American Graduate and LPB
Louisiana Public Broadcasting's (LPB) mission has always been to tell Louisiana’s story through award-winning documentaries such as the duPont Columbia Award-winning six-part series Louisiana: A History; Louisiana: 200 Years Of Statehood; Kate Chopin: a Reawakening; Sunshine by the Stars: Celebrating Louisiana Music; and many others. Louisiana: The State We’re In, LPB’s weekly newsmagazine, and Louisiana Public Square, a monthly town hall discussion, provide viewers with information about the important issues facing our state.
Education is a major emphasis for LPB. Since 1995, LPB has been part of the Ready to Learn and Raising Readersprograms. The goal of these programs is to prepare pre-school children to succeed in school by helping them obtain the literacy skills they need to learn how to read. One of the major parts of these programs is the very successful Super WHY! camps, a week-long program that helps at-risk children improve their literacy skills. LPB also works with 10 day care centers in New Orleans and five North Baton Rouge schools and Head Start Centers to prepare them to succeed in school. Since the First book program was started in 1995, LPB has handed out more than one million books to children. Educators also have access to millions of video clips to enhance their lesson plans through LPB/PBS LearningMedia and Discovery Education streaming.
LPB has also recognized the accomplishments of middle and high school students through the Louisiana Young Heroes program and the lifetime achievements of outstanding artists, authors, athletes, entertainers, political figures, military men and women and business people through the Louisiana Legends Gala and the Louisiana Legends interview series.
Our Partners
Louisiana Public Broadcasting is working with community partners from around the state in order to help tackle the dropout crisis. We encourage you to contact these organizations to see how you can be part of the solution!
- Education's Next Horizon
- Rotary Club of Baton Rouge
- 100 Black Men of Baton Rouge
- ExxonMobil Baton Rouge
- Entergy
- ExxonMobil YMCA
- Jobs for America’s Graduates-Louisiana
- City Year
- Louisiana Legislative Youth Advisory Council
- Iberville Early Childhood
- Calcasieu Parish Libraries
- Rotary District 6200
- Big Buddy of Baton Rouge
- East Baton Rouge Parish Head Start
- East Baton Rouge Parish Early Childhood Program
- St. John Parish Early Childhood Program
- United Way of New Orleans
- J.K. Haynes Charter School
- Associated Builders and Contractors of Louisiana
- Baton Rouge Youth Coalition
- Big Buddy Program
- Boys Hope Girls Hope
- Caddo Career and Technology Center
- Central Louisiana Area Health Education Center
- Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives
- Louisiana Community and Technical College System
- Louisiana Leadership Institute
- Louisiana National Guard Youth Challenge Program
- Louisiana School Counselor Association
- Northwest Louisiana Technical College
- Rapides Parish Alternative Positive Program for Students (R.A.P.P.S.)
- Ruston High School Freshman Academy
- The Up Alliance
- West Baton Rouge Parish Early Learning
- WorkReady U
- Young Heroes
Dropout Data
In 2013, Louisiana’s graduation rate reached an all-time high of nearly 74%, but four parishes have dropout rates below 60 percent and twenty parishes saw an increase in their dropout numbers in 2012. And despite significant improvements in some cases, graduation still is not the norm even among middle- and high-income students in Louisiana.
According tothe 2014 Building a GradNation report, the country's public schools have reached a milestone of an 80 percent graduation rate. To meet the goal of a 90 percent high school graduation rate by the Class of 2020 will take a concerted, cross-sector effort to close graduation gaps and ensure all students have the educational opportunities and experiences that can take them into college and career.
Resources
Economic Benefits of Increasing the High School Graduation Rate for Public Shool Students -- Alliance for Excellent Education
Louisiana graduation rates – Rates by parish compiled by La. Dept. of Ed.
"A Future at Risk" -- Analysis of Louisiana’s dropout problems and solutions by Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana
2014 Building a GradNationreport – National report released by Civic Enterprises, the Everyone Graduates Center, America’s Promise Alliance and the Alliance for Excellent Education.
Educational Resources -- Free access to 18,000+ videos via LPB
Classroom Resources -- Provided by American Graduate
LPB Early Education Resources:
American Graduate: Let’s Make it Happen
American Graduate: Let's Make It Happen is public media’s long-term commitment to supporting community-based solutions to the dropout crisis. Supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), more than 80 public radio and television stations have joined forces with over 1,000 partners and at-risk schools across 30 states. Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB) is proud to join this consortia of public media broadcasters in combatting the nation’s dropout problem.
Over the next two years, LPB will join other public broadcasting stations in providing American Graduate content to their audiences.
- National and local reporting, both on air and online to help communities understand the challenges and community-driven solutions associated with the dropout crisis.
- Public forums, town halls, and community conversations to activate discussions between community leaders, educators, and more.
- Educational programs
- Convening diverse stakeholders in forums and providing access to digital classroom resources for teachers and parents.