A 27 percent decline in the high school dropout rate shows that more students like these are determined to graduate.  American Graduate: Let’s Make it Happen is public media’s long-term commitment to supporting community-based solutions to the dropout crisis.  As an American Graduate station, WGBY focuses on educational outreach that serves cradle to career efforts toward this commitment.

A new report, “Progress is No Accident,” examines policies that have helped drive the dropout decline as well as the work that remains to done.  It was released on the same day that public media’s American Graduate initiative participated in the first-ever White House Summit for Next Generation High Schools.  The Summit convened students, educators, philanthropists and entrepreneurs from across the country who identified ways American high schools can promote personalized learning, work-based learning experiences, deeper ties to post-secondary, and include a focus on expanding science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) opportunities for girls and other groups of students who are underrepresented in these high-growth, well-paying fields.

To learn more, you can go to the American Graduate Blog, the full “Progress is No Accident” report and the White House Summit on Next Generation High Schools.

And, of course, you’ll find resources for STEM careers and much more at PBS LearningMedia.