Wednesday, September 24, 2008

At-Risk Youth Group Urges Federal Support for Tested Interventions

At-Risk Youth Group Urges Federal Support for Tested Interventions: Officials with a national advocacy organization for at-risk teenage students urged Washington, D.C., policymakers on Tuesday to enact federally supported initiatives that would provide youths at risk for dropping out of high school educational and social support to help them earn diplomas, postsecondary education opportunities and job training.

Convening its second annual thought leader symposium, which was billed “Closing the Achievement Gap in Education and Employment Outcomes for At-Risk Minority Youth,” the Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) organization brought Washington policymakers, including Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, and JAG national organization and affiliate officials together for a forum that touted scalable and tested interventions for at-risk high school students.

“We’re advocating solutions proven to be scalable and verified through research,” Maine Gov. John E. Balducci told an audience of 150 state, federal, corporate and JAG officials attending the thought leader symposium.