Robert Balfanz, PhD, is a research professor at the Center for the Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins University School of Education, where he is the director of the Everyone Graduates Center. He co-founded of Diplomas Now, an evidence based school transformation model for high needs middle and high schools that combined whole school reform with enhanced student supports guided by an early warning system, and winner of a federal Investing in Innovation (I3) validation grant which was implemented in forty schools across twelve school districts. He has published widely on secondary school reform, high school dropouts, early warning systems, chronic absenteeism, school climate, and instructional interventions in high-poverty schools. He focuses on translating research findings into effective school interventions. He is also a frequent speaker on dropout prevention and early warning indicators and has consulted with numerous state education associations through partnerships with the National Governors Association and Jobs for the Future. Dr. Balfanz is the first recipient of the Alliance For Excellent Education’s Everyone a Graduate Award and the National Forum’s to Accelerate Middle Grade Reform Joan Lipsitzs Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2013 he was named a Champion for Change for African American Education by the White House. He holds a B.A. in history from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in education from the University of Chicago.
Keywords: Early-warning systems; high school dropouts; instructional interventions in high-poverty schools; secondary school reform.
