Reengagement: Bringing Students Back to America's Schools

This book by practitioners, policy analysts, and young people, for practitioners, policy makers, and researchers, captures up-to-the-moment experience and as yet unresolved issues in a newly emerging field: dropout reengagement. Key elements in this field include reaching out to young people who have left school for a myriad of reasons, and providing individualized supports and services all the way through to successful re-enrollment. The development of coordinated citywide efforts to re-engage out-of-school youth on positive educational pathways -- in several dozen cities in recent years -- spurred the effort to document practice and policy. Readers will come away with an understanding of results to date, as well as a sense of the variety and continuous improvement and innovation underway. This book describes the impressive early accomplishments of reengagement efforts in several cities, provides practical advice from a variety of perspectives for those seeking to launch or formalize local reengagement programs, and describes how reengagement at scale could help solve the crisis of unfulfilled potential represented in America’s millions of young people without high school credentials.

Table of Contents:
Dedication Foreword Martin J. Walsh, Mayor, City of Boston Preface Andrew O. Moore Introduction Andrew O. Moore Section 1: Dimensions of Reengagement Chapter 1: Reengagement as an Issue, and an Emerging Field of Practice and Policy Andrew O. Moore Chapter 2: Illustrative Profiles of Reengagement Approaches Andrew O. Moore Chapter 3: What Did it Take to Start Up in Washington, DC? Celine Fejeran Chapter 4: What Did it Take to Start Up in Allentown PA? Jennifer Danese Chapter 5: Reducing the Dropout Rate in Boston via Reengagement Kathy Hamilton Chapter 6: Municipal leadership for reengagement Andrew O. Moore Chapter 7: Waiting for Daniel J. Weston Phippen Section 2: Important Techniques in Reengagement Chapter 8: Eight Promising Outreach Strategies for Reengagement Steve Dobo and Shirley Horstman Chapter 9: “A Student Is Much More than a Number:” Using Data to Improve Outreach in New York City Alexander Thome Chapter 10: Effectively Leveraging Institutional and Community Partnerships – Examples from Los Angeles and Nashville Debra Duardo, Robert Sainz, Glen Biggs, and Judy Rye Chapter 11: Principles and Approaches for Reengaging Two Overrepresented Indigenous Student Groups: American Indians and Latinos Korinna Wolfe Chapter 12: Reengagement Center Practices: Lessons Learned on the Front Lines Emmanuel Allen Section 3: Emerging, Promising Practices in Reengagement Chapter 13: Using Workforce Connections to Reengage Disconnected Youth Heather Ficht and Carla Gay Chapter 14: From Reengagement, Into College: Embracing Postsecondary Options for Out-of-School Youth Nick Mathern with Pam Blumenthal, Jahath Harriot, and Sue Stork Chapter 15: Early Lessons for the Field, from High School Equivalency-Plus Examples in Massachusetts Jennifer Poulos, Chad D’Entremont, and Nina Culbertson Chapter 16: Valuing Student Voice to Inform Reengagement Jennifer Harris and Rechelle Murillo Chapter 17: Expanding Options Such As Online and Blended Learning to Reinforce Dropout Prevention and Recovery: Lessons to Date from One School District Tawnya Perry and Marquis Jones Chapter 18: Future Prospects Andrew O. Moore Resources and References About the Editor About the Contributors Index

About the Author :
Andrew O. Moore supports the nationwide Reengagement Network in his role as a program director at the National League of Cities Institute for Youth, Education, and Families. He brings to this role, extensive experience with youth conservation corps, alternative education, and youth employment programs.

Review :
This extraordinary book provides communities the evidence and tools they need to help millions of America’s opportunity youth get back on track to a better life. Such work is urgent to fulfill the potential of our young people, strengthen our fraying communities, and restore a fundamental belief in equal access to the American Dream. The recent rise in the nation’s high school graduation rates has been no accident. It has resulted from smart and dedicated work on the ground, including the invention of a new strategies to provide students who have dropped out second and third chances to succeed. Central to this has been the realization that for reengagement to occur we need to be able to provide students who have dropped out with supported pathways back in. This highly informative volume shows the Art and Science of how that can be done. The problem of disconnection from school and work among teens and young adults has worsened in recent years. Here in Philadelphia, we recently found that about one quarter of the city’s residents aged 18 to 24 are idle, and worse still, a majority are high school dropouts who have never held a job. This book provides important insights into different ways in which the nation could respond to re-engage teens and young adults and increase their chances for a life of opportunity and fulfillment.