Outlines what school administrators can do to increase their understanding of local dropout programs and to decrease dropping out. Suggestions include analyzing local data, instituting early tracking of potential at-risk students, creating alternative programs, reorganizing to improve school climate, and initiating new forms of student assessment.…

Reviews current literature on dropout prevention strategies and suggests intervention strategies that might be appropriate for small rural schools. Discusses unique characteristics of small rural schools and considers strategies of early identification, networking, group counseling, family counseling, academic tutoring-counseling combinations, and…

A study investigated the effectiveness of intervention, by interview, with 111 first-year college students identified as at risk in their adjustment to college. Effects were analyzed in terms of score change on scales of adjustment, first-year grade point average, first-year course credits earned, and continuance of enrollment. (Author/MSE)

Each year, thousands of young people drop out of school, begin a life of unemployment, poverty, low self-esteem, violence, and even imprisonment. This article explains the sad effects of early school exits and the critical need for school-community collaboration to prevent dropouts. School leaders must be culturally sensitive and create school…

Reviews dropout characteristics; identifies the components of an overall dropout prevention approach; and describes the role of legislation, school administration, and public-private collaboratives in developing dropout prevention strategies. Emphasizes the use of public and private resources to improve the opportunities of the disadvantaged. (FMW)

Used an ecological model to examine different factors impacting school completion and dropping out for Mexican American students, highlighting: the microsystem (individual settings), which emphasizes daily interactions represented by the family, the classroom, and peer relationships; the mesosystem (setting interactions); the exosystem (community…

Caretakers' psychological factors are related to premature termination of counseling for their children (N=85). General hostility, anxiety, depression, and paranoia were studied. Descriptive statistics, correlations of variables, and a predictive discriminant analysis are reported. Effects of caretaker variables on early termination of treatment…

The decisions of 83 American Indian undergraduates to drop out of school were investigated based on the influence of their self-beliefs, social support, and comfort. Although all three accounted for academic nonpersistence decisions, social support was the strongest predictor. Discusses implications for increasing academic persistence of students,…

Educators in a range of schools share tools and strategies for successfully working with youth who have become marginalized from school or are at risk of dropping out. The educators emphasize the importance of personally connecting with their students and nurturing the teenagers' interests. They also discuss the challenges of trying to establish…

Latino student dropout is a national concern that must also be addressed strategically in local communities. Although national studies are important for pointing out areas of concern, local studies can provide more specific information for local policy development and implementation. This paper presents an example of local community-initiated…

Miami Valley Career Technology Youth Connections, an alternative high school located in Dayton, Ohio, has an enrollment of 160 students and was created as a joint venture among local politicians to address the high dropout rates in Montgomery County, Ohio. To achieve this, the Montgomery County commissioners created a task force to develop…

Act 49 of 1987 requires the Secretary of Education to provide the General Assembly with an annual report on public school dropouts in Pennsylvania. The purpose of this report is to document the actual number of students who drop out each year and to provide various characteristics about these students. The type of data collected about each dropout…

This report summarizes the findings and conclusions from a study designed to identify how European funding supports Learning and Skills Council (LSC) priorities and contributes to LSC targets. The study was carried out between November 2005 and May 2006, and had the three following main components: (1) Consultants examined questionnaires…

This report, produced by the National High School Center at the American Institutes for Research, outlines steps that schools can take to identify at-risk students and provide the necessary support systems and relevant interventions to assist students in obtaining a high school diploma. Further, the report discusses the use of early warning data…

The "National Dropout Prevention Newsletter" is published quarterly by the National Dropout Prevention Center/Network. This issue contains the following articles: (1) Preparing for the Demands of the New World Economy (Patrick J. O'Connor); (2) Connecting At-Risk Youth to the High-Performance Workforce (Patrick J. O'Connor); (3) Butler…