The Last Dropout

By complete coincidence, I stumbled onto a book at Powell’s bookstore before I left Portland this summer. The book is titled The Last Dropout and is written by Bill Milliken, who founded the Communities in Schools organization. CiS targets urban areas and implements their expansive methodology to decrease the dropout rate. I’ll be working for a regional branch of Communities in Schools in Spokane in a few weeks that employs the approach described in this book. I bought the book and I’ve been able to get a sneak preview of what kind of work I’ll be doing this next year, and I’m getting very excited. An excerpt from the book, on the organization’s essential principles to reverse the dropout crisis:

1. Programs don’t change kids —Relationships do.

2. The dropout crisis isn’t just an education issue.

3. Young people need the five real basics, not just the three R’s: a one-on-one relationship with a caring adult; a safe place to learn and grow; a healthy start and a healthy future; a marketable skill to use upon graduation; and a chance to give back to peers and community.

4. The community must weave a safety net around its children in a manner that’s personal, accountable, and coordinated.

5. Every community needs a “Champion for Children”: a neutral third party with “magical eyes” to see things — and people — differently, and coordinate and broker the diverse community resources into the schools on behalf of young people and families.

6. Educators and policy makers can’t do it alone… and they’ll welcome your help.

7. Curing the dropout epidemic will demand change, not just charity.

8. Scalability, sustainability, and evidence-based strategies are essential to creating permanent change in the way our education system combats the dropout epidemic.

9. Our children need three things from you: your awareness, your advocacy, and youraction.

It makes sense. It’s great to see an organization employing the sociological imagination — we can’t view social problems at face value because we are integrated into the system and are influenced by a myriad of things, many that are not observable at first glance. The dropout crisis is not a problem of failed responsibility, but is the result of our economic, political, and social systems disenfranchising and limiting the success of these youths. Communities in Schools attempts to counter these barriers from all directions in a holistic approach to ensure the most effective treatment possible. The book totes “there is no silver bullet” and no easy fix. These 9 steps must be taken together in its entirety, and its that comprehensive attitude that really excites me.