Since IDRA's 1986 landmark study of dropouts in Texas, IDRA has kept the issue at the forefront, taking a stand that "Every child is valuable, none is expendable." For years, IDRA has worked with schools to help them account for every student enrolled and every student lost. IDRA has transformed schools so they embrace the characteristics of all students, celebrating the strengths and contributions that they and their families bring.

News

Let IDRA Help with Your Federal High School Grad Initiative Application
Eligible school districts can apply for the U.S. Department of Education’s High School Graduation Initiative by collaborating with IDRA to implement the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program. Letters of intent are due July 7 and applications are due July 28. Let IDRA help you!

Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program
Created by IDRA, this internationally-recognized dropout prevention program is keeping 98 percent of students in school. The lives of more than 416,000 children, families and educators have been positively impacted by the program.

Join Our Fellows Networking Web Site
We are looking for former Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program tutors! The Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program has been in existence for 26 years, and we have created a free web site for former tutors to network with each other and to support each other in areas such as getting to college and employment.

Radio Show: Lessons from the IDRA Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program
The National Dropout Prevention Center/Network Radio Webcast featured IDRA’s Dr. Linda Cantu. Listen and learn about this assets-based approach to dropout prevention and discover key lessons learned in this award-winning cross-age tutoring program. The webcast site also includes links to the accompanying PowerPoint and other resources.

Continuities: Lessons for the Future of Education from the IDRA Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program
Get seven key lessons for improving the quality of education for all students. This publication presents the voices of youth, teachers, family members and program leaders and the reasons valuing youth is at the heart of school transformation. Free online.

“Continuities with Lessons in Dropout Prevention” IDRA Classnotes Podcast Episode 63
IDRA president and CEO, María “Cuca” Robledo Montecel, Ph.D., describes how seven lessons presented in IDRA’s new publication, Continuities – Lessons for the Future of Education from the IDRA Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program, can serve as a guide and catalyst for future actions to transform education in this country.

Texas School Attrition Rates Declines, But Gaps Among Racial/Ethnic Groups Persist
Texas schools are losing one-third of our high school students. IDRA releases Texas public school attrition study, 2008-09.

Six Students Win National Essay Contest Award
Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program tutors wrote about how the program had helped them do better in school and how they had helped their tutees to do better. See the winning high school and middle school essays.

“Counting Dropouts” IDRA Classnotes Podcast Episode 62
Roy L. Johnson , M.S., director of Support Services at IDRA and author of the study for a number of years, discusses why counting dropouts is important and how the data can be used to strengthen school holding power.

Youth Matters
by Josie Danini Cortez, M.A.
IDRA Newsletter ( San Antonio , Texas : Intercultural Development Research Association, January 2010)

“Student Voices on Being Valued” IDRA Classnotes Podcast Episode 54
Following a national essay contest among tutors in the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program, Linda Cantu, Ph.D., director of this dropout prevention program, shares examples of student’s stories of how the program helped them do better in school and how they had helped their tutees to do better.

“Professional Learning Communities in Schools” IDRA Classnotes Podcast Episode 25
Josie Danini Cortez, M.A., and Dr. Juanita García join Aurelio Montemayor, M.Ed., to describe a successful professional learning community in a middle school in south Texas .

Texas Dropout Crisis, Principles for Policy Action
Organizations across the state come together in Austin to address the Texas legislative community on the issues surrounding the high school dropout crisis.

“Learnings from the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program” IDRA Classnotes Podcast Episode 15
Linda Cantu, Ph.D., and Juanita García, Ph.D., discus several things they have learned during more than two decades of experience with IDRA’s highly-successful dropout prevention program, the Coca-Cola Valued Youth Program.

School Holding Power Resources
School holding power is an important indicator of a school’s success and the quality of its educational services to students. Improving school holding power in our public schools is a national imperative since one in three of our nation’s students leave our schools prior to graduating with a diploma. Working together, all stakeholders (school personnel, parents, students, educators, policymakers, researchers, etc.) can make a difference in strengthening school holding power.

Communities in Action for Strengthening School Holding Power
Communities and their neighborhood public schools can strengthen school holding power to guarantee that every child graduates from high school ready for college and the world of work. Strategic action must take place at the community and school level as well as at the statewide systems change level. Get ideas for action.

“Increasing School Holding Power for All Students” Podcast Series
Dr. María “Cuca” Robledo Montecel, IDRA executive director, led this teleseminar hosted by the National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities. The series includes five podcasts with corresponding transcripts, handouts and related links.