Detroit Tackles Dropout Crisis By Engaging Students, Parents

PBS Newshour:

JEFFREY BROWN: And we turn to the high school dropout problem.

Over the next 18 months, the NewsHour and other public media partners are examining the consequences of, and solutions for, one of this country's most pressing education issues. The project is called American Graduate.

Tonight, a look at Detroit, where four out of 10 children don't graduate. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has called it "arguably the worst school district in the country." But he's also said he's encouraged by new efforts to improve the schools.

NewsHour correspondent Hari Sreenivasan reports on some of those efforts in this co-production with Detroit Public Television.

HARI SREENIVASAN: It's another morning at Cody High School in Detroit, and teachers like Antonio Baker know that, for some of their students, just getting here is a victory.

ANTONIO BAKER, Medicine and Community Health Academy, Cody Small Schools: I had a young man who came in the classroom. He was really upset and he was just lashing out. He had, like, little dried-up blood on his uniform.

So I asked him, you know, what's going on?

Posted by Jim Zellmer at November 27, 2011 1:13 AM
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