To improve its alarming dropout rate, a southwestern Texas school district instituted the PRIDE Center, an alternative high school featuring self-paced curricula and flexible timetables for beginning and completing coursework. School social workers formed an ancillary coalition of community, business, and family forces to support prevention,…

Nine distinct programs aimed at reducing the dropout rate and bringing "at-risk" students back into the educational mainstream are described in this publication. The document first notes the social and economic costs to the nation of students dropping out before completing high school. The report then describes changes in Wisconsin's attendance…

Across Canada almost 40 percent of youth drop out and do not finish high school. Young people feel they can drop out of school and find a job tomorrow that will pay them enough so they can continue the lifestyle to which they are accustomed. However, unemployment rates for individuals between the ages of 15 and 24 are high. There are people who…

At Coffee High School in Douglas, Georgia, a needs assessment committee recommended the replacement of the traditional nine-month program with a quarter system using longer class sessions and allowing more individual attention. The committee members chose the Better Learning Opportunities for Children (BLOC) Program. Implementation involved…

Describes the Meaningful Other Person (MOP) program instituted at a North Carolina ninth grade center that reduced the dropout rate by 50 percent. (FL)

A high school in Oregon has had positive results from the development of a dropout prevention program. Students meet together each day, develop goals, and earn credits for successful efforts. Program design and implementation are described. (DF)

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…

The Target 2000 legislation enacted by the South Carolina General Assembly in 1989 mandates halving the state's dropout rate by the year 2000. The statute requires that the State Board of Education, assisted by a select committee, devise and pilot-test dropout prevention programs during school years 1989-90, 1990-91, and 1991-92. In September…

This is a guide for the North Carolina Extended School Day Program, an alternative education program which provides youth with the opportunity to complete high school in an environment conducive to meeting their needs. The extended school day program is an extension of the regular public school and is an integral part of the comprehensive high…

This document provides information on a Full-Time Vocational Training Program (FTVTP), which is intended to keep students in school or allow dropouts to reenter in a vocational setting. The philosophy and purpose of the FTVTP are presented. The program's purpose is to enable dropouts to return to school in a full-day vocational program, be…

This report describes three model programs in dropout prevention that were developed for three school systems, Granville, Haywood, and Wake Counties, in the State of North Carolina. The three model programs have several general characteristics in common: planning; comprehensiveness; collaboration; commitment of a wide range of people; and dropout…

The purpose of the practicum described here was the development of a model for an alternative night high school. The plan called for a curriculum aimed at student interest and graduation requirements, a profile procedure for identifying potential candidates, and the operation of a prototype evening program during the summer of 1975 to test the…

Introduces some possibilities for treating the condition of the misplaced and dislocated adolescent. Reviews the development of street academies as one attempt to address the problems of out-of-school youth. Concludes that systematic efforts are needed to serve an ignored population. (Author/WD)

One California high school's dropout intervention program succeeded because it was organized to meet student, not organizational needs. The program also had highly motivated administrators, outstanding teachers, student and teacher incentives, secure funding, and orientation toward positive self-image. (MLH)

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…