What will it take for IN students to succeed? Coauthor GradNation coming to Indy

John Bridgeland, coauthor of “Building a GradNation,” discusses
soon-to-be-released data from 2015 report
at May 19th public conversation in Indianapolis

What will it take for Indiana students to achieve a 90-percent graduation rate by the year 2020? Coauthor of the “Building a GradNation” annual report, John Bridgeland, will share the latest trends and data at a public Conversation about Education in Indianapolis on Tuesday, May 19, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Central Library.  The conversation, which is free and open to the public, is hosted by WFYI Public Media and the Indianapolis Public Library.

Bridgeland, CEO, Civic Enterprises, a public policy firm in Washington, D.C., is also a convenor of the GradNation Summit and coauthor of “Building a GradNation,” which launched a plan to meet the national goal of a 90-percent high school graduation rate by the Class of 2020. Indiana is one of 13 states considered “key” in achieving this goal because these states have the largest numbers of students to get back on track to graduate.

Bridgeland will discuss insights and imperatives learned from the latest research from the 2015 GradNation report, slated for release just a week prior to the May 19th Conversation at Central Library.

“We are delighted to bring such a widely respected education expert to Indianapolis. Mr. Bridgeland’s knowledge and expertise, as well as his access to the latest research data, will only help to strengthen the work in education already being done by many individuals and organizations throughout central Indiana,” says Gail Thomas Strong, vice president, WFYI Community Engagement, and leader of WFYI’s “American Graduate” initiative.

John Bridgeland’s work on the high school dropout crisis helped bring national attention to the issue with the Time magazine cover story “Dropout Nation” and two Oprah shows prompted by his report “The Silent Epidemic.” Bridgeland led the National Summit on America’s Silent Epidemic with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Governors Association, Time magazine and MTV that prompted action at the federal, state and local levels around a 10-point plan of action to boost high school graduation rates and college and workforce readiness.

WFYI is bringing Bridgeland to Indianapolis as part of its partnership with the public media initiative “American Graduate: Let’s Make It Happen,” an initiative central to WFYI’s commitment to use its media assets to illuminate central Indiana’s education issues and solutions, while inspiring the community to become actively involved in helping students stay on the path to graduation.

Details about the Bridgeland conversation are at wfyi.org/events.