Students who have dropped out of high school--and those at risk of doing so--are at greater risk of lifelong poverty, involvement with the criminal justice system, dependence on government welfare programs, and even premature death. In the last few years, however, the problems at high schools have compounded, as pandemic-era school closures led to…

Postsecondary education is widely seen as a necessity in the modern economy. Yet students at community colleges often face steep odds when it comes to completing a degree. Community colleges serve many low-income and first-generation students as well as students of color, all of whom must contend with many obstacles to success. At the same time,…

Each year millions of Americans make the decision to pursue a college education to improve their skill sets, boost their earning potential and transform their life circumstances. Yet almost 1 in 5 students leaves empty-handed after investing precious time and valuable resources. And many who amass student loan debt are crippled by the burden of…

This study profiles tutoring programs that empower urban youth within the Regional Institute of Tutorial Education (RITE), a community collaborative of universities, youth agencies, community service organizations, and school districts. Representative members of RITE detail how they address shared urban problems of academic deficits, school…

When Superintendent Denise Juneau took office in 2009, there were 2,423 students who dropped out of school, and Montana had a dropout rate of 5.1 percent. Inspired by the early successes of the Graduation Matters Missoula initiative, Superintendent Juneau launched Graduation Matters Montana in 2010. Graduation Matters Montana is a statewide effort…

To stem the tide of students dropping out, many schools and districts are turning to early warning systems (EWS) that signal whether a student is at risk of not graduating from high school. While some research exists about establishing these systems, there is little information about the actual implementation strategies that are being used across…

Engineering programs suffer a high attrition rate, which causes the nation to graduate much less engineers. A survey of the literature reveals that the high attrition rate is due mainly to the fact that the first year of an engineering program is all fundamental theory and students don't see the connection to their future engineering careers. To…

Dan Bloom of MDRC examines policies and programs designed to help high school dropouts improve their educational attainment and labor market outcomes. So called "second-chance" programs, he says, have long provided some combination of education, training, employment, counseling, and social services. But the research record on their effectiveness…

Educational achievement in rural America is one of the country's great overlooked challenges. Rural students achieve below the U.S. average on national tests, and high school dropout rates are higher and college attendance lower than they are in cities and suburbs. When the U.S. Department of Education asks low-achieving schools to be turned…

Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) is an independent, non-profit organization with a vision for schools that work for all children. It partnered with Coca-Cola in 1984 and began a dropout prevention program just as it was conducting the first comprehensive study of school dropouts in Texas. Its annual studies since then have…

School administrators, teachers, parents, and juvenile justice officials have long been concerned about the problem of truancy in schools, especially since truancy has been linked to problem behaviors, including academic failure, school dropout, and delinquency. Thus, the prevention of truancy and programs designed to break the cycle of chronic…

Current efforts to encourage students to persist are not stemming the tide of drop-outs. Estimates of the high school dropout rate range from 10-30 percent (Hardy 2002). The impact of having no high school diploma causes these students to experience economic and social struggles throughout the time in life that should be their most productive. One…

A new Dutch training program prepares school dropouts as assistants, enabling them to work at low-skilled jobs and prepare for continued study. Regional training centers are still seeking workable instructional models for the program. Greater emphasis should be placed on the relationship between this initial training and future training. (Contains…

Many school district leaders, high school administrators, and teachers--particularly those in urban areas--have struggled to reduce high school dropout rates but find themselves overwhelmed by the dimensions of the problem. Consider: Research has shown that lack of preparation in elementary and middle school, long before students reach high…

Follow-up of 34 pupils (age range 6-22 originally) who had attended a university-sponsored tutoring program 5 years earlier is discussed in terms of persistence and nature of the problems, and characteristics of subgroups including graduates from academic high school programs, graduates from non-academic programs, drop-outs, and a reportedly…