Dropouts: One is Too Many! *
Pre-Conference Briefing on Hearings Held Throughout Michigan

Hearing Partners include Michigan Education Association, Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators, Kent Intermediate School District, Michigan’s Children, Michigan’s Charter Schools, Michigan’s Promise and Michigan Future, Inc.

Get more information about the hearings, and view the Executive Summary and other available materials here.

Summit Conveners:  
Kyle Caldwell, Executive Director, Michigan Nonprofit Association
Jack Kresnak, President and CEO, Michigan's Children

Welcoming Address
Governor Jennifer Granholm
Charles Hiteshew, COO, America’s Promise Update

The America's Promise Alliance has committed to convening Summits in all 50 states and in 50 needy communities throughout Michigan.  View more information about this effort here.

View the America's Promise Alliance video, Turning the Tide:  Charting a Course for Student Success here.  To get a full-screen view of the video, simply click on the image.

View Cities in Crisis:  A Special Analytic Report on High School Graduation here. 

View The High Cost of High School Dropouts:  What the Nation Pays for Inadequate High Schools here.

First-Hand Accounts
Michigan Youth Share Perspectives on the Challenges of Staying in School through Graduation

Facilitator:  Karen Pittman, Executive Director, Forum for Youth Investment

Youth Panelists:  Bryan Amundson, Isidro Escot, Robert Olivarez, Jessica West, Jamie Whipple, and Marie Woods

View biographies of the youth panelists and their sponsoring agencies here.

Michigan’s Dropout Crisis: Why Communities Should Care
Jim Sandy, Director, Michigan Business Leaders for Education Excellence,
Michigan Chamber of Commerce

Ms. Chris Cressy, Vice President, State Farm Insurance Agency

What We Know About Michigan’s Dropout Crisis
Introduction:  Yazeed Moore, Program Officer, Pathways Out of Poverty, C.S. Mott Foundation

Andrew M. Sum, Professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University, Boston

View Dr. Sum's Power Point presentation here.

View Dr. Sum's recent research illustrating the social, educational and economic costs of failing to graduate young people in Michigan and eight Michigan communities.  (coming soon!)

View the Summit analysis of the recent Michigan Department of Education/CEPI data about the status of high school dropout in Michigan here.

View Financing Education Options for Struggling Students and Out-of-School Youth in Michigan:  Report and Recommendations for State Policy here, prepared for the C.S. Mott Foundation by the National Youth Employment Coalition.

View the Michigan press release for the report here.

View the Mott Foundation interview with the report's author, Nancy Martin, here.

View other resources from the National Youth Employment Coalition here. 

Connecting State & Community Efforts to Support Our Children
Facilitator:  Kyle Caldwell, Michigan Nonprofit Assocation

Ishmael Ahmed, Director
Department of Human Services

Andy Levin, Deputy Director
Department of Labor and Economic Growth

Ed Mize, Operations Manager
Department of Corrections

Michael Flanagan, State Superintendent
Department of Education

 

Lunch: Detroit Summit – A Success Story

Representatives from the One D Dropout Prevention Summit and Retreat updated the group on the progress in Detroit.

Read the One D Summit Update here.

Get more information about the One D post-Summit efforts here.

Moving Forward - Sharing the Vision The Art of the Possible 
Becky Rocho, Calhoun ISD, provided a framework for the afternoon working session.

Karen Pittman, Executive Director, Forum for Youth Investment, led us into the work.

As one of the nation’s leaders in advancing strategies to prepare young people to be ready for college, work and life, Karen Pittman has made a career out of starting organizations and initiatives that promote youth development. The Forum for Youth Investment’s “Ready by 21” initiative calls upon states and communities to change the odds for children and youth by changing the way they do business. Working in partnership with business, government, education and nonprofit sectors, the Forum for Youth Investment provides frameworks, coaching and tools to help leaders think differently, act differently and act together.

View Karen Pittman's Power Point here.

Facilitators joined Community Groups to draw upon the day's presentations and continue to build a strong alliance in their communities for helping young people graduate from high school and go on to be ready for post-secondary, work and life success.

View the facilitator guide here.

The Summit participants utilized facilitators representing the Michigan Association for Community and Adult Education, Michigan Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Communities in Schools, Michigan Staff Development Council, Michigan Department of Education, Oakland Schools, State Farm Insurance Agency, and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth's Shared Youth Vision Partnership.

Committing to Change
Speaker: Dan Mulhern, Author of “Everyday Leadership: Getting Results in Business, Politics and Life,” and Michigan’s First Gentleman

Jack Kresnak, Michigan's Children/Michigan’s Promise

Karen Pittman, Forum for Youth Investment

Andy Levin, Shared Youth Vision Partnership

View the following resources provided to Summit participants from Michigan's Children:

Make Dropout Prevention A Priority in the Upcoming Election here.

The 2009 State Budget:  How Will it Affect Your Community and its Children And Why Should You Get Involved here.

Annie E. Casey Foundation's Race Matters Tool Kit Handout here.

Access city, county, state and federal data about kids from the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Community-Level Information on Kids (CLIKS) database here.

View a CLIKS Summary here.

Locate your county's Kids Count in Michigan profile here. (Click on Kids Count on left menu, then Michigan Data Book 2007.)

Get more information about the Shared Youth Vision Partnership here.

Specific information about the Michigan Shared Youth Vision Partnership is available here.

The Michigan Shared Youth Vision Partnership supported a display opportunity for many Summit partners and others on the day of the Summit.  Contact information for those displaying their programs is available here.