"Where Do We Go Next?" explores three interconnected areas of young people's lives that have been particularly salient over the past year and are fundamental to supporting their learning and growth in the future. Those three areas are young people's sense of wellbeing, including their mental health and relationships; their opportunities…

The public health crisis created by the spread of COVID-19 has disrupted day-to-day rhythms across the United States, including an extended closure of school buildings. Myriad news sources and emerging research are reporting on the deep and disparate effects that are reverberating from these closures. But how do young people themselves perceive…

The novel virus caused by COVID-19 has disrupted life across the country and led to nationwide school closures. In the midst of this disruption and uncertainty, young people, teachers, parents, and other youth-serving professionals are working in new and creative ways to support young people's education. In the interest of understanding how young…

Over the past several years, a growing consensus has emerged across a range of disciplines--including brain science, developmental psychology, and education research--about how learning happens. The latest science now aligns with what educators, youth-supporting adults, parents, and caregivers have known for a long time: successful learning…

Ready, Connected, Supported: A Framework for Youth Workforce Development and the YES Project, a working paper from the Center for Promise--the research arm of America's Promise Alliance--provides an overview of the "Ready, Connected, Supported" framework--the backbone of America's Promise Alliance's YES Project, a national campaign to…

Leaving school without graduating presents a significant challenge for young people and for society as a whole. One way communities and school systems are responding to this challenge is with coordinated efforts to re-engage young people in ways that make it more likely for them to earn a diploma. Re-engagement efforts vary across the country but…

Youth whose First Language is Not English (FLNE)--an umbrella term that includes English Learners (ELs), youth who have reached English proficiency, and other nonnative English speakers who have never been enrolled in a formal EL program (see Figure 1)--represent the fastest growing segment of the United States public school population. Despite…

Young people need support from an array of adults and peers to meet key developmental milestones and thrive as adults. This report is the second in a series focused on career pathways programs that serve risk-immersed young people. It builds on the programmatic insights in the first report asking youth participants enrolled in the four career…

This report analyzes case studies of "more and better learning time" efforts around the country. With support from the Ford Foundation, America's Promise Alliance looked in Grand Rapids, MI; Louisville, KY; Memphis, TN; and Rochester, NY to see how time spent out of the classroom improved outcomes for students in low-income neighborhoods…

This report adds to the large and growing body of research about why some young people fail to complete high school on the traditional four-year timeline. To explore this issue, the Center for Promise at America's Promise Alliance (a partnership between America's Promise Alliance and Tufts University) gathered the stories of more than 200 young…

Engaging classes in every subject. Enriching encounters with the arts. Fun physical activities and healthy nutrition. Guided explorations of possible careers. Every young person deserves all of these experiences. At the moment, unfortunately, not all of the nation's children and youth do. This guide is intended to accompany the video…

In this final evaluation of the America's Promise Dropout Prevention Summits, the evaluation reveals that the Summits not only served as the catalyst for the creation of new programs and collaborative efforts around ending the high school dropout crisis, but strengthened existing work, political and public awareness, and funding at the state,…

With more than one million students dropping out of high school each year, Grad Nation is specifically designed to offer solutions and tools for every size community and presents a compelling case for all sectors of society to get involved. The guidebook is part of the Alliance's Dropout Prevention Campaign. The guide brings together the nation's…