MISSION STATEMENT

The California Dropout Research Project (CDRP) was established in December 2006 to synthesize existing research and undertake new research to inform policymakers, educators and the general public about the nature of the dropout crisis in California and help the state develop a meaningful policy agenda to address the problem.

ACTIVITIES

To accomplish this mission, the project has engaged in three major activities:

• RESEARCH: The project has commissioned a series of research studies and created statistical briefs on four facets of the problem: (a) the nature of problem; (2) the economic and social costs of dropouts for individuals and the state; (3) the short-term and long-term causes of dropping out; and (4) possible solutions.
• POLICY: The project has developed a policy agenda by establishing a Policy Committee composed of policymakers, educators, scholars, and a community activist and issuing a Policy Report with recommendations for schools, districts, and the state.
• DISSEMINATION: The project has developed a dissemination strategy for distributing the project findings to a wide audience by (a) creating Policy Briefs to conveyed the results of the research studies in a short, easy-to-understand format; (a) mailing printed copies of all Policy and Statistical Briefs to every superintendent and state legislator as well as to key stakeholders; (c) developing a website to provide access to all CDRP publications; (d) working with the media to publicize the project’s findings.

FUNDING

The project has received funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, and the Walter S. Johnson Foundation.

IMPACT

Based on a number of indicators, the project has had a great impact on the visibility and substantive work on the issue of high school dropouts in California:

• • Since October 5, 2007 (when the project implemented a document counter), more than 25,000 copies of the 42 CDRP publications have been downloaded from the CDRP website.
• • In February 2008, California State Senator Darrell Steinberg introduced two bills based on recommendations in the CDRP Policy Committee Report, and one of the bills (SB 1251) was signed into law by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. In February 2009, Senators Romero and Steinberg, introduced SB651, based other recommendations from the CDRP Policy Report.
• • The project has also generated considerable media attention. In the print media alone, 40 newspaper articles, 12 editorials, and 3 op-ed articles have appeared, which has generated 50 million media impressions (calculated by multiplying the circulation number by 2.4, the number or readers or viewers who, according to Nielsen Media Research, will come into contact with each publication circulated). In April 2008, Education Week, the nation’s leading education newspaper featured a two-page story on the project.       Media Clip Analysis (PDF)

CDRP's DIRECTOR

• 
  Russell W. Rumberger, Director, California Dropout Research Project
  Email: russ@education.ucsb.edu
  
  

  The project was founded and is directed by Russell W. Rumberger, Professor of Education, UC Santa Barbara.

  A faculty member at UCSB since 1987, Professor Rumberger has published widely in several areas of education: education and work; the schooling of disadvantaged students; school effectiveness; and education policy. He has been conducting research on school dropouts for the past 25 years and has written over 40 research papers and essays on the topic.

  He served as a member of the National Research Council’s (NRC) Committee on Increasing High School Students’ Engagement and Motivation to Learn, which issued the highly regarded volume, Engaging Schools: Fostering High School Students' Motivation to Learn (2004).

  He served as a member of the U.S. Department of Education’s National Institute of Statistical Sciences/Education Statistics Services Institute Task Force on Graduation, Completion, and Dropout Indicators (2004).

  He was a member on the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences panel that produced the Dropout Prevention Practice Guide (2008).

  He currently serves on two NRC Committees: the Committee on Improved Measurement of High School Dropout and Completion Rates: Expert Guidance on Next Steps for Research and Policy; and the Committee on the Impact of Mobility and Change on the Lives of Young Children, Schools, and Neighborhoods. He also serves on the national advisory committee for the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) project, Gubernatorial Action for Dropout Prevention and Recovery.

  He received a Ph.D. in Education and a M.A. in Economics from Stanford University and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University.

  CDRP STAFF

  Susan Rotermund, Graduate Student Researcher
  Email: srotermu@education.ucsb.edu

  Beverly Bavaro, Editor
  Email: beverly@lmri.ucsb.edu