According to a recent study by the Education Trust, the United States is now the only industrialized country where youths are less likely than their parents to earn a high school diploma. What’s being referred to nationally as the “silent epidemic” has ramifications for individuals and communities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts few of us can imagine.

From February — April 2009, public broadcasters WGBH and WBUR focus a journalistic lens on the dropout crisis in Massachusetts. We invite you to follow student video diaries on our website, tune-in to our ongoing television and radio series, and mark your calendars for our live one-hour special on WGBH and WBUR on April 7. We’ll be looking for your comments and stories at projectdropout.org and welcome you to join our online chat during the live special in April.

THE WBUR RADIO SERIES

Starting Feb. 9, and airing every Monday morning on 90.9 FM for nine weeks, WBUR examines the high-school dropout rate from a variety of perspectives, including the economic and social impact. Produced by Monica Brady-Myerov and Deborah Becker, the series will be reported by Bianca Vazquez Toness, Morning Edition host Bob Oakes, Radio Boston field host David Boeri, Becker and Brady-Myerov.

THE WGBH TELEVISION SERIES

Beginning March 3, and airing every Tuesday for six weeks, WGBH’s Greater Boston examines how the Massachusetts dropout rate affects everyone in the commonwealth, from the students and their families to state citizens and their communities. Emily Rooney is the host of Greater Boston. Linda Polach is the executive producer.

MARÍA HINOJOSA: ONE-ON-ONE

Tune in Mach 31 at 7:30 p.m. for a One-on-One conversation with Fernando Reimers, Ford Foundation Professor of International Education and the director of Global Education and International Education Policy at Harvard University. Professor Reimers talks with host María Hinojosa about the importance of developing global competencies, the nation’s growing Latino drop-out rate, and the often overlooked talents and opportunities that Latino children bring to classrooms across the U.S.

María Hinojosa: One-on-One is a provocative in-depth talk show featuring America’s foremost thinkers, artists, writers and opinion leaders.

THE LIVE TELEVISION/RADIO SPECIAL

Project Dropout culminates in a one-hour live broadcast with WGBH’s Emily Rooney, WBUR’s David Boeri and PBS/WGBH contributor María Hinojosa. The special includes a studio audience and airs live on WGBH 2 and WBUR on Tuesday, April 7, at 7 p.m. Project Dropout will be simulcast in central and western Massachusetts on WGBY World television and WFCR radio and will stream live online. Throughout the program, you’re invited to watch, chat and respond to poll questions at projectdropout.org.

THE WGBH FORUM NETWORK

The WGBH Forum Network is an audio and video streaming Web site dedicated to curating and serving live and on-demand lectures given by some of the world’s foremost scholars, authors, artists, scientists, policy makers and community leaders. Over the next several months we’ll offer a series of more than 50 lectures related to the themes and issues explored in the television and radio series and live special.

FUNDING

Major funding for Project Dropout is provided by The Boston Foundation.

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ABOUT WGBH

WGBH Boston is America’s preeminent public broadcaster, producing such celebrated national PBS series as Masterpiece, Antiques Roadshow, Frontline, Nova, American Experience, Arthur, Curious George and more than a dozen other award-winning prime-time, lifestyle and children’s series. Boston’s last remaining independent TV station, WGBH produces local TV productions (among them, Greater Boston, Basic Black and María Hinojosa: One-on-One) that focus on the region’s diverse community. For its efforts, WGBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors, including Oscars, Emmys, Peabodys and duPont-Columbia Journalism Awards.

ABOUT WBUR

One of New England’s leading sources of news and information, WBUR, 90.9 FM, is owned and operated by Boston University and is a member of National Public Radio. WBUR also broadcasts a selection of BBC programs and locally produced programs such as Here & Now, Only a Game, On Point, and Car Talk. WBUR has won more than 100 major awards for its news coverage, including several George Foster Peabody Awards, the Associated Press News Station of the year for 2003-05 and three prestigious Edward R. Murrow Awards in the 2007 Radio-Television News Director Association’s (RTNDA) annual national electronic journalism competition.