D.C.'s Education in School Reform

Educational nonprofit OneGoal has proven that its model of education helps provide low-income students in Chicago and Houston with the tools needed to pursue a college degree. Now, the nonprofit hopes to improve the college graduation rate in New York City by assisting high school students in understanding the basic techniques to achieve success.

Community colleges were originally designed to be affordable and accessible, yet the myriad pressures on students means that the best intentions often don’t lead to positive results. But the University of Central Florida and its partners are proving a new model called DirectConnect—heavy on individual attention and clear academic goals—that paves a surer path.

To improve its consistently high truancy rates, last academic year Española Valley High School implemented a new truancy and dropout prevention program aimed at shaping up poor attendance. The results are yet to be determined — but debate still rages within the school about the best method for battling truancy.

Cincinnati is making efforts to close the achievement gap between poor children and more advantaged students by fighting the effects of poverty. Lower Price Hill’s Oyler School is part of a growing national movement to help poor children succeed by meeting their basic health, social, and nutritional needs at school.

Boulder Valley schools are working with Latino parents to create networks of community support, feedback, and insight about the success of Latino children in the district. Parents are working with the school district to make sure stereotypes and racial bias aren't limiting their children from receiving food services and quality education that fit their needs.

In a Buffalo school district where many students from low-income families struggled with trauma, attendance, and the effects of poverty, a nonprofit initiative called Say Yes to Education is implementing drastic change. The program increases graduation rates for minority students, grants scholarships and admissions guidance to colleges, provides medical and mental health care to under-served students, brings in mentors and after-school programs, and even assists students parents with job-readiness workshops and housing assistance.

The Highline school district in Washington implemented a radical strategy to break the school-to-prison pipeline based on mounting data that suspensions push students into a cycle of violence and delinquency. However, theories of replacing punitive measures with counseling and academic triage have proven difficult to translate from idea to practice, and teachers have resigned over fear for their safety. But one teacher at Pacific Middle School found a way to make the approach work, and the district is promising to scale his model, determined to meet their original objectives and reach kids that need help.

Young people are graduating from high schools and not ready for college level work. Liz Willen describes different initiatives around the United States that have provided solutions for improving secondary education. She addresses the importance of STEM, role models for students, and project-based learning.

To mitigate the pernicious effects of poverty on student success, nonprofit 'Blocks of Hope' in Colorado aims to provide both educational and social services to students and their families, with the goal of leveling the playing field.

A nonprofit organization, the Internationals Network for Public Schools, delivers a first-class education to the children of illegal immigrants, helping to break the cycle of poverty and provide them a path to advance in life.