Building digital communities to raise graduation rates

In recent years, the number of U.S. high school students graduating on time has surpassed 80 percent – higher than any point in American history. To put things in perspective, the cumulative annual increases in graduation rates over the past decade mean that approximately 2 million additional students finished high school. This increase shows that when schools and communities are held accountable and students are supported, real progress is possible. It’s also a testament to the value of more collaborative approaches, the power of digital communications, and the philanthropy that supports them.

 

Sustaining and accelerating this progress is so important because despite all the necessary emphasis on college, a high school degree is the first major delineation point separating those who have a real chance to become productive adults and those who are not likely to do so. High school graduates are significantly less likely to commit crimes and more likely to be employed and live longer, healthier lives. They are more likely to vote and volunteer. Students who walk across that stage and receive their diploma are signaling to their peers, their parents, and themselves that they are ready to begin the next part of their lives as empowered individuals and citizens. 

 

{mosads}America’s Promise Alliance leads the GradNation campaign to reach a high school graduation rate of 90 percent by 2020, with no school graduating less than 80 percent of its students on time. To reach that ambitious goal requires overcoming persistent barriers to replicating successful practices and outcomes.

 

In nearly two decades of work to improve the lives and prospects of high-risk youth, America’s Promise – with nearly 400 national partners and 160 GradNation communities — found that there is still a scarcity of knowledge about what interventions and models are most effective at making a real difference. Too often, people doing the hard work to improve schools are isolated from one another, unable to share lessons learned – across school districts, sectors and states – and lift up the strategies that can really make a difference.

  

Through the GradNation campaign, we have found that technology, when used appropriately, can help overcome these obstacles. With support from Boeing, we built a digital hub (GradNation.org) that fosters these connections and allows people – teachers, parents, and community leaders – to collect the information (on topics from attendance to discipline policies to the power of relationships), tools, and networks needed to increase graduation rates.

 

Consistent with its approach to corporate citizenship, Boeing has also made available its human capital – the same people who build airplanes, rockets, and satellites – as volunteers and advisors in this effort. With a century of innovation under its belt, Boeing is committed to inspiring and preparing the next generation of innovators and leaders.

 

Digital platforms – like GradNation – allows authentic, natural conversations among stakeholders that address issues and identify solutions. It helps end the isolation and build the will and skill to get young people on the road to adult success.

 

Just last year, we released a report with new insights from young people on the power of relationships with caring adults to help them get on track and graduate from high school. To promote learning from the report, GradNation.org published video of young people talking about their needs; discussion guides to help educators, policymakers and community organizations use the report to accelerate their work; and a blog series from thought leaders across the sector. Social channels amplified these resources. As a result, the report received more than 16,000 views. In 2015 alone, the GradNation hashtag was used 14,500 times and reached more than 10 million accounts. People are talking about what works. 

 

Building on the digital platform, state and local engagement efforts seek to spark and inspire communities to take collective action to support young people. Indeed, for all capabilities offered by technology, there is no substitute for getting all stakeholders in the same boat – better, the same room – pulling together.

 

Because, at the end of the day, the work of America’s Promise and its partners is about more than helping millions more young people graduate high school. It’s about giving our youth the opportunities and tools they need for college, a career, and a healthy life. By employing the latest technology in support of collective action – with the help of engaged philanthropic partners like Boeing – the next dramatic improvement in America’s high school graduation rate and in the lives of all our young people is very much within reach.

 

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The views expressed by authors are their own and not the views of The Hill.