During 2000-2005, about 30,000 students who began ninth grade in Philadelphia left without earning a high school diploma.

This is one of many sad facts detailed in a new report released today by the Philadelphia Youth Transitions Collaborative. The landmark study, conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins and the University of Pennsylvania, documents a serious crisis among our city's youth, and begins to identify characteristics of middle school students that will help educators to target interventions to those at risk of dropping out. The research was funded by the William Penn Foundation, with additional support from a national collaborative of funders that includes the Carnegie Corporation, and the Mott and Gates Foundations. The study is accompanied by a policy report which discusses possible solutions.

The research is the centerpiece of Project U-Turn, a campaign launched today by the Philadelphia Youth Transitions Collaborative, a consortium consisting of the School District of Philadelphia, public agencies, nonprofits, and parent groups, designed to focus attention on the crisis while promoting solutions.

The campaign's ultimate goal is for all Philadelphia students to graduate from high school well prepared for further education and the workforce. In support of that goal, the Collaborative aims to reduce the number of dropouts by 25 percent by 2010 through a proactive reform agenda, as well as efforts to reconnect struggling youth to programs that can help them turn their lives around.

School District CEO Paul Vallas has been a strong supporter of the project since this work began several years ago. He emphasized continued support for Project U-Turn and the reports' findings and recommendations. “The dropout crisis is not unique to Philadelphia,” said Vallas, “but what is unique is the collective commitment to action by individuals and organizations throughout the City to address it.” Commenting on the sophistication of the reports, Vallas said, “these data and recommendations help us to understand how to organize, focus and target our interventions so that we can graduate many more young people who are prepared for active and productive citizenship. And that is precisely what we intend to do.”

To learn more about Project U-Turn, visit www.projectUturn.net. Copies of the research and policy reports are available for download below. Young people who have left school and wish to consider alternative programs for continuing their education can contact Project U-Turn at 1-877-TURN-180.

Download Related Documents

	Turning It Around: A Collective Effort to Understand and Resolve Philadelphia's Dropout Crisis (2514K) [download]
	Unfulfilled Promise: The Dimensions and Characteristics of Philadelphia's Dropout Crisis, 2000-2005 (1164K) [download]