This report is third in a series of informational briefings developed as part of "The Guardians Initiative: Reclaiming the Public Trust," an effort to educate and engage trustees as advocates on key issues in higher education. The compact between American higher education and the broader society has always been multifaceted. Colleges and…

The U.S. Department of Education's (ED) National Center for Education Statistics defines dropouts as "16- through 21-year-olds who are not enrolled in school and have not earned a high school credential (either a diploma or an equivalency credential such as a General Education Development (GED) certificate)." According to the feds, the…

The school dropout rate in America is too high, especially for low-income students and those from nondominant racial or ethnic groups. For many students, the social-psychological and behavioral disengagement from school that leads to dropping out often begins in middle school. Research on early adolescents confirms that increasing the perceived…

Getting and keeping "all" young people engaged in learning and on track to graduate from high school ready for college and the 21st century workplace is going to require wider, deeper, and more systemic change. Recent policy focus on raising standards for high school graduation and aligning high school curriculum to college entrance requirements…

The merits of a public campaign can rarely be gauged fully in its early months or even in its initial year. Rather, the true measures of a campaign's successes are revealed over time: in its ongoing impacts on opinion or policy, and on the tangible results it achieves. On both accounts, Philadelphia's Project U-Turn campaign continues to make…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) To Be Continued: Congress Passes Continuing Resolution to Keep Government Running, Buys Time to Pass Appropriations…

Members of the educational community are increasingly concerned that the dropout rate is too high. However, concerned educators and researchers do not agree who should be included in the data to determine the dropout rate. National definitions are needed so that accurate comparisons can be made. There is also a need to assess the effectiveness of…

This paper addresses educational reform as it affects dropouts, minorities, diverse cultures, training programs, and community-based education. Effective dropout-prevention models are presented that address the needs of at-risk populations. The author states that much dropout prevention and reclamation takes place off of school district campuses…

Discusses the efforts of Malawi to "vocationalize" general academic education to help alleviate the unemployment problems of secondary school leavers. Given the costs of vocational education and the number of unmet basic human needs in the country, concludes that vocational training should be left to specialist institutions outside…

This document presents recommendations to the Texas state legislature for meeting a 1997-98 goal of reducing the projected longitudinal and cross-sectional state dropout rates. Data for 1986 indicate that approximately 86,000 students were dropping out of Texas schools every year. The recommendations presented here were determined: (1) by tracing…

In October 2006, a collaborative of cross-sector leaders launched Project U-Turn, a citywide campaign to bring much-needed attention to Philadelphia's dropout crisis and to build the collective will to resolve it. In addition to increasing public awareness of the issue in a variety of ways, Project U-Turn's work has resulted in significant…

Today and every day, in neighborhoods and communities throughout Philadelphia, young people are making decisions that will change their lives forever. Some will decide to stay in school, graduate, and prepare themselves for college and careers. Others, who left school without a diploma, will summon the courage to seek out educational programs they…

The experiences of early school leavers in a New South Wales Central Coast community during the year after they left school were examined to identify ways of easing their transition into the community and the work force. Data were collected through interviews with community service providers, representatives of educational agencies, refuge…

While minority youth and adults have traditionally experienced high rates of unemployment, recent demographic, educational, and technological changes have all combined to cause a sharp increase in the numbers of unemployed and displaced minority group workers. A review of past employment and training programs such as the Comprehensive Employment…

The two years under review constitute a period of unprecedented progress in vocational education, since it is probably conservative to say that the tangible results accomplished equal those of any decade preceding. There are important factors in this development. To mention a few, they include: (1) Most important of all has been the culmination of…