"More and more of our kids are being imprisoned in a cell of limited options and opportunity."
-- Mayor Cory Booker, Newark New Jersey

The national high school graduation rate increased from 72.6 percent in 2002 to 75.5 percent in 2009, according to the 2012 update to the Building a Grad Nation report from Civic Enterprises, the Everyone Graduates Center, America's Promise Alliance, and the Alliance for Excellent Education. On April 25 from 2-3pm ET, report authors Robert Balfanz of the Everyone Graduates Center and John Bridgeland of Civic Enterprises will conduct an in-depth webinar on the data and research from the report. more 

With one in four students not graduating from high school, Newark Mayor Cory Booker was inspired to record a video message to urge everyone to act to end the high school dropout crisis. Mayor Booker has teamed up to support AT&T's campaign Connect For Good (www.causes.com/graduate) to help raise funds for America's Promise Alliance's dropout prevention work. For every comment someone leaves on the site about how they will help students stay in school and graduate, America's Promise will get $2. More than $23,000 dollars has already been raised and the donation will max out at $90,000. more

Heading into its third year, NBC's Education Nation initiative will employ all platforms of NBC News, its digital properties and live events across the country in a continued effort to shine a spotlight on the challenges, potential solutions and innovations spanning today's education landscape. In 2012, Education Nation will deepen public engagement in a solutions-focused discussion on improving student achievement and preparedness for the workforce-giving special attention to innovation and technology. In addition, Education Nation On-The-Road tour will begin April 15 with stops in five major cities across the country. more 

Giving a voice to the voiceless is an important role that journalists play in providing news coverage and reporting on issues that affect young people and their families. The Journalism Center on Children and Families (JCCF), an America's Promise Alliance partner, recognizes excellence in reporting on youth and family issues through its Casey Medals for Meritorious Journalism. The deadline for entries is April 20. Now in its 18th year, the Casey Medals for Meritorious Journalism inspire and identify exemplary reporting on children and families. more 

The application process for ASCD's new Whole Child Network of schools will remain open until April 30, 2012. Schools applying to participate in the Whole Child Network will commit to a comprehensive school improvement process using the tenets of the Whole Child Initiative-healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged-and their indicators (PDF) as a sustainable whole child approach to educating their students. ASCD's Whole Child Network is open to all schools (public, charter, private, independent) of any grade level preK-12 within the United States and Canada. more 

The National Collaboration for Youth has designed a survey to discover which types of collaborations to support children and youth are active in communities across the country. The 5-10 minute survey asks participants to identify the types of collaborative efforts in support of young people operating in the participant's local area. Research is not required. The deadline to complete this quick survey is April 30.  more 

 

With just two weeks until Global Youth Service Day (GYSD), youth around the world are mobilizing for service projects to effect positive community change. An estimated 2 million youth in more than 100 countries on six continents are expected to lead service projects for Global Youth Service Day 2012, this year April 20 to 22. Organized by YSA (Youth Service America), GYSD is the largest service event in the world, and the only event that celebrates the leadership of young people. more 

Afterschool programs get better the more they assess themselves and make changes based on those assessments, a new study says. At a time when quality improvement is a priority for the afterschool field, the report says that a cycle of assessing staff practices, planning based on the assessment and targeted training improves the quality of services delivered to young people. Researchers found that the Youth Program Quality Intervention - an evidence-based continuous improvement model carried out by the Forum for Youth Investment - increases quality among a wide range of afterschool systems, is sustainable and cost-effective, and might boost staff retention. more 

When only 58.6 percent of the seniors of Indianapolis Public Schools graduate on time, student Alyssa Baraja knew that something had to be done to make students realize the education needed to obtain a job after high school. To expose young people to specific career fields, especially law and public policy which is the theme of her Shortridge Magnet High School, she organized weekly shadowing experiences for students to observe court proceedings, legal aid, county holding facilities as well as a diverse series of activities for a "Law Week" for fellow high school and middle school students. more 

The following grants and funding opportunities are currently accepting applicants. These grants are not offered through America's Promise Alliance, but they each relate to our Five Promises. If you have questions about these opportunities, please follow the links provided in each item.

• Jack Kent Cooke: Young Scholars Program
• Discovery Education 3M: Young Scientist Challenge
• Gateway to College National Network Dropout Recovery Grants