The study presented in this article gathered and examined the views of key stakeholders in rural South African secondary schools on strategies for curbing learner dropout. The investigation, which employed a qualitative case study research model, sampled 20 secondary school learners aged 17-20 (11 female, 9 male), 20 youth aged 17-22 (11 female, 9…

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…

Dropping out of high school has adverse consequences, including negative effects on employment, lifetime earnings, and physical health. Students often fail to complete high school for complex reasons that often manifest long before they reach high school. This study examines the link between participation in a comprehensive elementary school…

"Career Academies" is a dropout prevention strategy for youth considered most at risk of dropping out of high school. Students in the program take both career-related and academic courses and acquire work experience through partnerships with local employers. "Career Academies" integrate rigorous academic curricula with career…

Purpose: This exploratory case study examines how school systems and other local organizations have been working within two major U.S. cities to improve high school graduation rates. Systematically assessing active interorganizational dropout prevention networks may reveal characteristics affecting communities' capacity to support school…

To stem the tide of students dropping out, many schools and districts are turning to early warning systems (EWS) that signal whether a student is at risk of not graduating from high school. While some research exists about establishing these systems, there is little information about the actual implementation strategies that are being used across…

Described is a 4-year model of a Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP) offered to 294 academically and economically disadvantaged students and their parents during in- and out-of-school time activities through partnerships forged with school personnel and community-based agencies. In an urban high school where…

The "New Century High Schools Initiative" is a program designed to improve large, under-performing high schools by transforming them into small schools with links to community organizations. "New Century High Schools" each have about 400 students; the small size is intended to foster strong relationships between students and…

From 1976-79, over 46,000 Wisconsin youth left high school before receiving a high school diploma, a number reflective of a national trend. Research has documented dropout characteristics, their reasons for leaving school, and the consequences of their decisions, but little effort has been made to examine ways in which schools and communities…

This paper describes and evaluates Grand Academy, an alternative junior high school set up in New York City by a local district and a nonprofit community-based organization to meet the needs of students who have twice failed to meet Board of Education promotioal standards in the seventh grade. The instructional program, provided by the school…

This demonstration project in New York City undertook to help potential dropouts remain in school through the introduction of a program which combined after-school work experience with group and individual counseling. Concomitantly, it sought to develop an effective intervention methodology for replication in other communities. The principal…

The consequences of not graduating from high school are increasingly serious for both individuals and society as a whole. As a result, policymakers and the federal requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) have placed a new focus on increasing graduation rates and reducing dropout rates. While the dropout problem has generated research and new…

A qualitative research approach was used to examine how one vocational education and training (VET) school in rural Australia contributed to its community and the complex role of leadership in the process. The study focused on the VET in Schools program in Cooktown in Far North Queensland. The following data collection activities were conducted:…

State Compensatory Education (SCE) is a supplemental program in Texas designed to eliminate disparities in (a) student performance on assessment instruments administered under chapter 39 of the Texas Education Code (1995), and (b) the rates of high school completion between students who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by Texas…