While state legislators grapple with education reform, Massachusetts has been chosen with five others to participate in a year-long dropout prevention initiative spearheaded by the National Governors Association.
The commonwealth — together with Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Tennessee and West Virginia — will receive technical assistance to target dropout prevention and recovery and will take part in policy meetings with other states.
The initiative, a follow-up to an NGA study released last month, is being hailed as a timely one by state education officials.
“The grant will allow us to expand and strengthen the dropout reduction work we have started over the last few years,” said state Secretary of Education Paul Reville, citing a reduction in the dropout rate from 3.8 percent in 2006-07 to 3.4 percent in 2007-08. “[It] will support analyses of the commonwealth’s dropout data to formulate tailored, targeted interventions.”
In its study, the NGA cited 36 “dropout factories” in the Bay State where at least 40 percent of the freshman class fails to reach 12th grade in three years.
