MTV, Time Magazine, and the Gates Foundation are co-hosting a major conference in DC tomorrow on what has been termed the Silent Epidemic, or the nation's staggering high school dropout rate. We here at Our Education have been in discussion with the folks at MTV about the planning and agenda of the conference for several months now, and are pleased to report that the result has been to include a significant agenda item in which a number of current high school students will take the stage in a roundtable to discuss their views and experiences with dropout problems prior to all of the experts.

What remains to be seen, of course, is how effective the summit is in leading to actual change on the key issues in play. We've been to enough conferences now to know that they are prone to consensus conversations without action, and empty chest pounding without progress. This will be a unique moment to get lots of smart people in the same room talking about a crucial problem, but will there be an impact on school systems in the way that students need? I'll post back on Thursday after the event to share some impressions from the event.