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 report on California dropouts draws on a large body of current research and features the correlates known to be associated with dropouts. It also details what is known and not known about the magnitude of the dropout phenomenon. Section I provides an introduction to the report. Section II presents a description of the reasons that students…

The primary goal of a districtwide dropout-prevention program is to develop, implement, and enhance instructional and programmatic components that have proven effective in educational research and practice and thus resulted in fewer students dropping out of school prior to high school graduation. This paper describes the development and…

States that student retention is significant for measuring institutional effectiveness in the prevailing environment of accountability and budgetary constraints. Presents recommendations for increasing retention, including training staff on retention issues, reviewing admission and advising strategies affecting minority populations, and piloting…

Presents a model of adaptive education based on the systems-dynamic approach to the problem of student attrition. (DC)

This policy brief presents an in-depth look at the dropout issue in Texas in the context of 1986 state legislation that mandated that the schools and state education agency ensure that at least 95 % of Texas youth complete high school. Findings from a study by the Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA), using a high school attrition…

Oregon's annual dropout rate increased from 6 percent in the 1992-93 school year to 7.4 percent in the 1994-95 school year. Some schools, however, managed to reduce their dropout rate. This report explores the strategies that worked for 15 Oregon high schools that reduced their dropout rate. Interviews were conducted with representatives of Oregon…

This practice-application digest addresses what vocational education can do to reduce the almost 30 percent dropout rate among U.S. students. The first section describes factors that place students at risk, focusing on factors included in the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's definition of the term "at-risk." In the next…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate retention efforts in Ontario (Canada) secondary schools in order to develop policy and support initiatives designed to reduce dropouts and improve retention rates. The study had four parts: (1) an analysis of credit accumulation for four cohorts and academic achievement patterns over 4 years in 16 schools;…

Answers to questions most often asked about the second National Education Goal are provided in this document. Goal 2 states that "by the year 2000, the high school graduation rate will increase to 90 percent." Among the areas covered are school strategies to improve graduation rates, community and business roles, incentives to stay in…

This booklet focuses on the roles of student activities and student activity advisers within the school. It opens with definitions and characteristics of at-risk students and details some program guidelines for these students. Trying to make at-risk students feel connected to the world of work or the world of school is the book's central theme. In…

The study provides an overview of what national surveys and the literature say about school dropouts, defined as persons who are neither enrolled in school nor high school graduates. For the last decade, the dropout rate for youth age 16-24 has remained roughly the same, about 13-14 percent. Hispanics, Blacks, and economically and educationally…

A review of the literature related to the impact of vocational education on student retention determined that various types of vocational education programs and approaches have been successful in keeping students in school. Other research showed that vocational education played a role in student retention only when coupled with other components…

Although Florida law requires job placement and follow-up services for all students graduating or leaving the school system, there is a lack of understanding about contributing causes and possible solutions to the problem of high school dropouts. To gather information to develop an innovative program to reach dropouts and potential dropouts, 282…

This report presents data from 25 school districts in Connecticut that were involved in dropout prevention planning programs in grades kindergarten through twelfth for the 1987-88 and 1988-89 school years. Each of these districts addresses the problems of both accounting for the dropout rate, and developing an effective and reliable method for the…