Mississippi to hold dropout prevention summit for teens

Dropout prevention will be the focus when students representing all 247 high schools in Mississippi gather for the first-ever Destination Graduation: Teen Summit on January 15, 2008, in Jackson. The summit is part of the Mississippi Department of Education’s (MDE) dropout prevention plan to cut the state’s high school dropout rate in half by 2011-2012. The Education Commission of the States and State Farm(R) are joining MDE to host more than 1,000 participants at the teen summit and facilitate the development of teen-led strategies to address the dropout problem.

MDE will hold a similar summit February 28, 2008, to engage business and community leaders, faith-based organizations and parents in a process to identify and implement localized dropout prevention strategies. On average, 36 students drop out of school every day in Mississippi, nearly a third of all high school students each year. Read more about the summit and Mississippi’s initiative.