A 2009 report by America's Promise Alliance entitled "Cities in Crisis: Closing the Graduation Gap" ranks Oklahoma City as 30^th among the nation's 50 largest cities. By living in one of the 50 largest cities in the Nation, the 38,000 students in Oklahoma City's metropolitan area are faced with greater obstacles on the road to high school graduation than students in smaller cities. Specifically, there is a growing concern regarding the significant disparities in graduation rates between urban and suburban school districts within the same metropolitan area.

A major city may be served by more than one school district, as is the case for the 42 districts serving the Oklahoma City area.  The principal school districts of America's largest cities generally account for a small portion of all students within their metropolitan areas.  For example, Oklahoma City Public Schools account for 23 percent of all students in the metropolitan area.  Nationally, about 58 percent of students served by the urban school districts graduate, compared with 75 percent in nearby suburban communities. Oklahoma City has one of the largest urban-suburban graduation gaps, ranking 7^th in the nation.

Figure 2. Graduation Rates in the Nation's Largest Metropolitan Areas 

Source: EPE Research Center 2009
 

In September, the America's Promise Alliance (The Alliance), the nation's largest partnership organization dedicated to youth and children, announced Oklahoma City had been named a winner of the Alliance's 100 Best Communities for Young People (100 Best) competition presented by ING. According to a City of Oklahoma City press release, "Its 2010 recognition marks the fourth win for Oklahoma City in the competition. Oklahoma City received the recognition because of the city's renewed focus on high-quality mentoring programs for inner-city youth. After the findings of a wide reaching report by the United Way of Central Oklahoma uncovered a desperate need for mentorship programs, a community wide call-to-action was established for caring adults to volunteer as mentors in local schools and organizations. As a result, programs such as David and Molly Boren Mentoring Matters Initiative and businesses like Devon Energy and INTEGRIS Health have each worked to increase the number of volunteer mentors in the community."

In collaboration with the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence and Oklahoma City Public Schools, United Way is starting a pilot tutoring initiative to help every second grade student at Kaiser Elementary become proficient in reading and comprehension before entering the third grade.  Each week, a tutor will volunteer one hour and spend 30 minutes with 2 children.  By helping children succeed at an early age we are striving to make a positive impact on their educational successes and support their determination to finish high school.  Our ultimate goal is to see the tutoring initiative replicated throughout the Oklahoma City Public School system and have it serve a significant role in decreasing Oklahoma City's high school drop out rates.

Earlier this year, United Way of Central Oklahoma was the recipient of a bequest of approximately $150,000. As directed by United Way Board of Directors, the funding will be used to provide support for agencies with programs that focus on improving reading abilities at the third grade level or increasing the high school graduation rate. A total of 18 proposals were received with requests totaling more than $595,000. The applications were evaluated by a committee comprised of members from the Board, the Research and Community Initiatives Committee, Community Investment volunteers, and experts in education. Evaluation criteria were utilized to focus on those programs that presented a better likelihood for success with greater scope or impact and which demonstrated an ability to measure outcomes. The committee voted to fund the following four programs:

• City Care Whiz Kids tutoring and mentoring program, $50,000
• Youth Services for Oklahoma County Supporting Kids in Independent Living (SKIL) program, $50,000
• Moore Youth and Family Services, school-based services, $25,000
• Positive Tomorrows after-school tutoring and enrichment program, $25,000