To give Congress the information it needs to make informed decisions about initiatives aimed at school dropouts, the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) has published a two-phase report: Phase 1, "School Dropouts: The Extent and Name of the Problem" (see ED 274 756), completed in 1986, provides information on the dropout rate, characteristics of…

Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing rates remain higher in the United States than in most Western nations; more than 500,000 teenage girls have babies every year. As these teen parents mature, they have diminished educational and career expectations. A small number of programs directed toward the career needs of teenage parents was developed…

Graduation, Reality, and Dual-Role Skills (GRADS) is a vocational home economics program in Ohio for pregnant students and young parents in grades 7 through 12 in junior high schools, senior high schools, and vocational schools. Goals of the program are to: (1) increase the likelihood the participants will remain in school during pregnancy, after…

Across the United States, innovative school-linked health and human service programs are being implemented to provide assistance to children and youth in high-risk contexts. The programs have sometimes been hampered by limited resources and isolation from other service providers. The development of collaborative programs promises to overcome some…

In this report the Ohio Legislative Office of Education Oversight discusses five Ohio programs designed to serve at-risk high school students and examines their possible overlap. The report describes the goals, strategies, and structure of the following programs: (1) Occupational Work Experience (OWE), a 1-year vocational program of classroom…

With the aid of single parent grant money, the Highlands County (Florida) School Board surveyed the needs of adolescent single parents in three high schools and three middle schools. Dropout students also were contacted. Survey results identified the barriers to adolescent single parents obtaining marketable skills. The need for occupational…

The New Chance Demonstration, which operated at 16 locations in 10 states in 1989-1992, offered comprehensive education, training, and assistance to teenage mothers who had dropped out of high school. The demonstration, which was designed to increase the young mothers' well-being and long-term self-sufficiency, was subjected to an interim…

An analysis of Ohio's Learning, Earning, and Parenting (LEAP) program focused on the first 18 months of program operations. The 12 randomly selected research counties contained about two-thirds of the statewide teen population targeted by LEAP. The analysis relied on field research, supplemented by data collected from county human service agencies…

This document identifies the costs of teen pregnancy in terms of high dropout rates, long-term educational decrements, the increased risks of the children of teen parents, loss of human capital, and increased welfare costs. Prevention and intervention and the features of operationally successful program models are included under the topic of…

The Summer Training and Education Program (STEP) was developed in 1984 as a strategy for reducing the number of young people who leave school without the skills and motivation necessary for productive employment. The STEP intervention involves collaboration between the public schools and the federal Summer Youth Employment and Training Program…