This directory on Iowa alternative programs for potential and actual dropouts begins with a brief summary of the state's dropout problem accompanied by nine references. Descriptions of some of the special programs and schools precede the full text of state legislation for funding and administering dropout programs. The next section, in outline form, presents the advantages and disadvantages of the following dropout prevention and alternative program approaches: tutoring, counseling/advising, advisement, work-related activities, and alternative classes. Important questions that need to be asked throughout the needs assessment and program planning process are listed. A series of statements called "Ideas for Success and Failure," based on input from 20 national leaders in the field, offers further advice about dropout programs. Three reprinted education journal articles address the following topics: (1) a summary of research on school program effectiveness; (2) a study of 13 schools in 4 states that shows alternative schools come closer to satisfying student needs than do conventional schools; and (3) predictions for alternative schools in this decade. Thirty pages of the directory are devoted to a reprint of "The Current Status of Schools of Choice in Public Secondary Education," by Mary Ann Raywid (1982). This study analyzes the responses to a 31-question survey from 1,200 of the 2,500 identified public alternative secondary schools. The questionnaire is reproduced with replies entered as percentages. The directory concludes by listing Iowa alternative schools followed by operational information for each program. (MLF)