Rural Ethiopian children, and members of their households, often suffer from common and preventable but debilitating illnesses, such as malaria, parasite infection and worms. Enrolment rates in Ethiopia are high, but school attendance is patchy, children often drop out of school (although they sometimes return), and grade repetition is common.…

Schools in the United States have struggled with graduation rates for nearly 140 years. School divisions are continuously searching for new and creative curriculums to address changing student needs. From the U.S. Department of Education to local school board members, educators are working to discover creative and accountable alternatives to…

When students struggle in the elementary and middle grades, the likelihood that they will drop out of high school increases dramatically. Although most dropout prevention resources have focused on high schools in a last-ditch effort to keep students in school, earlier interventions in elementary and middle grades provide a better opportunity to…

Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) has made great strides in its effort to lower the number of high school dropouts and to encourage prior dropouts to return and graduate by providing a broad set of options for students with a diverse set of needs and academic histories. At the same time, City Schools has initiated an effort to foster a…

The purpose of study was to examine the attributes of teachers of urban continuation high schools in Los Angeles Unified School District. The research questions were: 1. What are the attributes of veteran teachers and new teachers as prepared to teach at-risk students in alternative high schools? and 2. How do alternative high school teachers…

The article analyses the main benefits of a Portuguese programme, launched in 1996, which was designed to support schools in segregated districts (TEIPs). The first part of the article presents a theoretical framework, before moving on to the main features of the TEIP programme in contemporary Portuguese society and education. An explanation of…

The objective of the proposed systematic review is to summarize the available evidence on the effects of prevention and intervention programs aimed at primary and secondary students for increasing school completion or reducing school dropout. Program effects on the closely related outcomes of school attendance (absences, truancy) will also be…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Congress Passes FY 2009 Omnibus Bill: Bill Will Provide $4.45 Billion Increase for U.S. Department of Education; (2)…

"More High School Graduates" is a comprehensive guide for school leaders and government policymakers committed to boosting high school graduation rates. Drawing from his knowledge as an education official and professor, author Ben Levin presents a system to turn around secondary schools that is adaptable for local-, district-, and state-level…

The goal of this study was to understand which factors, related to school science, can interfere with engagement of students-at-risk-of-dropping-out with school science and to know what kind of activities and teaching strategies are adequate to these students. This case-study involved a chemistry-teacher and ten male students. Data was based on…

This study examines the emotional engagement with school of a diverse sample of 909 students in post-secondary vocational education in the Netherlands. Using multilevel regression analysis, we assess the role of students' background characteristics and school experiences, and their interaction, in students' emotional engagement with school.…

The United States high school dropout problem has been called a national crisis, with only 74.9% of public high school students graduating with a diploma in 2008. With states and districts under mounting pressure to raise graduation rates, there is increasing urgency to obtain more accurate and timely data to systematically identify students most…

Although online learning is expanding in availability and popularity, the high dropout rates remain a challenging problem. In this paper, we reviewed the existing empirical studies on online course dropouts in post-secondary education that were published during the last 10 years. We identified 69 factors that influence students' decisions to…

New information and communication technologies (ICTs) provide educators and learners with an innovative learning environment to stimulate and enhance the teaching and learning process. In this context, novel educational concepts such as blended learning are being developed. In the present paper, we present the results obtained from a blended…

What are the qualities of classroom, school, and district processes and practices in rural high schools with higher-than average graduation rates? How do these processes and practices compare with rural schools with histories of average graduation rates? In this study, six schools were sampled for a multiple case study of rural high school…