American schools are failing to meet the expectations of a wide swath of students, many of them in low-income and rural communities. What's needed is a new pact putting their expectations at its center. The article is based on the authors' book: "Leaving to Learn: How Out-of-School Learning Increases Student Engagement and Reduces Dropout Rates" (Heinemann, 2013). The authors suggest 10 student expectations that schools should strive to meet: relationships, relevance, choice, challenge, time, timing, authenticity, application, choice, and challenge.