The Dropout Crisis in the Northwest: Confronting the Graduation Rate Crisis in All Communities with Special Focus on American Indian and Alaska Native Students

The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA held a major conference on the challenges of dropout rates in our nation's public schools. "The Dropout Crisis in the Northwest: Confronting the Graduation Rate Crisis in All Communities with Special Focus on American Indian and Alaska Native Students," took place on Friday, May 30, 2008, from 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM at the Ethnic Cultural Theatre on the University of Washington campus.

With emphasis placed on the states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, the conference sought to convene students, activists, practitioners, community leaders, policymakers, and researchers. Conference goals included identifying and discussing the alarming trends and socioeconomic costs of the school dropout crisis in the Northwest; effective models and interventions for improving the graduation rate; issues related to systems of accountability; and the policymaking required to improve the graduation rate among the Northwest's most underserved populations, including African Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, and Latinos.

Organized by
The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at the University of California, Los Angeles

Co-Sponsored by
Editorial Projects in Education Research Center

Pennsylvania State University: The Center for the Study of Leadership in American Indian Education

University of Washington: College of Education, The Diversity Research Institute, The Institute for the Study of Ethnicity (WISER), Race and Sexuality

Native American Students in Advanced Academia (NASAA), and The Office of Minority Affairs

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)

University of Oregon: Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MECha)