Need to Know: Philadelphia's 'Project U-Turn' Aims to 'Recapture' Dropouts

AMERICAN GRADUATE -- April 6, 2012 at 5:38 PM EDT

Need to Know: Philadelphia's 'Project U-Turn' Aims to 'Recapture' Dropouts

On Friday's "Need to Know," our public media colleagues tell the story of Justin Rudd, a high school dropout who lived on the streets of Philadelphia -- a city where roughly 40 percent of ninth-graders don't mange to graduate in four years.

Rick Karr reports on Philadelphia's ambitious plan -- known as Project U-Turn -- to reach out to and re-engage high school dropouts. Since the project launched in 2006, it's become a model for cities nationwide, according to the report.

The story is part of American Graduate: Let's Make It Happen, a public media initiative supported by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to help local communities across America find solutions to address the dropout crisis.

Check out all of the NewsHour's American Graduate reports here.

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