This guide is intended to be useful to educators in high schools and middle schools, to superintendents and school boards, and to state policymakers in planning and executing dropout prevention strategies. The target audience includes school administrators as well as district-level administrators, seeking to help develop practice and policy…

This paper examines available information on early identification of students at risk of prematurely dropping out of school. Many factors such as drug use, lowered educational achievement, delinquency, and unemployment appear to be consequences of dropping out, yet cause and effect is often difficult to define. A variety of school related,…

In light of the fact that students at risk of dropping out of school have become the focus of national attention, this paper examines one alternative program designed to work with a population considered to be at very high risk for dropping out. The population served by the School-Community Guidance Center (SCGC) in the Austin (Texas) Independent…

Over the last decade, between 347,000 and 544,000 10th- through 12th-grade students left school each year without successfully completing a high school program Status dropout rates represent the proportion of young people ages 16 through 24 who are out of school and who have not earned a high school credential. Status rates are higher than event…

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…

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 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…

Involving parents in a team approach by providing parent education and assistance programs can only strengthen dropout prevention strategies that are being developed and implemented throughout the nation. (JOW)

Longitudinally examined the effects of two linked at-risk programs (a middle school dropout prevention program and a high school transition program), focusing on attendance, promotion/retention, courses passed, discipline referrals, suspensions, sequence of services, the effects of passage of time following the intervention, and dropping out.…

Anti-truancy efforts are not new, but there are powerful new incentives which are now spurring school officials' interest in keeping students in class and their school. Not only does the "No Child Left Behind" Act require schools to boost student attendance and lower dropout rates, schools will never be able to succeed in meeting the law's Annual…

Despite many responses to the dropout problem, it remains unclear which school strategies are successful with at-risk students. State initiatives are well intentioned, but have certain limitations. Criteria such as local accountability, school-by-school regeneration and reform, longitudinal strategies, and horizontal coordination are needed. This…

This North Carolina handbook brings together the information needed by local school systems to plan, develop, and implement effective programs to keep students in school. These topics are included: (1) legislation and policy for the implementation of the State Dropout Prevention Fund; (2) program standards and performance indicators; (3) program…

The Education Commission of the States' (ECS) survey of state initiatives for at-risk youth was conducted during 1987. The goal was to identify programs and planning efforts in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the 3 ECS member territories addressing needs of at-risk youth from preschool through high school. Descriptions of over 650…

Summarizes the major issues and perspectives related to dropout prevention. Reviews general strategies and school-based efforts, with emphasis on community involvement and the teacher-student relationship. Discusses related social and cultural issues, and examines the alternative school approach. Contains 23 references. (SV)