Two radical teachers set up a "free school" in Washington, D. C. to offer an alternative education to disaffected, rebellious, bored, middle-class high school students. Some of their ideas work, some of them didn't. Their story is told in this book from the separate perspectives of the two teachers. In their first-hand account of the school and…

This document presents recommendations to the Texas state legislature for meeting a 1997-98 goal of reducing the projected longitudinal and cross-sectional state dropout rates. Data for 1986 indicate that approximately 86,000 students were dropping out of Texas schools every year. The recommendations presented here were determined: (1) by tracing…

In October 2006, a collaborative of cross-sector leaders launched Project U-Turn, a citywide campaign to bring much-needed attention to Philadelphia's dropout crisis and to build the collective will to resolve it. In addition to increasing public awareness of the issue in a variety of ways, Project U-Turn's work has resulted in significant…

Presented in this annotated bibliography of 12 publications on students at risk are descriptions of (1) a study of 100 Austin, Texas, dropouts that identifies characteristics and conditions of high-risk students; (2) a study recommending a variety of programs to improve the progression of high-risk high school and college students; (3) a manual…

This guide explores ways that schools can put the idea of integrating educational and community support for dropout prevention to work in the school and community. Part 1, "Implementing a Plan for Restructuring the School," recommends the formation of a task force to involve the community and school staff from the start. It also describes the…

State legislation requires that the Texas Education Agency write a plan to reduce the state's cross-sectional and longitudinal dropout rates to no more than 5 percent by 1997-98. This report presents the current plan, with current aggregate and disaggregate data on the dropout rate of students in grades 7 through 12 and projections for…

The Chapter 188 Dropout Prevention Grant Program funds school districts with high percentages of low-income students and school dropouts to enable them to implement dropout prevention initiatives in grades 7 through 12. The emphasis in funding is on long-term school change in school policy, curriculum, governance, scheduling, programming, support…

Today and every day, in neighborhoods and communities throughout Philadelphia, young people are making decisions that will change their lives forever. Some will decide to stay in school, graduate, and prepare themselves for college and careers. Others, who left school without a diploma, will summon the courage to seek out educational programs they…

This guidebook presents a variety of dropout prevention strategies and is intended to help readers determine which strategies are best suited for a particular classroom, school, or district. The primary audience is school personnel who work with young adolescents. It begins by addressing major dropout issues, primary research findings, and…