Diplomas Now

Diplomas Now is a secondary school reform model that combines comprehensive school reform with targeted interventions for students showing early warning indicators related to attendance, behavior, and course performance. The model is implemented through a partnership of three national organizations—Talent Development Secondary, City Year, and Communities In Schools—working together in urban secondary schools. The program reorganizes schools into small learning communities with interdisciplinary teacher teams, provides professional development and coaching for math and English/language arts teachers, implements college-ready curricula and accelerated remediation courses, and uses an early warning indicator system to identify and support struggling students through tiered interventions. City Year AmeriCorps members (8-15 per school) provide tutoring, mentoring, and after-school programming, while Communities In Schools case managers coordinate specialized services for students at highest risk of dropping out. The model brings at least a dozen additional staff members to each school to support implementation and provide direct student services. Diplomas Now focuses on sixth grade (middle school transition) and ninth grade (high school transition) students, aiming to improve their attendance, behavior, and course performance—the ABCs that predict graduation—through whole-school structural changes and individualized student support.