July 2008
In this issue:
Vanishing Graduates program explains LearnmoreMN message
We’re blogging
What’s new
Share your feedback
Vanishing Graduates program explains LearnmoreMN message
The LearnmoreMN Web site addresses a significant challenge for Minnesota: our supply of college-educated residents will soon fail to keep up with our economy’s demands. To meet this challenge, we need to help more students succeed in school and move on to and succeed in college.
Vanishing Graduates & Minnesota’s Future, a program co-produced with Twin Cities Public Television’s Minnesota Channel this past spring, features education experts and community leaders who give meaning to this dilemma. Their message: we all need to help improve our state’s brain power.
The next airing of the program is on Sat., July 26 on TPT Channel 17 at 9 p.m. You can also watch the full program or clips online and order a free DVD of the program.
A new tool kit,helps people put this program to good use. Check it out to see how you can use these materials.
We’re blogging
Each month, a different person writes for the LearnmoreMN blog. During July, Jenny Wright, who directs a collaborative of youth development organizations, writes about how we help young people have successful school experiences. In August, Kathy Glampe, who directs a TRiO program at St. Olaf College, will share her thoughts on disparities among students who study science, technology, engineering and math (the STEM subjects). All of our bloggers welcome comments on their posts, so consider weighing in with your thoughts.
What’s new
- The challenge we face is a concise summary of the LearnmoreMN challenge. It outlines six factors that are causing the "vanishing graduates" situation including declining numbers of high school graduates and lost opportunities when education ends early.
- Solutions at hand organizes the steps we can take into four main categories: commit time, help students prepare, invest money and speak up.
- We’ve re-vamped the pages how you can use LearnmoreMN and spread the word. Check them out for ideas that you can implement.
- What parents and individuals can do is now available in Spanish.
- Find case studies of successful and innovative schools on the solutions resources page including "Smaller, safer, saner successful schools" from the Center for School Change and "Model high schools" from the Gates Foundation.
- New research information includes these reports and tools:
- In the preparing for college section, see "Trends Among High School Seniors, 1972-2004."
- In the educational attainment section see "High School Graduation" for an interactive graph that shows high school graduation rates by Minnesota region, county, racial and ethnic group and more.
- In the demographic trends section, see "Knocking at the College Door: Projections of High School Graduates by State and Race/Ethnicity, 1992-2022."
- See what others say for Mitch Pearlstein’s commentary, "Education reform could start with students" and "No more pencils, no more books," a story about the desperate situation of some rural schools.
Share your feedback
We welcome all comments and suggestions about LearnmoreMN. Please send us a note to share your thoughts.
