The purpose of this ex post facto study was to compare the end of year GPAs of 8th grade underachieving students who participated in Career and Technical Education programming through the Memphis Ambassadors Apprentice Program to those who did not. Introducing Career and Technical Education programs and activities to students at a young age…

The disengagement that leads to school dropout may start as early as middle school, but may be interrupted by motivational interventions. One approach is to promote the relevance of content through explanations and demonstrations of the value of this content to students' futures. CareerStart is an intervention that provides teachers prepackaged…

The Promise Fellow Program is an intervention designed to prevent dropout amongst students in grades 6-12 in Minnesota that show early warning signs of school disengagement. The program is led by interventionists known as Promise Fellows and provides three research-based supports that align with the National Dropout Prevention Center's "Basic…

This study examined the association between participation in a school-based group-mentoring program (Project Arrive) and academic outcomes in a group of ninth-grade students who had been identified as at high risk of high-school dropout (n = 239). Comparison participants were ninth-grade students with similar levels of risk (n = 980). Using…

Purpose: Given the prevalence of mental health issues among young adolescents and its detrimental effects on academic functioning, Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) interventions are becoming extremely valuable. The current study aims to investigate the effectiveness of two types of SEL interventions delivered by two different types of teachers to…

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, dropping out is a persistent problem among 15- to 24-year-olds. Researchers have noted school districts that have been able to improve graduation rates have often done so through the "development of innovative models and pathways that help young people get back on track to…

Project LION (Learning In Our Neighborhood) was a community partnership between a local University, a Charitable Foundation, the City, and the Parish (County) School System that provided affordable afterschool academic and enrichment activities for students who are at risk in grades 4 through 8. The multiple-year foundation grant provided program…

The College and Career Readiness Expansion project was a five-year, federally funded effort to implement early college strategies in comprehensive high schools. This report presents the results from a quasi-experimental impact study of the project and a mixed methods examination of its implementation. Results showed that the program increased the…

For over two years the National Dropout Prevention Center (NDPC) at Clemson University has been supporting the Lower Kuskokwim School District (LKSD) in NW Alaska with their efforts to reduce high school dropout in 23 remote Yup'ik Eskimo villages. The Rural Alaska Mentoring Project (RAMP) provides school-based E-mentoring services to 164…

In 2007, spurred by University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research (UChicago CCSR) research reports, leadership at the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) began a new targeted approach to reducing course failure in the ninth grade. The research suggested that the transition between eighth and ninth grade played a critical role in shaping…

Students entering high school in 9th grade face a formidable challenge. The transition to high school from 8th grade brings with it increased risks for all students. For example, students in 9th grade are anywhere from three to five times more likely to fail a class than students in any other grade. Similarly, ninth grade retention rates are…

This study of graduation outcomes in Baltimore uses multivariate analysis of longitudinal student cohort data to examine the impact of factors identified in previous research as early warning indicators of a dropout outcome. Student cohort files were constructed from longitudinal administrative data (following all first-time 2004-2005 and…

From 2000 to 2011, the number of children out of school worldwide has decreased from 102 million to 57 million--a reduction of almost 50 percent (Millennium Development Goals Report, 2013). However, many children in developing countries do not complete primary or secondary cycles once they enroll; out of the 137 million children who entered first…

Accelerated middle schools are self-contained academic programs designed to help middle school students who are behind grade level catch up with their age peers. If these students begin high school with other students their age, the hope is that they will be more likely to stay in school and graduate. The programs serve students who are one to two…

The number of high school dropouts in the United States is staggering. Every day, 7,000 students drop out and only about 70 percent of students nationwide leave high school with a traditional high school diploma. Previous research has shown that students demonstrating risk factors for dropout can be identified early in middle school. The purpose…