Multiple Pathways to Graduation

New York City, like so many cities across the country, faces the immense challenge of a large population of youth who fail to graduate from high school. Although the New York City Department of Education has met with success in raising the graduation rate – which is now the highest it has ever been – there is much more room for improvement. To address this need, the city is implementing new, specialized programs that will increase the high school graduation rate. Called Multiple Pathways to Graduation, this strategy will create new programs that are specifically designed to meet the unique needs of the population of students who are falling behind in high school and are most likely to drop out. 

The Fund for Public Schools has raised private funds to support the establishment of the Office of Multiple Pathways as well as capacity-building efforts for transfer schools, GED programs, and other instructional and support strategies for the overage and under-credited population. In 2006, The Fund secured a $5.3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help launch the Office of Multiple Pathways. The Fund also secured $1.35 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for leadership training and support for 16 new principals who are committed to leading transfer schools – small, academically rigorous schools specifically designed for students at risk of dropping out of high school. This grant created the framework for meeting the DOE’s aggressive goal of opening 16 new transfer schools to serve 3,500 students every year. 

Although the DOE has been successful in raising the citywide graduation rate – which has increased from 53% to 58% over the past three years – there is still a critical need for improvement. Multiple Pathways to Graduation will have a real impact on the number of students who graduate from high school and go on to college or the workforce.