Efforts to improve educational attainment are hampered by the high school dropout crisis. At a time when governors are calling for changes to improve higher education access and success, more than 1 million youth ages 16 to 19 are not enrolled in school and do not have a high school diploma. Each year, an additional 390,000 youth drop out of school. Reengaging dropouts is challenging for school systems for three reasons. First, information is limited on who has dropped out and where they are located. Second, traditional, comprehensive high schools are not well equipped to serve students who are returning to complete a degree. Unfortunately, the quality of nontraditional school options, even when they are available, is often lacking. Finally, recovering youth who have dropped out of school can be expensive and time consuming, and few, if any, financial incentives exist for schools to work with this population. Dropout recovery can succeed if states take these actions to facilitate the reengagement of out-of-school youth: (1) Set a goal to reduce the dropout rate; (2) Use data to identify dropouts and target recovery strategies; (3) Provide flexible, high-quality school options for recovered dropouts; and (4) Consider incentives to focus on dropout recovery if resources exist. As states face a new economic reality, governors may not be able to implement all of the policy recommendations outlined in this brief. Yet each recommendation can improve dropout recovery in schools and districts. Together, the recommendations create a comprehensive policy framework for reengaging out-of-school youth. (Contains 44 notes.)