Pledge to Support Homeless Students
Since 2007, the GradNation campaign has helped move our country toward the goal of a 90% on-time high school graduation rate by 2020. Sadly, while we’ve made notable progress increasing graduation rates, the population of students who experience periods of homelessness has also grown.
Today, 1.3 million public school students have been identified as homeless and that number is growing.
Students experiencing homelessness are some of the least likely to graduate with their peers — a fact that will only change when schools are joined by the public and private sectors to take action.
We can neither meet our graduation rate goals nor solve the crisis of homelessness without deliberately and fully addressing the needs of students who experience homelessness.
In a recently released report — Hidden in Plain Sight: Homeless Students in America’s Public Schools — we learned that homeless students felt unseen, unheard and unsupported. We must tackle the challenges of homeless students head on.
Adults need to be aware that these students are present in our classrooms, programs and communities and they need our help.
Join the GradNation Learning Community
To get more news about graduation rates and effective practices to increase them, join the GradNation Learning Community, a hub for sharing strategies and successful practices. Just send an email to Eboni-Rose Thompson with your name, email address and organizational affiliation. To join the conversation on Twitter, use #GradNation.
