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The article discusses early college high schools in the U.S., which aim to provide high school and college courses simultaneously for at-risk and low-income high school students. The education group Jobs for the Future (JFF) and its suggestions for ways that schools can help dropouts include curriculum alignment, college preparedness, and ongoing support after graduation. The efforts of the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District in Texas, led by superintendent Daniel King, to encourage dropouts to finish their degrees, are discussed, particularly a partnership between the district and South Texas College, led by president Shirley Reed. West Brooklyn Community High School (WBCHS) in New York City and its educational partnership is considered.

In this article the authors discuss aspects of strategies to improve U.S. high schools that are referred to as dropout factories because of their low graduation rates. They believe that the location in a state of a high school with a low graduation rate matters as do school size and staffing ratios. Also investigated are the ideas that some states are better positioned than others to pursue educational reform and that different strategies are needed in districts with only one high school.

The authors comment on the need for action to reduce the rate of high school dropouts. In April 2008, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spelling announced new policy for calculating graduation rates and former Secretary of State Colin Powell helped launch the America's Promise Alliance's campaign to combat dropping out. The authors argue these are good signs, and that policies to prevent students from dropping out and reduce dropout rates are as important as raising academic achievement.

The article reports on the dropout problem in the U.S. Contrary to the popular image of dropouts as unmotivated kids who do not value the importance of education, researchers have found that most of the dropouts eventually earn a high school credential through the General Educational Development program. Despite their persistence, only 10 percent of those who gain high school credentials and enroll in postsecondary institutions earn a degree. Data analysis shows that although dropping out is epidemic in low-income communities, it is not just a problem of the poor.