of Ethnicity, Race and Sexuality (WISER), Native American Students in Advanced Academia (NASAA), and The Office of Minority Affairs.

The following is a list of invited speakers and presentation topics where applicable:

• Sally Brownfield, Center for the Improvement of Student Learning at the Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction

• Susan C. Faircloth, Assistant Professor and Co-Director, The Center for the Study of Leadership in American Indian Education, The Pennsylvania State University. "An Examination of the Dropout/Graduation Crisis among American Indian and Alaska Native Students."

• Brian Jeffries, Graduation Policy Director and Senior Policy Advisor, Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
  

• Nettie Legters, Co-Director, Center for Social Organization of Schools, Talent Development High Schools Program, Johns Hopkins University. "Identifying the Trends and Costs of the School Dropout Crisis in the Northwest" and "Locating the Dropout Crisis: What Can Promoting Power Tell Us About High Schools in the Pacific Northwest?"
  
  Supplementary materials: "What Your Community Can Do to Prevent Dropout and Secure Success for All Youth" and "Everyone Graduates! What Your Community Can Do to Prevent Dropout and Secure Success for All Youth."

• Daniel, J. Losen, Senior Education Law and Policy Associate, Senior Education Law and Policy Associate, The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at the University of California, Los Angeles. "Beyond Accurate Reporting: Why Congress Should Improve Graduation-Rate Accountability in the Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)" and "The Color of Inadequate School Resources: Challenging Racial Inequities That Contribute to Low Graduation Rates and High Risk for Incarceration."

• Mandy Smoker Broaddus, American Indian Student Achievement Specialist, Office of Public Instruction, Indian Education Division. "The Dropout Crisis in Montana."

• Christopher B. Swanson, Director, Editorial Projects in Education Research Center. Diplomas 2008 Count: School to College, June 5, 2008 - Vol. 27, Issue 40.

• Mike Tulee, Policy Analyst, Center for the Native Education, Antioch University Seattle. "Early College in Indian Country: Meeting the Dropout Crisis Head On."