WASHINGTON—A new report from the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) addresses the alarming rate at which students in the United States drop out of high school.

Achieving Graduation for All: A Governor's Guide to Dropout Prevention and Recovery identifies the root causes of the high school dropout problem and offers a comprehensive action plan for states to curb dropouts, help youth succeed and strengthen state economies. Currently, one in five students drop out of high school, and dropouts cost the United States more than $300 billion each year in lost wages and increased public sector expenses.

“Governors have led the effort to shine a light on the growing high school dropout problem that has serious implications for youth, the country's workforce and our economy,” said Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter. “Even though we are in the worst fiscal environment in decades, now is the time to move from illuminating the problem to solving it by enacting policies that work toward 100 percent high school graduation.”

Achieving Graduation for All recommends actions governors should take to reduce the incidence of students not completing high school, including: promote high school graduation for all; target youth at-risk of dropping out; reengage youth who have dropped out of school; and provide rigorous, relevant options for earning a high school diploma. Specific suggestions for implementation, such as raising the compulsory age of attendance to 18 and establishing reentry programs for juvenile offenders, are also contained within the report.

“Students that graduate from high school are more successful and more involved in their communities than those that drop out," added Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue. "As we work to reinvigorate state economies, having an educated, talented workforce will be essential for successfully competing in a global economy.”

The Achieving Graduation for All report will be put into practice through the NGA Center's State Strategies to Achieve Graduation for All initiative. States are eligible to apply for the yearlong initiative, which will provide grants and technical assistance to teams in up to six states to develop state policies and practices that lead to an increase in high school graduates.

Selected states will conduct an in-depth data analysis of the location and scope of the dropout problem in the state; use information from the data analysis to identify project activities that meet at least one of the Achieving Graduation for All recommendations; attend two policy academy meetings; and develop a state action plan to curb dropout and achieve graduation for all students.

For more information about the NGA Center's education initiatives, visit www.nga.org/center/edu.

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Founded in 1908, the National Governors Association (NGA) is the collective voice of the nation's governors and one of Washington, D.C.'s most respected public policy organizations. Its members are the governors of the 50 states, three territories and two commonwealths. NGA provides governors and their senior staff members with services that range from representing states on Capitol Hill and before the Administration on key federal issues to developing and implementing innovative solutions to public policy challenges through the NGA Center for Best Practices. For more information, visit www.nga.org.