Communities In Schools, Inc. (CIS) is a nationwide initiative designed to connect needed community resources with schools to help students, particularly those identified as at-risk, successfully learn, stay in school, and prepare for life. As part of a comprehensive 5-year national evaluation of CIS, ICF International conducted a school-level…

This technical brief describes updates to a database of dropout prevention programs and policies in 2006/07 created by the Regional Education Laboratory (REL) Northeast and Islands and described in the Issues & Answers report, "Piloting a searchable database of dropout prevention programs in nine low-income urban school districts in the…

The current study replicates work of Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Northeast and Islands. It describes dropout prevention programs in nine Mid-Atlantic Region (Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) school districts serving communities with populations of 24,742-107,250 (as of July 2008). All nine…

The current study replicates work of Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Northeast and Islands. It describes dropout prevention programs in nine Mid-Atlantic Region (Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) school districts serving communities with populations of 24,742-107,250 (as of July 2008). All nine…

This paper describes the first six months of activities and accomplishments of Commonwealth Futures, an initiative designed to provide services to at-risk youth in Massachusetts schools. Major activities are outlined chronologically, implementation problems and successes are briefly discussed, and projected future activities are listed. These…

FOCUS is a database containing dropout prevention information at Clemson University (South Carolina). FOCUS provides access to the following data files: (1) Dropout Prevention Program Profiles; (2) Dropout Calendar of Events (National); (3) Dropout Calendar of Events (South Carolina Only); and (4) Dropout Resource Materials Library. The Program…

The Comprehensive Dropout Prevention Plan utilizes the resources of Broward County public schools and the community for dropout prevention. A matrix of dropout prevention options has been assembled from both existing programs and from new program designs. General components of the plan include the following: (1) dropout retrieval activities; (2)…

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), in its efforts to improve the economy and quality of life in the Appalachian Region, has identified high school dropouts as a major stumbling block to the area's economic growth. Findings of ARC-sponsored research on dropouts include the following: (1) high school dropouts are a serious problem in…

This report provides descriptions of strategies for dropout prevention at the secondary level and presents examples of programs that successfully utilize these strategies. The information is based on data from a review of nearly 200 programs at secondary schools across the four-state Western region that includes Arizona, California, Nevada, and…

A four-month study undertaken by the Greater Newark Chamber of Commerce with the cooperation of various educational and vocational institutions and business organizations is reported. Discussed are planning and organization for career education, philosophy and roles, financing activities and business-educator relationships. Course offerings are…

Describes the Cooperative Alternative Program (CAP), Coleman (Texas), an example of the way a rural high school for at-risk students has established a sense of community while improving the achievement of its rural students. This case study shows how CAP faced its economic and collaborative challenges. (SLD)

Describes a pilot mentoring program that involved 19 college students working with preadolescent and adolescent at-risk Hispanic youth in a Texas border city. The program, which consisted of 10 weekly classes in citizenship awareness and community participation and involvement, focused on dropout prevention and preparation for citizenship. (SLD)

Project Achieve, New York City's new dropout prevention program, might benefit from the failures of the city's earlier Dropout Prevention Initiative. Project Achieve will organize all ninth and tenth grade students into houses, integrate support and academic staff, and achieve maximum personnel continuity throughout a student's high school career.…

Project Return, a dual-component dropout recovery program under the administration of the Program for Pregnant and Parenting Adolescents began operating in 1990 and by 1993 had expanded to 19 sites. The Community Education Initiative operated in seven elementary schools and one satellite site to target elementary school parents of all ages who had…