Beginning with the End in Mind: The District Office Leadership Role in Closing the Graduation Gap for At-Risk Students

Abstract

Increasing high school graduation rates is a systemic issue, not just a school level issue. The district office therefore has a key role to play in narrowing the graduation gap and ensuring that more students earn their high school diplomas well-equipped for college or career. This article focuses first on what school districts have typically done to address graduation and dropout issues. It then presents a prevention model advocated by the Everyone Graduates Center within the Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University, with particular focus on the leadership role of the district office in dropout prevention and recovery. (Contains 2 endnotes.)