From Ghosts to Graduates: An Educator’s Guide to Identifying and Reconnecting Disengaged Students

From Ghosts to Graduates is a timely book that recognizes that three years of interrupted learning has created an impending dropout timebomb of students who are traditionally at risk, as well as those who became disengaged during pandemic learning. Many students are ghosts in the system – they have become disconnected and disenchanted with schooling. Instead of only addressing strategies to treat the symptoms of dropping out, this important resource addresses the causes of the disengagement that led to those symptoms. Author Emily Freeland shows how to identify existing and potential ghosts, how to reconnect students to the learning process and communicate that we see them and believe in them, how to overcome barriers to progress, and how to restore hope. Each chapter offers current research and practical strategies, as well as Do Now and Reflection sections to help you apply the ideas as you read. With the deliberate practices in this book, you’ll be able to change the trajectory of the ghosting trend and help more of your students be seen.