Alma J. Powell – “Don’t Call Them Dropouts”

While the nation’s high school graduation rate has reached its highest point ever at 80 percent, there are still nearly 800,000 young people who fail to graduate from high school each year. These students are often labeled as unmotivated, lazy or even criminal. But a report titled “Don’t Call Them Dropouts” paints a much more complex picture. Alma J. Powell, board chair of America’s Promise Alliance, which prepared the report, explains the findings.