This article (1) summarizes what is know about student attrition and retention; (2) reports the results of the authors' study of the relationships between decidedness and retention; and (3) suggests four research-based principles for institutions desiring to initiate action programs designed to counter unwarranted attrition on the college campus.…

To help administrators answer important questions about student needs and dropout program effectiveness, this article offers a basic checklist of recommended characteristics, including a cohesive, systemwide strategy; clearly identified at-risk students; well-clarified roles; caring attitudes toward students; tough and compassionate staff; and…

Describes the Meaningful Other Person (MOP) program instituted at a North Carolina ninth grade center that reduced the dropout rate by 50 percent. (FL)

A high school in Oregon has had positive results from the development of a dropout prevention program. Students meet together each day, develop goals, and earn credits for successful efforts. Program design and implementation are described. (DF)

Classes on college campuses help dropouts complete high school. (Editor)

Describes the Personalized Education Program" established by the Portland (Oregon) Public Schools which tries to design opportunities for an educational experience for each student that will take into account his or her needs, interests, and potential. (Author/DR)

This literature review focuses on the dropout phenomenon in general education, discussing interventions, dropout characteristics, and consequences of dropping out, and emphasizing literature on special education dropouts. The paper concludes by discussing implications for research and service programs that can address the dropout problem in…

This article reports that education leaders in Los Angeles, faced with unrelenting pressure to raise anemic high school graduation rates, are turning to YouTube, MySpace, text messaging, and the radio waves to reach students at risk of dropping out of school and lure back thousands who have already left. The Los Angeles Unified School…

This study empirically explores the comparability of traditional survey-based retention research methodology with an alternative approach that relies on data commonly available in institutional student databases. Drawing on Tinto's [Tinto, V. (1993). "Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition" (2nd Ed.), The University…

At-risk students are often poor and members of minority groups. Solutions to the dropout problem are inseparably tied to combating poverty and could stimulate far-reaching educational change. Researchers have identified several elements of successful dropout prevention programs, including the need for early prevention; aggressive leadership;…

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…

The Los Angeles Unified School District has funded several innovative prevention/recovery programs to determine indicators that will help local schools identify the potential early leaver. This annual study for the 1983-84 school year examines the number of students in grades 10 through 12 who left school without a diploma. Findings cover all…

The Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) developed a Dropout Retrieval Project with the following aims: (1) to identify and retrieve the dropout students aged 16 to 21; (2) to bring the students back to educational programs which would lead to the completion of their education; and (3) to develop plans to prevent future dropouts. This report…

This is a guide for the North Carolina Extended School Day Program, an alternative education program which provides youth with the opportunity to complete high school in an environment conducive to meeting their needs. The extended school day program is an extension of the regular public school and is an integral part of the comprehensive high…