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	Forum Unites Business and Education Leaders on Dropout Prevention By Jonathan Yeomans \March 26, 2008 Greensboro, N.C. — When a student drops out of high school, they hurt more than themselves. Dropouts cost state taxpayers millions of dollars a year in lost revenue and taxes, as well as Medicaid and incarceration costs. Dropouts are more likely to be unemployed and end up in prison. "The prospects for a high school dropout are bleak at best," said SAS CEO Jim Goodnight. But a panel of business executives and state school leaders gathered at the NC Chamber's annual meeting on Wednesday agreed that state businesses and schools have the ability to keep students in the classroom, engaged in their work and prepared for the future workplace. The first, and perhaps most important step, is to integrate technology into teaching. Goodnight calls technology, specifically classroom laptops, the "silver bullet." He points to Cary Academy, where all students have a laptop computer, and not coincidentally, all graduated and went on to college. He also cites the state's recent One-to-One Computing Initiative, where students in a handful of state public schools were assigned laptops to use with their class work. Goodnight said that since the initiative started about a year ago, superintendents have reported that dropout rates have decreased, student discipline incidents have decreased by as much as 12.5 percent and detentions are down as much as 17 percent. At Raleigh Centennial Campus Middle School, which began the program last year, teachers say that the initiative has enabled them to more easily individualize their instruction and customize their curriculum. It has also improved student engagement and motivation, they said. "Laptops have made a positive impact on behavior and achievement," Goodnight said. "They live with this stuff at home; why not have it at school?"
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