School Reform & Dropout Prevention

NWLC has worked since 1972 to ensure equal educational opportunities and has worked since Congress enacted Title IX to advance and protect the rights of students in educational institutions. NWLC believes that children should have equal access to high quality education programs and that federal education policy must ensure that all students can benefit equally from rigorous academic standards. We’re working for education reforms that will help improve graduation rates and post-secondary success for all students, particularly girls of color, who are dropping out of school at high rates.

Highlights

Legal Briefs & Testimony | NWLC Letter to Secretary Duncan re: ESEA Waivers and Accountability

September 6, 2011

This letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan outlines the Center’s concerns regarding the Department of Education’s plan to waive some of the requirements for states under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA, or No Child Left Behind). Most states have indicated their intention to for these.  In evaluating the requests, it is imperative that the Department maintain core provisions of ESEA’s accountability system, such as the requirement that states, districts, and schools demonstrate continued progress toward and be held accountable for improving student academic achievement and graduation rates. This is especially critical among subgroups of students.  The Center urged the Department to require states that get waivers to collect and disseminate data on graduation rates, academic assessments, and any other indicators of student performance that are fully disaggregated, including by gender, and cross-tabulated by gender and race/ethnicity.

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Legal Briefs & Testimony | Joint Statement of Civil Rights Leaders to HELP Committee re: ESEA

April 4, 2011

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education recognized that the access toeducation is fundamental to ensuring equal opportunity for all Americans. But Brown was momentous not simply because it affirmed the right of black and brown children to be treated equally in the classroom, but also because it reinforced a core principle: that equity is central to our democratic society. While Brown energized the civil rights movement, we know that making its promise a reality has proved challenging, to say the least. The enactment of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was one way of implementing the civil rights principles fought for in Brown.C

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Reports & Toolkits | Listening to Latinas: Barriers to High School Graduation - Executive Summary

June 9, 2009

Latinas are dropping out of school in alarming numbers. 41% of Latina students do not graduate with their class in four years - if they graduate at all. Listening to Latinas explores the causes of the dropout crisis for Latinas and identifies the actions needed to improve their graduation rates and get them ready for college.

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More Resources

Fact Sheet | What Would a Successful, Safe and Healthy School Look Like for Girls?

June 22, 2011

This fact sheet describes areas of focus for schools in order to ensure that all girls have access to a safe and healthy school environment that is conducive to learning.   Schools should address the needs of at-risk girls, including pregnant and parenting students, foster girls' athletic opportunities, protect girls from bullying and harassment, use positive, evidence-based approaches to discipline, provide comprehensive and medically-accurate sex education, and ensure transparency, in order to engage parents and the community members.

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Legal Briefs & Testimony | NWLC Testimony to Commission on Civil Rights re Bullying and Federal Civil Rights Enforcement 5.13.11

May 13, 2011

In her testimony to the U.S. Commission on Civil RIghts, Vice-President for Education & Employment, Fatima Goss Graves, described the high rate of gender-based harassment and bullying in schools and discussed the importance of federal civil rights enforcement in addressing and remedying gender-based harassment and bullying.

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Legal Briefs & Testimony | NWLC Comments to the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools

May 11, 2011

The Center welcomed the opportunity to submit comments to the Office for Safe and Drug-Free Schools and offered commentary on requirements for data collection, use of subgoup information, and the use of positive behavioral supports, among other subjects.

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Legal Briefs & Testimony | Joint Statement of Civil Rights Leaders to HELP Committee re: ESEA

April 04, 2011

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education recognized that the access toeducation is fundamental to ensuring equal opportunity for all Americans. But Brown was momentous not simply because it affirmed the right of black and brown children to be treated equally in the classroom, but also because it reinforced a core principle: that equity is central to our democratic society. While Brown energized the civil rights movement, we know that making its promise a reality has proved challenging, to say the least. The enactment of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was one way of implementing the civil rights principles fought for in Brown.C

 Read more...

Legal Briefs & Testimony | Letter to House & Senate Education Committees re: ESEA Reauthorization and Need for Cross-tabulated Data

July 23, 2010

As advocates committed to the promise of educational success for all of our nation’s children, we write to urge your Committees to adopt an accountability and school improvement approach that will improve outcomes for all students by ensuring that reforms take into account the ways in which the intersection of race, ethnicity, and gender operate for both boys and girls in school.

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