This webinar series will introduce participants to the core and advanced components of Ready by 21®. This challenge calls on states and communities to change the odds for youth by changing the way they do business.

The America’s Promise Alliance is supporting 50 state and at least 50 city Dropout Prevention Summits to be held by 2010. The purposes of the Dropout Prevention Summits are many, but the primary intention is to increase public awareness of the dropout and college-readiness crisis.

Twenty five years ago, the blue ribbon National Commission on Excellence in Education stunned the country by declaring:

“Our Nation is at risk. Our once unchallenged preeminence in commerce, industry, science, and technological innovation is being overtaken by competitors throughout the world. . . If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. As it stands, we have allowed this to happen to ourselves. . . we have dismantled essential support systems . . . We have, in effect, been committing an act of unthinking, unilateral educational disarmament.”

This Webinar, held on December 3rd, 2007, offered an opportunity to hear firsthand about how youth from across the country are successfully engaging with policymakers in formal bodies called youth councils. The Forum also discussed the key principles of creating an effective youth council, which are outlined in the paper Building Effective Youth Councils.

In Maryland, there are many agencies, organizations, task forces and coalitions focused on various pieces of the puzzle needed to ensure that all youth are ready for adulthood. While aiming for similar ultimate goals, these groups are often working in parallel and occasionally at cross purposes due to funding streams and grant restrictions.