"The Middle Grades: Gateway to Dropout Prevention"
Legislators in attendance at the 2010 Family Impact Seminar learned about strategies for improving the high school graduation rate in Georgia by focusing to a greater extent on the middle grades (4-8). Dr. Gayle Andrews, associate professor at the University of Georgia College of Education, and Dr. John Harrison, executive director of the North Carolina Middle School Association, highlighted recent research that points to the middle grades as an important turning point for young adolescents in respect to high school graduation. Georgia ranks in the bottom five states for its high school dropout rate-a reality that exacts a high cost to the state due to increased poverty, crime, and unemployment or underemployment.
Publications and Supplementary Materials
Briefing Book
Insert 1: "Promising Programs" (PDF)
Insert 2: "Middle Grades Education: A Critical Turning Point for Graduation" (PDF)
Insert 3: "Promising Practices in Georgia" (PDF)
Insert 4: "National Policy Context" (PDF)
Presentation
"The Middle Grades: Gateway to Dropout Prevention" (PDF)
