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Using Educational Technology to Help Students Get Back on Track
Newswire #47 | November 16, 2007
IN THIS ISSUE
JFF Conference Offers Strategies for Increasing High School Graduation, College Attainment
On October 4 and 5, 2007, more than 500 leaders, including representatives from the education, policymaking, funding, and business communities, joined together for Double the Numbers 2007. With participants coming from 41 states, as well as broad involvement from the local and national levels, this Jobs for the Future conference focused attention on the need to increase the number of low-income and minority youth who graduate from high school, are college ready, and gain a college degree or a postsecondary credential.
Plenary speakers included the Honorable Roy Romer, Chairman, Strong American Schools and former Governor of Colorado; the Honorable Mike Easley, Governor, North Carolina; and the Honorable Edward Kennedy, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. From the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the conference sponsors, plenary speakers included Vicki L. Phillips, Director, Education, and Hilary Pennington, Director, U.S. Special Initiatives.
The conference addressed four strategies for improving high school graduation rates and promoting postsecondary attainment:
- Creating multiple pathways that enable all students, including struggling students and out-of-school youth, to graduate high school prepared for college and work;
- Improving student transitions from high school to college, by incorporating college-level learning experiences into the high school years;
- Improving college completion rates, by restructuring developmental course sequences, building more bridges between K-12 and postsecondary education, and upgrading student supports; and
- Increasing postsecondary success for historically underserved groups through more strategic management of institutional spending and investment in expanded capacity and improved student learning.
At DTN07, JFF released a new book, Minding the Gap: Why Integrating High School With College Makes Sense and How To Do It.
Conference transcripts, presentations, and other materials from Double the Numbers 2007 are available at http://doublethenumbers.org.FROM OUR FRIENDS: During DTN07, the Alliance for Excellent Education held a complementary convening, From No Child Left Behind To Every Child a Graduate. At that high school policy conference, members of Congress and staff vowed that high schools would be included in NCLB reauthorization. A video of Sen. Kennedy’s address to a joint JFF/Alliance for Excellent Education reception can be viewed on the Double the Numbers and Alliance Web sites.
- Creating multiple pathways that enable all students, including struggling students and out-of-school youth, to graduate high school prepared for college and work;
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