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WAMU 88.5, NPR, PBS, and other media outlets are looking at the causes and consequences of the dropout problem, which affects approximately 1 million students each year and has been called "the civil rights issue of our time."

WAMU 88.5: The D.C. Dropout Crisis

Fighting The Odds: Inside D.C.'s Dropout Crisis

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WAMU 88.5 has spent the past several months delving into the high school dropout crisis in Washington, D.C., where more than 40 percent of students fail to complete their studies within four years. We visited innovative schools, talked with kids managing to succeed despite having the deck stacked against them, and compared the U.S.'s floundering graduation rate to that of schools overseas.

The D.C. Dropout Crisis from WAMU 88.5

Part 1: Breaking the Cycle When Dropping Out Runs in the Family
Part 2: How Many Students Really Graduate from High School?
Part 3: Why Kids Drop Out: Identifying the Early Warning Signs
Part 4: Graduation Rates Increase Around the Globe as U.S. Plateaus
Part 5: Battling Homelessness, Crime on the Path to Graduation
Part 6: In Experimental School, Tight-Knit Community Helps Students Succeed
Part 7: Scaling Up Solutions to the Dropout Problem
Part 8: Bridging the Gap Between Home and School
Part 9: The Impacts of the High School Dropout Crisis
Part 10: Fighting The Odds: Inside D.C.'s Dropout Crisis

Related Stories from WAMU 88.5

Chronic Absenteeism: Public School's Forgotten Problem?
Taking on Truancy To Reduce School Dropouts

PBS: American Graduate

School Reform Program Targets Students at Risk of Falling Behind, Dropping Out

Currently implemented in 44 U.S. schools, a data-driven dropout prevention program called Diplomas Now targets students who start to fall behind in middle school, and offers them nurturing, mentoring relationships. Ray Suarez reports on how a Baton Rouge middle school was able to turn itself around by adopting this approach. See full story at PBS NewsHour.

All Stories from PBS

NPR: School's Out: America's Dropout Crisis

Despite Interventions, No-Show Students Drop Out

Despite Interventions, No-Show Students Drop Out

Danny Lamont Jones (right) raised lots of red flags not long after he enrolled as an eighth-grader in a Baltimore school. He was quiet, struggling academically, and he didn't show up very often. It's unclear whether efforts to keep the 16-year-old in school will succeed. [NPR, July 27, 2011, Baltimore, MD]

All Stories from NPR