The purpose of this historical case study was to gain an understanding of dropout recovery programs from an interpretive historical perspective. Dropout Recovery is an Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education initiative that provides high school dropouts an opportunity to re-enroll in school, gain academic credit, and participate in…

In 2010-11, the School District of Philadelphia (the District) operated thirteen accelerated high schools that served approximately 2,000 under-credited, over-age students. Each of the accelerated schools was managed by one of seven external providers, each with its own educational approach, and each with a contractual agreement with the…

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…

Concerned about the persistently high dropout rates from big-city secondary schools, education leaders are trying a new approach to increasing the graduation rate--multiple pathways to graduation. Multiple pathways initiatives are relatively new and far from proven. Even the most advanced examples face significant issues, i.e., the need 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…

By now people are all too familiar with the disheartening numbers: approximately 7,000 students drop out each day, which means nearly one-third of high school students will not graduate with their peers. The statistics are even more staggering for minority and low-income students, especially in the nation's largest urban districts, where less than…

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…

Communities In Schools (CIS) is the nation's fifth-largest youth-serving organization and the leading dropout prevention organization, delivering resources to nearly one million students in 3,250 schools across the country. To further their network-wide commitment to evidence-based practice, CIS collaborated with the National Dropout Prevention…

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…

This publication presents a brief summary description of an experimental dropout prevention program developed at McClymonds High School in Oakland, California. The program described is Project MACK (More Advanced Careers and Knowledge), a four-year program funded under ESEA Title VIII that operated from the 1971-72 school year through the 1974-75…

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…

This paper contains a study of student attendance problems in the New York City school system. The goals of the study were to determine the degree to which the chancellor's attendance program had been implemented at the school level, to explore some attendance-related issues, and to make recommendations for action by the board of education.…

This report explores two questions: (1) What can be done to recover and reconnect young people to opportunities for building useful lives in work, family, and citizenship? and (2) Who is doing what, and where, to reengage out-of-school youth while working to strengthen the communities in which they live? Focusing on the positive, the American…

This speech discusses several of the exemplary dropout prevention programs sponsored by the Office of Education. The basis of all the programs, whether they be for dropouts from school or for dropouts from life, is that once people find out that there is work to be done in the world, and that they will be welcomed and rewarded for doing it, they…