| How can you help? | How can we help each other? |
About Common Goal
| We Support/Fund | We Recruit | We Provide/Fund | We Research, Share and Advocate. |
|---|---|---|---|
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Alternative High School Models such as Diploma Plus for those who do not succeed in the traditional school. Computer aided remediation and credit recovery courses. Reading Intervention Technologies such as Read 180. |
Mentors, tutors and volunteers needed for each of the Marion County School Districts and their individual programs. Internships for students to increase engagement and career exploration. |
On-site, full time gradation coaches for early identification of students and individualized plans to assist with graduation on time: remediation, mentoring, social services, credit recovery, etc. |
Common Goal Task Force to establish goals, share best practices and to collaborate. Website and database of best practices. Grass roots outreach and communication. |
One Student at a Time.
In Marion County, and in cities across the nation, low high school graduation rates are raising national alarm. It’s a complex issue driven by a multitude of factors. But even in the presence of large barriers, the path to success begins with individual students.
Common Goal aims to raise the graduation rate to 80 percent and decrease the number of high school drop-outs to 5 percent by 2012. That’s the big picture outcome. For the students we serve, we aspire to nothing short of changing lives that may be on a dangerous failure course.
Spearheaded by the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, Common Goal is an active collaboration of educators, community organizations, and business leaders including The Mind Trust, the City of Indianapolis, United Way of Central Indiana, Center for Leadership Development, CELL, the Indianapolis Urban League and the Indiana Department of Education and many others.
Why Are Businesses Getting Involved?
The business community does not exist in a vacuum. It relies on a well-educated pool of potential employees to prosper and grow. As our schools produce more high school graduates, more students move on to college. As our schools produce more high school graduates, less end up in jail or utilizing social services.
Our community will flourish through an educated workforce leading greater individual earning potential. The more income individuals earn means a stronger tax base which build and stabilize a stronger infrastructure, public works and social services.
The bottom line: More high school graduates IS good business.
Where We Are…and Where We’re Going
The county-wide graduation rate in Marion County currently is 70.7 percent. Common Goal, a four-year community-wide initiative to raise this number to 80 percent. It also will decrease the number of high school drop-outs from 7.7 percent to 5 percent.
Studies show us that to improve graduation rates we must focus on early identification of students who need help with reading, math, or catching up on credits. Other students need a smaller school or self-paced courses. Still others need social services, a positive role model or an internship to provide encouragement and increase school engagement.
The Common Goal Task Force is focused on a small group of initiatives, some tactical, some strategic, all relevant for creating the kinds of schools we need, and students deserve. The Common Goal Task Force works in collaboration with educators to design customized programs and interventions for each school district in Marion County.
What Difference Does A Diploma Make?
- Drop-outs earn an average of $9,200 less per year than high school graduates and more than $1 million less over a lifetime than college graduates.
- Drop-outs are 72 percent more likely to be unemployed as compared to high school graduates.
- Drop-outs are more than eight times as likely to be in jail or prison as high school graduates.
- Drop-outs are four times less likely to volunteer than college graduates, twice less likely to vote or participate in community projects, and represent only 3 percent of actively engaged citizens in the U.S. today.
- The rate of school completion is lower for students of Hispanic descent as compared to other young adults—64 percent of Hispanic youth vs. 84 percent of Black youth vs. 92 percent of White youth ages 18-24 who completed school).
- Nearly 80 percent of individuals in prison do not have a high school diploma.
- Among Indiana prison inmates, 33 percent do not have a high school diploma or GED…at a cost of $55 per day to house each inmate.
Asking Questions
Low high school graduation rates is a complex issue, and Common Goal is a complex initiative. The first step to improving our graduation rates is to create public awareness, encourage dialogue, and ask questions. Click here for a list of FAQs about the Common Goal initiative.
Sources: Civic Enterprises, LLC and National Center on Secondary Education and Transition The Cost of (A Lack Of) Education
