For over 17 years, Boston Day and Evening Academy has served a population of young people often left behind: those who are off track to high school graduation or who have dropped out altogether. Through its competency-based approach, BDEA has tackled one of the toughest education conundrums of our time: how to recover low-skilled students two or…

This article reports that education leaders in Los Angeles, faced with unrelenting pressure to raise anemic high school graduation rates, are turning to YouTube, MySpace, text messaging, and the radio waves to reach students at risk of dropping out of school and lure back thousands who have already left. The Los Angeles Unified School…

In 18 Appalachian Tennessee counties, an aggressive "war on illiteracy" recruits former dropouts to GED (high school equivalency) classes, literacy classes for those with grade 8-9 reading level, and basic skills classes. People who almost finished high school may earn diplomas through approved adult classes. Classes are taught by…

Migrant farmworkers are the most disadvantaged of minority groups, but their needs and problems go unnoticed and unmet in most communities. Mobility, language and cultural differences, and health and nutrition problems combine to produce negative effects on school achievement. An estimated 70 percent of adult migrants have not completed high…

During the 1984-1985 school year, a pilot dropout outreach program was instituted by the Los Angeles (California) Unified School District's Division of Adult and Occupational Education in cooperation with the senior high schools division. Dropouts from the 1983-1984 school year were identified and were sent personal letters inviting them to return…

This paper describes a program to provide educational and employment services to high school dropouts and unemployed adults in seven rural Tennessee counties. The program offers supplemental services and coordinates job development and placement with Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) administrative personnel. Program activities include basic…

The Eidos Program, sponsored by the Idyllic Foundation, is a private community-based organization that, with schools and other cooperating agencies and sponsors, helps young people whose needs are not adequately met by existing instituions. The program, which was funded for six months by the Job Training Partnership Act, provided educational and…

The Elementary At-Risk Program was an intensive counseling, guidance, community outreach, and family case-management support system for a selected group of acutely at-risk students (approximately 60 students at one level and 180 students at another) in eight Houston (Texas) Independent School District (ISD) elementary schools. Social worker…

Community-based early intervention strategies can provide students with skills and attitudes that make dropping out of high school an unnecessary choice. This report analyzes the high school dropout phenomenon in terms of its magnitude, influence on minority populations, and need for local outreach programs. In California, the dropout rate has…

The Arlington (Virginia) Better Beginnings Coalition hired one full-time and one part-time employee to provide outreach services to out-of-school pregnant teens and teenage mothers. A career development specialist worked with outreach personnel and coordinated structured weekly prevocational training. Cooperating agencies identified 55 young women…

The San Diego City Schools (California) has received nearly $500,000 in federal funds to replicate and evaluate the following successful dropout prevention programs: (1) Motivation and Maintenance (M and M); (2) Partnership Academy; and (3) Summer Training and Education Program (STEP). The M and M program is designed to provide a case management…